Very confused - help please

[hukeys]

Hi,

 

I am new to this forum, and hoping someone could please assist me. I'm VERY confused, unfortunately, and not too tech-savvy!

I have recently decided to rip my entire classical cd collection to a MyBook Live NAS drive. I have also purchased a Cambridge Audio Stream Magic 6 player. As I own a Mac, I have successfully ripped about 5 cd's to XLD. It is from there that I'm totally lost.

The CA 6 is showing "MyBook Live-Twonky" on the display. When this is opened, some of the tracks are dispersed all over the place and all of the tracks from my iTunes library are showing as folders, so that in order to play an entire symphony, I need to open each folder as the previous one stops.

It is my intention to abandon iTunes and set-up an independent library employing a different media player with all files in FLAC.

I have attempted to download Amarra but the customer service rep informed me that, as the CA6 upscales, their software wouldn't work.

The other problem I've encountered is creating a path from Applications to the NAS drive for a different media player than iTunes. The cd's I ripped through XLD seemed to go straight to iTunes/Twonky.

As you can see, I'm really lost with all this and would very much appreciate someone's help, although I would ask that you "lead me by the hand" on this. My knowledge of all this is rather limited at present.

Many thanks.

[avta]

I'm not a NAS user and I'm not familiar with the Cambridge streamer but XLD can be confusing. I might suggest that when you rip a CD you first create a folder for it in the location you want to keep those files. Then in the Preferences for XLD which are in the drop down under " XLD " chose the " General " tab and find the folder you created using the " Set " button in the " Output Directory " section. Choose the folder you created. This will put all the ripped files into that folder. In addition be sure that the " Add encoded files ti iTunes if possible " box is unchecked if you do not want the files sent there. Hope this helps to some degree.

[John R Leddy]

I use a Western Digital My Book Live 2TB NAS as a back-up device.

 

Just gave it a whirl through my Cambridge Audio Stream Magic 6 and it works fine out of the box.

 

Here's the Windows 7 directory tree:

 

Network

|

MYBOOKLIVE / NETWORKSPACE2

|

Public

|

Shared Music

|

FLAC / MP3 / WAV

|

0-9 / A / B / C... / Z

|

3 Doors Down - 2000 - The Better Life / 3 Doors Down - 2002 - Away From The Sun

|

01 - Kryptonite.flac / 02... / 11 - So I Need You.flac / folder.jpg

 

Here's the Cambridge Audio Stream Magic 6 menu for shuffling all tracks:

 

Connecting To LAN...............

 

Internet Radio

Streaming Services

Media................................

Podcasts

Digital Inputs

 

UPnP Servers......................

USB Media

Queue

 

MyBookLive-Twonky.............

NetworkSpace2

 

Music................................

Alphanumeric Search

 

Album

All Tracks...........................

Artist

Artist Index

Artist/Album

Composer

Folder

Genre/Album

Genre/Artist

Genre/Song

Personal Rating

Playlists

 

............Clock/Timer icon at bottom-right of display

 

............All tracks are listed alphanumerically

 

............Press shuffle button

 

Shuffle:ON..........................

 

.............Press Play

 

Shuffling

 

.............Clock/Timer icon at bottom-right of display

 

.............Tracks start to play

 

.............Display reads

 

When I'm Gone

3 Doors Down

Away From The Sun

S 00:00

44.1kHz/16bit FLAC

No need for other software to play FLAC files from Western Digital My Book Live NAS via Cambridge Audio Stream Magic 6.

 

If you need to know more, don't hesitate to ask.

 

All the best,

 

John.

[hukeys]

I want to thank both of you guys for your help. It has certainly opened-up a lot for me in this area. John, I just wanted to ask something. I have managed to get to the point where the display shows: My BookLive - Twonky". It is after this point that a lot goes wrong. For some reason, when I choose this, it seems to be picking-up my iTunes library but the albums aren't all there and some of the tracks on those albums that are there, are not in order. It's actually a mess! Any idea what might be causing this?

