Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Streaming dBpoweramp Plug-in

Just to add to what Nick has already said, the dBpa plug in writes the Metadata to an XML Folder and File, which can then be imported into the Sooloos SQL format.

As you know dBpa only write Metadata to the ID3 Tags in the Track Files, which Sooloos does not use for Storage or Replay purposes.

Hi Nick
Sorry for all the academic curiosity questions, but does using the dBpa plug in still write the Metadata to ID3 Tags of the Sooloos Backup files that it creates?

Hi Ronnie, yes....they are fully populated.

Plus

And from the M brochure


This needs reading carefully. But, the implication is that the meta data is fully retained (full being track level) exactly for the purpose of other systems (like Sonos and Squeeze) using the exact same data files. This is clearly by design and something that some of us have been utilising for a while.

If, like me, you ripped your CDs a long time ago can you use dBpa to help improve the quality of metadata in your collection?

I guess specifically, does dBpa only work by ripping CDs? Or can you point it at a folder with files? If so, one could export from Sooloos to a drive, export in FLAC and then point dBpa to that folder and subfolders and tell it to go fetch? Then delete corrected albums from Sooloos and replace the updated albums on Sooloos?

Or would you need to use something like PerfectTunes (still in Beta)?

I wish. This would be done immediately by most. In order for the Meridian bit to work, you need a "Raw CD TOC tag". Without that, you cannot get the file back into the backup.

Unfortunately the Raw CD TOC does only come from the CD at the point of ripping it. So, if it is not captured at rip then there is no way to retrofit it to the files (at least that I can find)

There is plenty on HydrogenAudio to explain the complexities of this tag.

So, really the plugin is designed for use at 1st rip and not any post processing. And, perhaps, any real reasons to pursue such post-processing use can be achieved in many other ways.

For example:

If you wanted the full meta tags in the Sooloos library for a.n.other system to use, then you could EXPORT your Sooloos library, delete the library and then re-import it. Ironically, the Sooloos EXPORT does create the meta tags that are needed AND when re-imported (rather than ripped from CD) the tags are preserved.

(I know 100% this works ...I did it with 11,000+ albums...and yes, it did take about a week !!!)

Guys,

Does anyone know if, with a parallel rip to ALAC using dBpa, whether iTunes will recognise this and process it properly?

Currently, I let iTunes rip an album first, before using Control:Mac/PC to rip into Sooloos, but this was before the dBpa plugin...

Separately, do I have to create a backup of my current Sooloos library first, in order to use it for dBpa? I'm still doing my initial rips, so not that huge a library yet...

Cheers.

Multi-encoder should work fine for Apple Lossless. Just select it before you add the Sooloos FLAC encoder. Configure it put the files wherever you normally put your iTunes files.

Why would you need to do a backup before using dBpa ? I can't see any reason for that other than it being good practice to have a backup.

Because as I understood it dBpa rips had to be 'restored' to Sooloos through the backup feature?

That's great regarding multi-encoding - are there any particular tagging formats iTunes tends to like, or have issues with?

I believe this refers to the fact that when you rip files using dBpa to the Sooloos backup format you then use the backup /restore feature, eg: restore, you point the restore at the folder you dBpa rips are in and it will show you a list of the albums available, it should also select all albums it has not already got via a tick box.
If you want to test the restore command you could try connecting your backup you already have of your Sooloos system and run the restore command, point it at the backup folder and it will produce a list of all the albums you have backed up, no data should be lost or over written.

Russ

Ah yes that's what I was referring to, I hadn't understood it as clearly as you've explained it, thank you!

Thanks ncpl - good confirmation that the process works - just need to find the time....