Messages

31

MusicBee Wishlist / Re: Shortcut to Now Playing page?

« on: July 18, 2015, 06:24:50 AM »

Another possible solution in the meantime:
I always have a locked tab with the Now Playing pane loaded.
I have another locked tab with the library loaded.
Then I ctrl-tab between the tabs.

32

MusicBee Wishlist / Re: A More Open and Controllable Auto-DJ

« on: July 18, 2015, 06:18:38 AM »

> I have no idea to what extent these settings affect the song selection process

The algorithm is probably too difficult to predict what is going to queue simply by looking at the mathematics.
Users normally would just generate the list, have a look at it, and play with the settings if they didn't like the result.

> my point is that each option should have a slider

I've got a feeling that shuffling and AutoDJ are supposed to be kind-of surprising in their nature.
If you want more control over what's going to be queued, you should experiment with auto-playlists.
If you don't know what an auto-playlist is, prepare to have your mind blown.

33

Questions / Re: Starting equaliser crashes MB 50% of the time

« on: July 17, 2015, 02:11:27 AM »

It's still happening.

Actually, to be honest, Musicbee has been getting more unstable on my system as time goes on.
Version 1.x virtually never crashed, and now it seems like v2.x crashes every other day.
I've updated dozens of times over the last three or four years, including daily patches. So I might
try a complete reinstall once v2.5 final is released and see if that fixes the problems.

Thanks.

34

Questions / Re: Help! Music files disappearing

« on: July 17, 2015, 02:05:58 AM »

Sorry, I can't help with your specific issue. Just to mention, I occasionally have tracks deleted too.

Process is something like:
1. Drag tracks from download folder to Now Playing List -> edit tags.
2. With auto-organise enabled, drag files from the NPL to the 'Music' node.

Sometimes MB will throw an error like 'file not where expected', and like you describe, it will have completely disappeared. In my scenario, I *think* it may have something to do with playing some of the tracks whilst editing them; the ones that have been played are the ones which are in danger of vanishing. Another explanation is that it might also be caused corrupt downloads.

It doesn't happen very often and I can't pin down the cause, so I've never bothered to look at the error log, or post a bug report. I just redownload the track(s).

35

Questions / Re: Starting equaliser crashes MB 50% of the time

« on: July 15, 2015, 11:35:18 PM »

I do have 3rd party effects in the plugin folder (SA Stereo Tool and Electri-Q), but nothing actually enabled except the 15 band equalizer.
I'm assuming they'd have to be enabled to interfere with the running of the equalizer dialogue?

I'll delete the file you suggested, and re-run the installer.

Thanks.

36

Questions / Starting equaliser crashes MB 50% of the time

« on: July 15, 2015, 10:15:54 PM »

Much of the time when I attempt to bring up the equaliser dialogue box, Musicbee stops responding.
It seemed to have started occasionally a few versions back, in 2013 or 2014, but now it's happening
about 50% of the time. I've got no idea what might be triggering the error.

Anyone else experiencing this? Any idea what the conflict might be and how to start troubleshooting?

Error Log:
15/07/2015 02:54:47 - 6.1.7601.65536 - 2.5.5524.39432 - Microsoft.VisualBasic.ApplicationServices.CantStartSingleInstanceException: This single-instance application could not connect to the original instance.
   at Microsoft.VisualBasic.ApplicationServices.WindowsFormsApplicationBase.Run(String[] commandLine)
   at #=q48PUXo_hGZNr0_gUMi83aaQ_FspIMg1RmSr2mKbDZAE=.#=qAHaz3ZLQyCE3mr9I7iXDcA==(String[] #=qheIcsvr4Ct3hgybNQ9fhMw==)

Specs:
· Musicbee 2.5 RC2 (installed over the top of previous version using the executable)
· Asus laptop with RealTek onboard sound chip
· Win 7

Thanks.

37

Questions / 'tick' column has changed usage

« on: January 02, 2015, 03:33:21 PM »

I used to use the tick column for selecting/deselecting tacks when editing tags and suchlike.
In the version I just upgraded to, I noticed everything was ticked.
When deselecting a track, there was a warning about unticked tracks being excluded from playing and syncing.
I've been using the 'ban' flag for that sort of thing (in the 'love' column).