[John R Leddy]

I want to thank both of you guys for your help. It has certainly opened-up a lot for me in this area. John, I just wanted to ask something. I have managed to get to the point where the display shows: My BookLive - Twonky". It is after this point that a lot goes wrong. For some reason, when I choose this, it seems to be picking-up my iTunes library but the albums aren't all there and some of the tracks on those albums that are there, are not in order. It's actually a mess! Any idea what might be causing this?

 

I don't use iTunes so I'm not able to answer your question.

 

Am I right in thinking your My Book Live has its standard software, without alteration, as supplied from new?

 

If so, here's my suggestion.

 

Go to MYBOOKLIVE > Public > Shared Music and remove all folders and files. Probably better to cut and paste to another hard drive rather than delete, but only you will know best.

 

In Shared Music create a new directory named FLAC. Directories listed in Shared Music should reflect the file extension of the file type contained within them.

 

In FLAC create 27 new directories: 0-9, A, B, C..., Z.

 

Locate your albums in their relevant directories.

For example, within the 0-9 directory add the album directory named in this fashion:

3 Doors Down - 2000 - The Better Life

This will keep the bands in alphanumeric order, with their albums in date order.

 

The files within the album directory should look like this:

01 - Kryptonite.flac

02 - Loser.flac

03 - Duck And Run.flac

04 - Not Enough.flac

05 - Be Like That.flac

06 - Life Of My Own.flac

07 - Better Life.flac

08 - Down Poison.flac

09 - By My Side.flac

10 - Smack.flac

11 - So I Need You.flac

folder.jpg

With both your Stream Magic 6 and My Book Live connected to the same network, the Stream Magic 6 will automatically find and list the My Book Live within the UPnP Servers directory.

 

Your music will be organized and listed in two ways. Firstly, as per the server software, within the directories contained in the Music directory. Also alphanumerically as created previously and listed within the directory named Folder.

 

At this stage my suggestion would be to copy and paste one flac album into its relevant directory on the My Book Live. Then, without any other computers turned on barring the My Book Live, switch on your Stream Magic 6 and let it connect to the LAN. You should be able to navigate to Media > UPnP Servers > MyBookLive-Twonky > Music and play the album from there.

 

Let me know how you get on.

 

All the best,

 

John.

[hukeys]

John,

Thanks again. I've reached that point you've suggested where I set-up a FLAC Directory. Not having a lot of knowledge of computers, I'm not that sure here. There is an opportunity to set-up a FOLDER called FLAC under Shared Music, but a DIRECTORY? Is that different?

[hukeys]

John, Just to update you on the last reply. You are such a great teacher, thank you! I've actually managed to fix that problem and all is showing up beautifully on the Stream Magic now. A new issue however, you might be able to assist with. Hopefully,this should be the last:

As I'm a classical collector, I want to rip the cd's so that they are the same order as the cd. For example, when ripping Beethoven Symphony No.5, there are 4 movements that make up the symphony, so we listen to the entire work with one track following after another in that order. What is happening is that 4 separate folders are showing which means I have to manually hit the tracks that follow-on from the previous one. How do I get the entire 4-movement symphony to appear as that in one folder, for example?

[John R Leddy]

John, Just to update you on the last reply. You are such a great teacher, thank you! I've actually managed to fix that problem and all is showing up beautifully on the Stream Magic now. A new issue however, you might be able to assist with. Hopefully,this should be the last:

As I'm a classical collector, I want to rip the cd's so that they are the same order as the cd. For example, when ripping Beethoven Symphony No.5, there are 4 movements that make up the symphony, so we listen to the entire work with one track following after another in that order. What is happening is that 4 separate folders are showing which means I have to manually hit the tracks that follow-on from the previous one. How do I get the entire 4-movement symphony to appear as that in one folder, for example?

 

This problem sounds like a setting in your CD ripping application. Which ripping program are you using?

 

I think there will be an option somewhere within the application for you to choose the creation of single or multiple directories. As you won't be allowed to have multiple directories using the same name, I'm guessing the folders are being named using the track name rather than the album name. There will be an option somewhere within the application which probably needs to be checked or unchecked. Sounds like it anyway, or maybe it's the naming scheme.

