perl wrote: ↑Fri Nov 25, 2022 3:52 am
[SOLVED]
perl wrote: ↑Fri Nov 25, 2022 3:52 am
Mediamonkey seems to be a patchwork of solutions that make behavior unpredictable. The program needs simplification, and I don't want to help make enough of a loop that can solve the problem that it can't handle VMA files fully.
Yes, it's a lot of work, but I can't bear to mess with a version of mediamonkey that should be able to create a log file, but which doesn't behave like the latest version. I'm not a technician, I'm a user.
I agree with some of your frustration.
MM5 is complex. Over time they have accumulated multiple diverse customer groups, each of whom came on board at different versions of MM's history, and these people are invested in keeping MM familiar to what they grew used to. This is familiar problem with all s/w that is popular, and is in its n'th iteration.
MM5 is also poorly documented. No Quick Start Guides. No in depth How To advice about it major functions. It is a complex system with a dictionary, but with no Users' Manual worthy of that name.
But part of what you see a "patchwork" is actually of your own doing.
You are trying to mesh MM5 with Sonos.
- MM5 publishes Media as a DLNA Server
- and Sonos is a relatively closed ecosystem, where they make no claim to support DLNA Servers.
- so this, by definition, is a patchwork
As you know I use both Sonos and MediaMonkey.
It is
possible to use MM to play on my Sonos units. It works, but it is crappy IMO ... is not supported by either company ... so I don't do that.
The Devs at MediaMonkey don't even have any Sonos units that they can test on.
And if you went to Sonos, they would say "Media-Who??"
Why I don't use MM to play on Sonos (nb I am using the S1 version of Sonos controller, you are probably using S2, so things may be different for you):
- each individual Sonos unit is a separate computer ... they are meshed together, with custom s/w to coordinate and to optimise your listening experience
- when you play to Sonos, from MediaMonkey, you bypass all that, and use it just as a dumb speaker box
- everything is controlled back from the PC which is running MM, rather than by the phone that is in your pocket .. and some functionality from the buttons on the Sonos units has been disabled (no skipping forward or back)
- everything in the household has to be playing the same thing
- no usable ability to move music from one room to another
- the Sonos controller in your pocket knows what it is currently playing, but not what is coming next, nor was what you heard moments ago
- the music stops when I turn the PC off ... the music is interrupted when the PC is rebooted ... or when the network is having a dizzy
I use MM to:
- manage and tag my media collection
- make playlists[
- browse my collection, and to decide what to play next
- sync media to other devices or locations
I use the Sonos s/w to:
- queue what I want to play ... yes, I often browse my collection using MM, and then re-find, and queue, the album using Sonos ... I know that sounds horrible, but the Sonos search facility makes it simple
- use the Sonos s/w to control what is playing ... where it is (also) playing, how loud, and to re-arrange, prune, or replace the queue