What's the case usage now of the tick column?
Does it differ in any way from what the 'ban' flag does?

Thanks.

38

Beyond MusicBee / How do you get new album alerts?

« on: January 02, 2015, 11:11:37 AM »

I've just realised that I missed 3 important album releases this year.

Soundamus.net has been down for months.
albumreminder.com is very limited.
Google Alerts isn't specific enough.

How do you do it? Especially if the bands are not mainstream?

Thanks.

39

MusicBee Wishlist / Re: Different Column View Layout per Library/Filter

« on: November 19, 2014, 03:12:29 AM »

It does work.

First get the latest version of 2.4x, as it contains a recent small fix related to using custom views:
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_4/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip

Now let's be sure we know what we're referring to. There are two different features involved:
Filter nodes listed in the left side panel, which control what tracks are listed in the main panel.
and
Custom views accessed by the small 'layout' button next to the search box, which control the columns and sorting.

Set-up your filter node for classical:
- Right-click on the 'music' node at the top of the left panel -> new filter
- Right-click on the new filter called 'Filter (1)' -> rename to 'classical'
- Right-click on the new 'classical' filter -> edit filter

Ensure 'display using view' is set to 'default' for just now. You'll change this later.
Input your rule Eg. genre is classical
Save it.
Select it. The classical tracks should be listed in the main panel. If they're not, then something is wrong with your tags.

Now to get your custom view...
· Left-click the small 'layout' button next to the search box -> custom views -> copy current view settings to
· In the dialogue, type the name for your custom view. Eg. Classical.mbv
  When you click 'save', you should now have both the 'Classical' filter node *and* the 'custom view -> Classical' selected.
· At this point you edit your columns and sorting. The changes automatically get saved to the 'Classical' view.

Finally, right-click on the 'classical' filter node -> edit filter
Change 'display using view' from 'default' to 'classical'.

40

Questions / Re: Bass is muffled...

« on: October 28, 2014, 12:27:47 AM »

In an effort to troubleshoot:

· Did you try switching to the 15 band equaliser in MusicBee to manually set the EQ?
· What happens when you disable musicbee EQ completely?
· When viewing the EQ window, are there any DSP plugins enabled in the bottom section?
· Is your onboard soundchip software (installed by the manufacturer) applying any EQ or 'sound effects'?
· Have you tried free EQ plugins to substitute for the musicbee EQ?
  Eg. Electri-Q http://www.savioursofsoul.de/Christian/VST/Electri-Q_posihfopit_Install.exe
  Eg. SA Stereo Tool http://www.stereotool.com/download/dsp_stereo_tool_installer.exe

41

Questions / Re: Remember playback position for an Audiobook?

« on: October 04, 2014, 02:14:37 PM »

It works fine for me. All files have the 'remember' flag applied automatically when moved into the audiobook node.
I can also manually edit multiple files, and the setting is not lost.

Some troubleshooting questions...
· Do some of your files have 'read-only' set in Windows Explorer?
· Are they are in a 'protected' location?
· Were the files downloaded using iTunes, or perhaps ripped from a CD? Do they have any Digital Rights Management applied?
· Are you having difficulty with a certain filetype?

42

Questions / Re: Does MusicBee...

« on: September 14, 2014, 11:44:14 AM »

1) Convert iTunes format to mp3?
Yes, but due to licenses you need to download the mp3 and ACC convertors. MB makes this easy to do.

2) Burn CD's?
Yes.

3) Remove duplicates?
Yes, based on tags rather than audio fingerprinting though.

4) Auto-organize music into folders?
Yes. Works across drives and networks too.

5) Fill in missing info including album artwork?
Yes, with varying degrees of success depending on how mainstream the music is.
The more unknown or unusual, the less chance of tagging it automatically.

43

Questions / Re: I lost all my best songs moving!

« on: September 02, 2014, 11:58:12 AM »

> I have 107 Gb (10.000 song) of music, I ripped many cds, I gave to my friend i think 1.000 songs of many various artists
> Every artist has a folder, most of the songs I gave him was one song by one artist,  In his pen drive all songs its mixed Together

That won't matter if all the tags are present, and you have auto-organise set-up well.
When you import them back into your library, they will be put back in the proper location.