 

In Exact Audio Copy I use this naming scheme:

%albumartist% - %year% - %albumtitle%\%tracknr2% - %title%

The backslash causes a sub-directory to be created once only, and all the album tracks are stored in there.

 

For a Various Artists album the naming scheme is:

%albumartist% - %year% - %albumtitle%\%tracknr2% - %artist% - %title%

You're about to enter the highly personal world of tagging. This allows server software to catagorize tracks and list them in various ways. For example, the search choices from Album to Personal Rating in Media > UPnP Servers > MyBookLive-Twonky > Music.

 

I use Mp3tag and things are pretty straightforward with rock bands and the like. However, for classical albums you'll have the composer, multiple conductors, and multiple orchestras on the same disc, so your naming conventions will be slightly different to mine. Allow me to say tagging is only a tool to suit you, not the other way around, and as such there is no right or wrong. However, I'm guessing you'll find out within tagging the first couple of albums what's best for you.

 

Here's an example:

Filename: 01 - Symphony No. 3 In E Flat Major - Op. 55 'Eroica' - I. Allegro Con Brio.flac

Title: Beethoven - Symphony No. 3 In E Flat Major - Op. 55 'Eroica' - I. Allegro Con Brio

Artist: Michael Halasz - CSR Symphony Orchestra

Album Artist: Ludwig van Beethoven

Album: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 8

Track: 01

UPC: 4005294501789

Year: 1988

Genre: Classical

Comment: Note to self

 

Being the sad person I am, I've added a Bit Depth tag for when I'm using foobar2000 on my computer, but it's not really required.

 

Anyway, I reckon you'll probably find a naming scheme or preference setting is causing your problem. Manually cutting and pasting your tracks into a single folder isn't really a practical solution, and you shouldn't have to do that.

 

It would be good to know how you get on, and don't be worrying about how many questions you need to ask; that's one of the things this forum is all about.

 

All the best,

 

John.

[hukeys]

Thanks again, John. You've certainly given me a few things to look into and I'll try that today. I have in fact been able set-up some kind of library through your ideas but it obviously needs refining and they're going to help. I'm also considering ripping them on a notebook I have in the house which would mean that I could use EAC. I understand it's quite good. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

[NickofKingston]

Hi - I'm also new to this forum and stumbled upon it trying to do some trouble shooting with my WD Mybooklive's Twonky Server database. I stream music from this wirelessly to my stream magic 6. I found the key to organizing and ripping was in the right software, much of it free.

 

dbPoweramp is great for ripping in FLAC or other formats and you can adjust the sampling. It will tag effectively by looking up album art, track titles etc on the web and help you ensure a quality rip. You will have to pay for this software after a trial. I used to have all my cds ripped to WAV and the dbPoweramp let me rip multiple files in batches. Only problem is WAV files do a lousy job of tagging (e.g, artist name, album name, track names, album art, etc). It will rip cd's into subfolders based on artist and album name. You can control how and where these rips go.

 

I use a free version of Media Monkey for some of my tagging activities. I also use free ware called MP3 Tag, which I actually prefer to the more polished looking media monkey. These products let me tag my FLAC files as necessary. I can even tag the order of the tracks to ensure things play in the original sequence.

 

The other product I found (also freeware) that works well for creating play lists (how to create playlists isn't clear from CA instructions, nor does it initially seem possible from the way the Twonky server is set up) is Playlist Creator 3.6.2. Just save the playlists in your shared music folder on the Mybook live in *m3u format and you can access them with the Stream Magic quite easily.

 

If you use products like this and invest some time to tag the files, you will have things organized as you want and easily found on the stream Magic.

 

I have had these products since July, having replace a Cambridge 640H with them. They work great, but occasionally I am plagued by an unusual network drop or just recently, a corrupt database on the Twonky Server which must be rebuilt to fix. If you ever find a good alternative to the WD product (which still uses version5 despite version 7 being out) please let me know! Hope this info helps you get going!

