Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[dilburt]

I'm new to JRiver and have been trying to figure out a way to hide semi-duplicate tracks which are being created as I upgrade my music library from mp3 to hi-res flac formats. To make things worse, JRiver sorts albums as track1.flac, track1.mp3, track2.flac, track2.mp3 by default which makes it difficult to select songs. I've tried "deleting" files from the library using the top option (which is essentially hiding) except the tracks always come back (perhaps when the program is updated). If anyone knows how to make this option work permanently without actually deleting the files it would be a fall-back solution for me. I have a lot of rare files and still use some of the lower res formats so physical deletion isn't an option right now.

I've been trying to create a filter that hides all lower resolution copies of tracks of the same artist-album when a flac version is present. This should be fairly simple since I'm not using DSD, don't have multiple flac resolutions and don't care about resolution grades between mp3, mp4, aac, etc. However, I can't find a "visibility" or hide function and there doesn't appear to be any File Type conditionals available.

I would appreciate any help regarding this.

Thanks,

D

[JimH]

In any view, a search for FLAC or for MP3 will show only that file type.

[blgentry]

I'm new to JRiver and have been trying to figure out a way to hide semi-duplicate tracks which are being created as I upgrade my music library from mp3 to hi-res flac formats.

When you're "upgrading" presumably you don't care about the MP3 versions any more.  So you remove or replace them.  There are other solutions, but removing the low resolution files for ONLY the ones you have FLACs of would seem to be he easiest and most logical.  Just delete them song by song, or album by album as you "upgrade".

To make things worse, JRiver sorts albums as track1.flac, track1.mp3, track2.flac, track2.mp3 by default which makes it difficult to select songs.

Within any view that has columns shown, you can sort on any column, or set of columns.  I think you want to sort first by file type and then by Track #.  Make sure [file type] and [track #] are visible as columns.  Right click on the column header and you can select what you want.  Now, click the columns in *reverse* order.  So click Track # and then file type.  Now they should be sorted the way you want with the various formats grouped together.

I've tried "deleting" files from the library using the top option (which is essentially hiding) except the tracks always come back (perhaps when the program is updated). If anyone knows how to make this option work permanently without actually deleting the files it would be a fall-back solution for me.

It sounds like you have unchecked the option to ignore deleted files:
Tools > Options > Library & Folders > configure auto import > tasks > ignore files previously deleted from library > (check this option)

I have a lot of rare files and still use some of the lower res formats so physical deletion isn't an option right now.

If your rare files are in MP3 and you don't have duplicates of them in FLAC, then you shouldn't be trying to remove them at all.  Your library can contain both types of files without any problem.  Maybe there's a scenario here that I don't understand.  Feel free to elaborate to explain the situation.

I've been trying to create a filter that hides all lower resolution copies of tracks of the same artist-album when a flac version is present.

You could alter one or more of your views to include file type as a grouping criteria.  I've just done this as a test.  I made a duplicate album in MP3 to test with (as I have almost no MP3s and no duplicate albums with MP3 versions).  See the attached screen shot for how my newly modified albums view shows albums.  I have it set to show the file type in parenthesis if it's not FLAC.  That could be altered to show file type always, or only on a certain format, etc.

However, I can't find a "visibility" or hide function[...]

Correct, there is not a stock "visibility" function or field.  However, you could make one with maybe 10 to 15 minutes of effort.  It would take several steps and some alterations, but it's definitely possible.  I envision this as a check box field called "hide".  In one special view, you'd have access to see all files, and you could check HIDE on any file you didn't want to see.  Then, in every other view you cared about, any file that had Hide checked just wouldn't show up.  This seems like a stopgap solution to me, but maybe it's one way to go.

Brian.

[blgentry]

I should also add that I have a special view that's designed to find duplicates.  If part of your process is going to be auditing your collection to try to find duplicates, a view like this one might be helpful for you.  See attached screen shot.

Brian.

[dilburt]

When you're "upgrading" presumably you don't care about the MP3 versions any more.  So you remove or replace them.  There are other solutions, but removing the low resolution files for ONLY the ones you have FLACs of would seem to be he easiest and most logical.  Just delete them song by song, or album by album as you "upgrade".

My library has over 150k songs and at the time I switched to JRiver (about 6 weeks ago), I already had upgraded over 30k of these to FLAC so I'm hoping to solve this without manual deletion.