> I can't make a pen drive appearing under Computer node instead of Devices node. Is it possible?
> If it's under Devices node, drag & drop correctly copies songs from the library.
> But what happens when it's under Computer node? Does it move files from the library?
> Looks like it when I tried between different partitions under Computer node.
> If that's the case, shouldn't it copy when songs get drag and drop between different drives?

My modern 32Gb pendrives appear under the computer panel.
I tried with an older 12Gb one and it appeared under the devices panel, as you describe.

So I did some research, and it appears that many pendrive manufacturers have switched a bit flag on their drives which turns them from a 'removable device' into a 'fixed drive'. The reason for this is to do with Windows 8 'to-go' feature:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/jj737992

This is a 'new standard' for removable drives which Microsoft is pushing. Some manufacturers are bending to the pressure, and some aren't, and a lot of current 'bootable' software doesn't work on the new drives.

There is an inconsistency in Musicbee regarding this behaviour. Dragging to the Computer pane moves by default. Dragging to the Devices pane copies by default. So you have to be aware of what you're doing and press CTRL to toggle the action.

However, I would argue that this inconsistency is intended. In the Device panel you almost always want to just copy songs from your library to the device (or vice versa). Whereas in the Computer node, you are more likely to be rearranging your folder structure and moving things around.

My advice is the same as in my previous post - look at the cursor, and use CTRL or SHIFT to toggle to the action you want, because the list of different types of 'location' are growing, and so is software interactivity, so it is getting really difficult to predict what dragging action will be performed in any particular circumstance.

44

Questions / Re: I lost all my best songs moving!

« on: September 01, 2014, 09:15:33 PM »

> I put a pendrive, it appears in the MusicBee  sidebar

A lot of large, modern pendrives might appear in the 'computer' panel instead of the 'devices' panel.
To stop drives appearing here, you can turn off that panel completely in Prefs.
Or set only certain drives/folders to display: right click -> manage folders -> choose filtered folders.
Then select 'show filtered folders only'.

> the option to display the pendrive in the sidebar is irrelevant and dangerous

No it's not - I use it all the time. It reflects standard Windows behaviour.
You drag anything to anywhere in Windows, and the default is to move it.
To change that to copy, you press CTRL or SHIFT (depending on circumstance) and a little plus icon appears.

Now go ring your little friend, and tell him you want your torrents back!  

45

Beyond MusicBee / Re: USB DACs: DragonFly versus AudioEngine

« on: August 30, 2014, 01:18:17 PM »

I got the DragonFly 1.2 this morning. Tested it with 320k mp3 files. I A-B'd as well as I could with my laptop's soundcard
(Asus A93S with Realtek soundchip). Takes a couple of seconds to switch over though. I'm using 60€ Denon AH-D1001
headphones. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Denon-AH-D1001-Closed-Stereo-Headphones-SILVER/dp/B000UPA4R4

My impression is:
Slightly more crisp, and therefore more punch, but this also lent itself to a slightly harsher tone in the upper-mids.
Slightly wider and rounder (front to back) soundstage.
A little less digital distortion in the lower end, and slightly more defined bass.
The main thing I wanted to get rid of was muddiness, but sometimes instruments still aren't quite as clear as they could be.

So it's not a huge difference.
I can notice little things if I'm listening for them, and A-B'ing, but my wife would probably think it was a waste of money.

Through the Realtek soundchip, my speakers, Panasonic and Sennheiser earbuds, and the Denon headphones all sound fairly similar to each other in tone and volume. However, through the DragonFly, they all have much more varied tone and volume. I hope this means that the soundchip is reaching its limitations, but the DragonFly has more to give. I think I need to try to borrow a much more expensive pair of headphones and speakers, and see if that makes a more pronounced difference. I don't actually know anyone with good gear though.

Also, the DragonFly is not powerful enough to drive my computer speakers (Philips SPA 2201) to their maximum output; they are considerably quieter than when driven by the onboard soundchip.

Further, when I plugged it into the usb 3.0 port that I wanted to use on the left side of my laptop, Windows gave an error about it not having some kind of ID, and that it doesn't know what type of device it is. The DragonFly doesn't display in 'Devices' at all, and I can't get the error to display again to make a note of it. It works fine in the usb 2.0 ports on the other side.

So as it stands, I would say that you always hope for a massive difference in these types of purchases, but in the end it's actually kind of disappointing.