[hukeys]

Many thanks for all the great suggestions. I'm still battling through all this but everyone's been fantastically helpful. I'll certainly give it all a try and see where it takes me.

Thanks again.

[ScanSpeak]

Hello everyone!And a happy new year.

I'm new to stream magic 6,and I don't know where to start.Tried several ways to store the music ,attaching an external hard drive to the USB is a no go for me, too slow, no artwork etc.

Tried to attach my external usb drive directly to router(it has usb connector) i was able to find the drive ,but nealy nothing is displayed, only a few.Attached a pendrive formatted to fat32 and it works, i see all muscic in folders,but sometimes when i want to change the track that is playing with the next button on the remote, it sometimes stops working and does nothing,i have to go back and change the tranck with the arrow buttons.

So which is the way to go ,format a 1 TB drive to a FAT32 file system and put it on a NAS ecnlosure,or make a computer based server?Also it seems that via LAN(upnp) SM6 does not support the NTFS file system,however connected via the usb connector it plays the NTFS formatted hard drive.

Any help is appreciated ,thanks!

[Audio_ELF]

To access music over the network the StreamMagic 6 (SM6) requires a UPnP Server.

 

As a first step (and assuming you have some form of computer) visit either MinimServer (for Linux, Mac or Windows) or dbPowerAmp.com and get Asset Server (Windows only). Set the server software up and see if your SM6 can access the music.

 

If you are happy, then look at a NAS or Linux computer for Minimserver or a simple Windows computer for Asset.

 

Hope this helps

Eloise

 

Hello everyone!And a happy new year.

I'm new to stream magic 6,and I don't know where to start.Tried several ways to store the music ,attaching an external hard drive to the USB is a no go for me, too slow, no artwork etc.

Tried to attach my external usb drive directly to router(it has usb connector) i was able to find the drive ,but nealy nothing is displayed, only a few.Attached a pendrive formatted to fat32 and it works, i see all muscic in folders,but sometimes when i want to change the track that is playing with the next button on the remote, it sometimes stops working and does nothing,i have to go back and change the tranck with the arrow buttons.

So which is the way to go ,format a 1 TB drive to a FAT32 file system and put it on a NAS ecnlosure,or make a computer based server?Also it seems that via LAN(upnp) SM6 does not support the NTFS file system,however connected via the usb connector it plays the NTFS formatted hard drive.

Any help is appreciated ,thanks!

[realhifi]

Odd. I would have thought that a manual would have been included with that piece outlining how to set up UPnP server, etc. these companies have to get it together if they wan to sell these sophisticated products.

[ScanSpeak]

Thank you for the answer.I tried some PC based servers , and I was happy with the access speeds, but never seen an album art,have some hi-res files with album art ,that is showed on my pc but not on SM6.The only way i can get things to bee how I wanted to be is to play music stored on my Ipad.I know that over UPnP SM6 must show the artwork.

I thought that i will have a search option over UPnP, but no.Not talking about the absence of a fast forwarding option,i understand that over the netwok it is not possible,but connected directly over the usb port, even my 100 dollar media player can fast forward the music on an external drive...I thought it must be me,am I doing something wrong?

Is the only way of sorting/searching music by making 27 folders on the hard drive 0-9 ,A,B,C.. ???I thought that usig the metadata saved on the music files will allow some sort of search facilities...

[ScanSpeak]

Ok, I installed minimserver, didn't know that the server itself can make such a huge difference

It took a while to scan my hard drive but now everything begins to make sense,album art appears, I can search, i can make everything,and it's fast!!!Firs time I used a generic server application that did not scan the hard drive...Thank you for the help i'll come back later.

[ScanSpeak]

Is there any way to set up minim server that when I enter in the folder view on my Ipad, to show me directly tag view ,now all the track's of an album are not listed as a list ,and are not played in the order of the original album. The tracks are correctly named and have the numbers 1,2,3.. at the begining , but only in tag view are arranged from 1 to 10'th track.Thank You!