Within any view that has columns shown, you can sort on any column, or set of columns.  I think you want to sort first by file type and then by Track #.  Make sure [file type] and [track #] are visible as columns.  Right click on the column header and you can select what you want.  Now, click the columns in *reverse* order.  So click Track # and then file type.  Now they should be sorted the way you want with the various formats grouped together.

Yes, I've done this but how can I make this sort order persistent?

It sounds like you have unchecked the option to ignore deleted files:
Tools > Options > Library & Folders > configure auto import > tasks > ignore files previously deleted from library > (check this option)

No, it's enabled and the files are initially removed from the library when I delete with the "Remove From Media Library" option. However, at some later time when I return to an artist where I've "deleted" tracks, I sometimes find they have returned. This happens intermittently, not consistently so I'm assuming something I'm doing is resetting the "deleted" status for that artist->album->file-type but I can't find a repeatable cause. I would love to know why this happens but it isn't my main problem.

If your rare files are in MP3 and you don't have duplicates of them in FLAC, then you shouldn't be trying to remove them at all.  Your library can contain both types of files without any problem.  Maybe there's a scenario here that I don't understand.  Feel free to elaborate to explain the situation.

That is correct, I only want to hide/delete other file types when a FLAC version of the same recording is present. I want to bulk delete but because I have lots of rare tracks I need to make absolutely sure I'm only deleting lower-res files when I have a FLAC copy of the same recording. If I could create a search/filter that would only show me all non-FLAC tracks for each artist->album where FLAC tracks exist it would make this fairly simple but I can't figure out how to do that. The search logic is:
1. Find all FLAC tracks
2. Within these search results find all non-FLAC tracks for each artist-album.
Step 1 is simple but I can't figure out how to do a search within search results, is this even possible? Is there another way to do this?

You could alter one or more of your views to include file type as a grouping criteria.  I've just done this as a test.  I made a duplicate album in MP3 to test with (as I have almost no MP3s and no duplicate albums with MP3 versions).  See the attached screen shot for how my newly modified albums view shows albums.  I have it set to show the file type in parenthesis if it's not FLAC.  That could be altered to show file type always, or only on a certain format, etc.

Sorry, I didn't describe this well I guess. I'm not trying to modify the upper display as your example shows, I'm trying to modify the sort order of the lower list produced when you select an artist in the upper display.

Correct, there is not a stock "visibility" function or field.  However, you could make one with maybe 10 to 15 minutes of effort.  It would take several steps and some alterations, but it's definitely possible.  I envision this as a check box field called "hide".  In one special view, you'd have access to see all files, and you could check HIDE on any file you didn't want to see.  Then, in every other view you cared about, any file that had Hide checked just wouldn't show up.  This seems like a stopgap solution to me, but maybe it's one way to go.

Brian.

To further clarify, I really have 1 primary problem which is the two-step search I described above. If I could do this it would make it simple to locate and bulk delete the mp3, mp4 and acc files I no longer need because I have upgraded artist-album to hi-res FLAC. However, because I haven't been able to do this I've run into the second problem regarding the sort order in the lower list when you have multiple file type copies of the same artist-album.

Thanks for your help with this!

D

[blgentry]

Yes, I've done this but how can I make this sort order persistent?

Sort order should "stick" in each view.  A view is Albums, Artists, Files, Genres, etc.  The top level items under Audio in the tree on the left.  Each view has it's own sort order.  But once you set a sort order for each view, it should stay how you set it.

[About remembering deleted files]

No, it's enabled and the files are initially removed from the library when I delete with the "Remove From Media Library" option. However, at some later time when I return to an artist where I've "deleted" tracks, I sometimes find they have returned.

I'm just guessing here, but with such a large collection, I think you're just finding more duplicates.  Just a guess.  Nothing should "reset" this status without you doing something special.  Oh!  If you move files around on disk outside of MC it will try to re-import anything you move around that's still in an auto import directory.  Maybe?

If I could create a search/filter that would only show me all non-FLAC tracks for each artist->album where FLAC tracks exist it would make this fairly simple but I can't figure out how to do that. The search logic is:
1. Find all FLAC tracks
2. Within these search results find all non-FLAC tracks for each artist-album.
Step 1 is simple but I can't figure out how to do a search within search results, is this even possible? Is there another way to do this?

