Author Topic: Removing MP3/FLAC Dupes  (Read 16687 times)

V4lve

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Hi.

Way back in the mists of time and before MusicBee (how did I ever manage!) I decided to make MP3 copies of everything I had.  My library is getting rather large now  and MusicBee and my media server are quite capable of converting/transcoding to MP3 when I need it so I have decided it's probably time I started getting rid of the dupes (MusicBee tells me I have 31GB of them!).

MusicBee is great at telling me what the dupes are but not that good at helping me identify which ones I can get rid of.  I could filter the dupe list for mp3s but that only find 9GB which puzzles me a little.  What I think I need is:

1. A dupe filter based on pairs of file types.  i.e. "shows me all the MP3s that are duplicates of FLACs"
2. An archive that I can move them to (that I can hide from the library) until I am happy they can be removed.



Maleko12

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I am moving this topic to the Wishlist forum... it would get more appropriate attention in this forum than in the general discussion.

+1 for this request. This would be quite useful and very handy for people who have FLAC files for preservation and MP3 files for conservation.
Last Edit: June 10, 2010, 10:39:58 AM by Maleko12

Steven

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would one possible approach be to add the file type (or file extension) as a display field, and then sort by that field in the Duplicates filter? That way you can just delete all the MP3 files in one go

V4lve

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Isnt this just the same as using search to filter the dupes for mp3?  What I think I would like to see is file type pair (MP3 and FLAC) so I can confirm each MP3 is a dupe of a FLAC.  I guess I am just a bit worried about removing GB of MP3 without knowing what they are dupes of.
Last Edit: June 10, 2010, 12:35:27 PM by V4lve

Steven

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Isnt this just the same as using search to filter the dupes for mp3?  What I think I would like to see is file type pair (MP3 and FLAC) so I can confirm each MP3 is a dupe of a FLAC.  I guess I am just a bit worried about removing GB of MP3 without knowing what they are dupes of.
no - if you have a filter on your library, it would only be looking for duplicates within the MP3 files. My suggestion would be to disable any library filter, using the Tag Manager Show Duplicates function, adding the file extension field as suggested before. Perhaps you could spot check some to get some assurance. Unforutanlely with files on network shares, they dont get deleted to the recycle bin like on local hard discs (well at least in my experience) so you are right to be cautious about this.

Elberet

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Hm, basically, what you want is first: a way to tell MusicBee which files you consider duplicates, e.g. same tag metadata but different type; or same audio fingerprint, for the paranoid. Second: a way to tell MusicBee which file among any given set of duplicates is to be considered the "main" file; e.g. given a FLAC and an MP3, the MP3 is the dupe; given three AAC files, the two with the lesser bitrates are dupes. (As a logical consequence, you'd also need a way to tell MB about exceptions, in case it comes to believe a file is a dupe when it really isn't.) Three: a table (actually, two separate but linked tables) view with "main" files left and their dupes right, where unduped files don't show up.

The rest can be done with existing features. Use the new UI to review your possible dupes, reorganize the dupes somewhere else within the library and add a library filter to hide these "recognized" dupes.

V4lve

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ma_t14

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bump.... interesting ::)

Hm, basically, what you want is first: a way to tell MusicBee which files you consider duplicates, e.g. same tag metadata but different type; or same audio fingerprint, for the paranoid. Second: a way to tell MusicBee which file among any given set of duplicates is to be considered the "main" file; e.g. given a FLAC and an MP3, the MP3 is the dupe; given three AAC files, the two with the lesser bitrates are dupes. (As a logical consequence, you'd also need a way to tell MB about exceptions, in case it comes to believe a file is a dupe when it really isn't.) Three: a table (actually, two separate but linked tables) view with "main" files left and their dupes right, where unduped files don't show up.

The rest can be done with existing features. Use the new UI to review your possible dupes, reorganize the dupes somewhere else within the library and add a library filter to hide these "recognized" dupes.

Steven

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anyone interested, i have added a Duplicates Manager (Tools/ Manage Duplicates)
http://www.mediafire.com/?8crk6a12gclz116

You can select the tags that determine duplicates. MusicBee then chooses the best quality track from the duplicates to keep (lossless>lossy>high bitrate>low bitrate). You can interchange the keep and duplicate files using drag/drop
There are 3 options provided:
- hide duplicates (you can temporarily show the hidden files afterwards from the Panel button to the left of the search box)
- delete duplicates
- replace duplicates with an ASX file that refers  to the kept file ie. one physical file is kept but the tags of the original files are preserved in an ASX file that points to the kept file (use this option if you want to keep your albums complete)



Steven

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one thing i realise i overlooked was for option 3 (replace duplicates with ASX file), its not replacing the duplicates in playlists so i will fix that
Last Edit: December 15, 2010, 09:14:00 AM by Steven

Steven

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http://www.mediafire.com/?0m3idp0ygmx7w2x
this now replaces duplicate files in playlists with the replacement ASX file
Last Edit: December 15, 2010, 10:36:18 PM by Steven

allforcarrie

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Amazing, i have been looking for a good duplicate finder.


QNine

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How does the program determine dupes? Is it based only on name? If so, live versions, etc. are going to be a problem. Or does it compare length, etc. to determine?

Steven

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at the moment it just checks tags, default being artist and title but you can add more tags in the Duplicates Manager dialog