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[Felix3]

I'm a long term user and supporter of JRiver MC - I absolutely love it and just bought the upgrade license for v23
My setup is: one work PC (master) running iTunes and one media PC (slave) running MC. This media PC is connected to my higher end Hifi solution Allwaysync software automatically syncs the audio files one way from master to slave.

For quite some time I have one last to-do item on my Hifi setup list: sync iTunes ratings with MC.
As iTunes only stores ratings in its database there doesn't seem to be any simple solution to automatically sync the ratings to another media player.

So which options do I have ?

a) Fully migrate away from iTunes towards JRiver MC and have 2 MC installations running - then syncing ratings shouldn't be a problem ?
b) Is there an option B? Like a tool which automatically writes the iTunes rating into the audio file so that JRiver MC can read it ?

Thanks so much in advance
Felix

[blgentry]

Of course running MC is the right solution! 

More seriously, I guess you should ask yourself why you are still running itunes as your "master".  If there's some compelling reason, then I guess you just live with it as is.  If itunes isn't doing something extra special for you, then moving to MC should actually be a very positive thing for you.  I personally think MC is a much better player and library manager than itunes.

Brian.

[Felix3]

Hi Brian,

Thanks for your reply

I still buy music on iTunes (convenient) but that would be easy to change. The main feature is the podcast functionality which I use many hours every day. In addition I am not tied to Apple universe via hardware.

So I could fully switch to MC for music management and player.

Just to confirm: If I have 2 PCs running MC I can sync my music and MC database (including ratings) between those easily and reliably ? I have about 30.000 tracks in my collection..

[blgentry]

The main feature is the podcast functionality which I use many hours every day.

I know MC has podcast support, but I don't have any experience with it.  I guess you'd want to play around with that and see if it works well for you.

Just to confirm: If I have 2 PCs running MC I can sync my music and MC database (including ratings) between those easily and reliably ? I have about 30.000 tracks in my collection..

I've done many moves of MC from one computer to another.  It's always been fairly easy.  I have not tried to keep two systems in sync over any period of time.  I'm fairly certain it will be similar.

You can certainly continue to sync your files the way you do now.  Then you can do a Library Backup (file > library > backup library) on the master, copy that file to the other computer, and then restore that library.  File > library > restore library .

If the file paths are not the same between systems, you can probably use the Rename, Move, and Copy files tool to change the paths so they are correct on the 2nd computer.  As long as you are copying one directory tree to another tree without making any modifications in between, RM&C should work great.  I've used it for this purpose just recently when I copied my library from my Mac running MC22 to a Raspberry Pi 3 running MC22 for Linux.  It worked flawlessly.

If you need more details, we can certainly discuss them.  Glynor had his own method for doing this as well.  I believe he did an Export Playlist on the Master, and saved it as an MPL file.  Then he edited the paths inside the MPL file (since it is just text), and finally did an Import Playlist on the 2nd computer.  He had some semi-automated way of doing this, which included a Sync tool like the one you are using.  Maybe even the same tool... I can't remember the details.

Brian.

[Felix3]

Thanks a lot Brian

Super useful information. I guess based on that I should setup a test installation and test my preferred setup.

Key goal for me is a super reliable sync which includes all meta data information, CRC checks on file copy (so that slave is automatically a full backup) and automatic sync by pressing one button. This is how it currently works between iTunes and MC. I'm sure I can get this up and running between 2 MC installations.

[Vocalpoint]

Key goal for me is a super reliable sync which includes all meta data information, CRC checks on file copy (so that slave is automatically a full backup) and automatic sync by pressing one button.

Not sure I understand the "need" for sync at all. You could have your "master" run the MC Server component and set up your other PC as a client - so there is no need to sync anything. The client would always get the latest and greatest metadata via the "master".

VP

[Felix3]

In my setup the Master is usually turned off while the Client is running.

2 independent PCs: one for gaming / work / general media consumption (podcasts, background music) and one just for my dedicated hifi chain (PC - DAC - active speakers by Adam).

[Vocalpoint]

In my setup the Master is usually turned off while the Client is running.

Got it.

VP