My duplicate finder view could do this fairly automatically I think.  If you select "Artist, Song, Album" it should only show exact duplicates based on those criteria.  Then it will show them all to you, sorted how you choose.  Then you can use the File Type pane to select FLAC, MP3, etc to isolate your selection further.  I think that would work just fine for you.  But it's semi-manual.  You probably wouldn't trust any pure search that just showed you a list of MP3s would you?  You wouldn't bulk delete 20,000 tracks that a search showed right?  You'd want to review them and then delete when you were sure.  The Duplicate Finder view *helps* you find and review and the deleting is up to you.

To further clarify, I really have 1 primary problem which is the two-step search I described above. If I could do this it would make it simple to locate and bulk delete the mp3, mp4 and acc files I no longer need because I have upgraded artist-album to hi-res FLAC.

Hmm. I'm not 100% sure how to do exactly what you're asking.  I understand it, but right this second I'm not sure how to get MC to do this "pairing" and then remove one of the pairs based on file type.  I can do all kinds of things that are similar.  But not exactly that.  I'll think it over. 

I still think a semi-manual, assisted process is the way to go.  That way you're really really sure about what you delete.  Even with 30,000 tracks to review, that's about 3,000 albums.  You could probably review one album every 5 seconds.  So you could do something like 700 albums in an hour.  Let's round down and say 500 albums in an hour.  Assuming 10 tracks per album, that's about 3,000 albums, so maybe 6 hours total to de-duplicate 30,000 tracks (3,000 albums).  Big collections require big effort to organize and maintain.

Brian.

[dilburt]

Sort order should "stick" in each view.  A view is Albums, Artists, Files, Genres, etc.  The top level items under Audio in the tree on the left.  Each view has it's own sort order.  But once you set a sort order for each view, it should stay how you set it.

[About remembering deleted files]
I'm just guessing here, but with such a large collection, I think you're just finding more duplicates.  Just a guess.  Nothing should "reset" this status without you doing something special.  Oh!  If you move files around on disk outside of MC it will try to re-import anything you move around that's still in an auto import directory.  Maybe?

My duplicate finder view could do this fairly automatically I think.  If you select "Artist, Song, Album" it should only show exact duplicates based on those criteria.  Then it will show them all to you, sorted how you choose.  Then you can use the File Type pane to select FLAC, MP3, etc to isolate your selection further.  I think that would work just fine for you.  But it's semi-manual.  You probably wouldn't trust any pure search that just showed you a list of MP3s would you?  You wouldn't bulk delete 20,000 tracks that a search showed right?  You'd want to review them and then delete when you were sure.  The Duplicate Finder view *helps* you find and review and the deleting is up to you.

Hmm. I'm not 100% sure how to do exactly what you're asking.  I understand it, but right this second I'm not sure how to get MC to do this "pairing" and then remove one of the pairs based on file type.  I can do all kinds of things that are similar.  But not exactly that.  I'll think it over. 

I still think a semi-manual, assisted process is the way to go.  That way you're really really sure about what you delete.  Even with 30,000 tracks to review, that's about 3,000 albums.  You could probably review one album every 5 seconds.  So you could do something like 700 albums in an hour.  Let's round down and say 500 albums in an hour.  Assuming 10 tracks per album, that's about 3,000 albums, so maybe 6 hours total to de-duplicate 30,000 tracks (3,000 albums).  Big collections require big effort to organize and maintain.

Brian.

Brian,

This has been very helpful. I'm going to try your duplicate finder since as you say, I will need to review all the selections before I delete them. The main time savings will simply be the ability to select files for deletion from a large list that is probably correct rather than iteratively finding, verifying, selecting and deleting. I'll let you know if I run into any issues and if not I'll let you know if I can beat your time estimate ;-).

I think I am likely finding new duplicates in a small number of cases but I know for sure some are showing up again after deletion. However, this is a very small number and as puzzling as it is, I can figure it out later. I'll post when I do.

Thanks again,

D

[blgentry]

Attached you'll find my Duplicate Finder View.

To use it, put it in your Saved Views folder (inside your main library folder), which should be at:

"C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\J River\Media Center 21\Library\Saved Views"

Then Add a library view.  Click on a top level container, then View > Add View > Add Library View.  You'll find the duplicate finder template at the bottom of the dialog that pops up.

To fully use the view you'd need to create a couple of custom fields, but as delivered, it should do 90% of what it's capable of and should help you out.

Good luck!

Brian.

[dilburt]

Thanks Brian