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[tcman41]

I running build 183

I import 4 discs of the allman brothers box set called dreams.

I am sorting my album thumbnails via, track# a-z and then date created z-a.

per the above method the tracks are in correct order on the albums but albums 2, 3 and 4 show up at the end of all my albums.

If i add an addition sort method disc# z-a then the four allman brothers disc show up to next to each other but now the track lists are all scrambled.

No matter how i list the sort method there seems to be no way to get all four allman brothers disc from the same set imported at the same time to show up next to each other and have their track lists in the right order, can someone clue me in?

TC ?

[tcman41]

I have included a pic about what i am talking about. I import 4 allman brothers disc at the same time, have track a-z and date created z-a as my sorting methods yet when i import the 4 allman brothers albums discs 2,3 and 4 end up at the bottom of the sort list, why?

any help would be greatly appreciated

[Matt]

Sorting album grouped thumbnails by track # may not give logical results.  How about name or date imported sorting instead?

[tcman41]

I simply want to sort by last album imported and have the track listings on the albums be in the correct order. No matter what sort method I use it seems to be physically impossible to do.

There has to be a way to do this, the odd thing is that it seems to be working differently between my work computer and my home computer, but in either case i can't get it to do this simple thing.

I list individual albums in a multiple disc set as disc1, disc2, disc3 etc in the album name, if i change the naming somehow will this allow me to get around my problem?

This is really driving me insane, has no one else run across this problem?

Thanks
TC

[Matt]

So what's wrong with sorting by "Date Imported" only?

[lOth]

This is really driving me insane, has no one else run across this problem?

Yes, I have the exact same problem.

This smartlist:

completealbum==1 ~sort=[date imported]-d,[Track] [Media Type]=[Audio] [Removable]==0

with results displayed as album thumbnails still gives me a nice view of cover arts, beginning with the most recently imported album. What has changed at some point (sorry, I don't remember with what build it stopped working) is that when I double clicked one of these thumbnails MC used to play the songs in their track order. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way anymore : when I double click one of these album thumbnails, the track order is broken, and I assume files are just played beginning with the most recently imported (as opposed to track #1).

So what's wrong with sorting by "Date Imported" only?

What's wrong is what I just explained and what would be right is to recover the ability to play an entire album according to the track order, not the date and time files were imported.

[Alex B]

... I list individual albums in a multiple disc set as disc1, disc2, disc3 etc in the album name, if i change the naming somehow will this allow me to get around my problem? ...

I suppose you are using disc numbers too. I think MC uses the disc numbers first when it sorts items by track numbers. That may be the reason why the discs 2, 3 and 4 appear after the other albums.

Your "Dreams" discs are separate albums since they have separate album names. The disc 2 album don't have the first disc and the disc 3 album don't have the first and second discs and so on. You should use disc numbers only if all discs belong to the same album.

Personally, I prefer to use only one correct album name and numbered discs. If the discs have individual names besides the album name I use the comment field.

[tcman41]

Had to finally give up on this, I am now listing all tracks of a box set under one album thumbnail with one album name and by each track putting in a comment for what disc# it belongs to.

I have about 40 multiple disc sets to combine and i got to tell you it is a real pain, unimport, combine and renumber the tracks, change the album name and then reimport.

This is not how sorting worked before in MC11, something changed about 20 to 25 builds ago, it's a real shame.

TC 

[lOth]

This is not how sorting worked before in MC11, something changed about 20 to 25 builds ago, it's a real shame.

That sounds about right, and yes, it's a shame.

[Alex B]

I have about 40 multiple disc sets to combine and i got to tell you it is a real pain, unimport, combine and renumber the tracks, change the album name and then reimport.

You don't have to unimport/reimport. Just select the albums from the top thumbnail view, select the tracks in the bottom file list view and change the album name in one of selected tracks or use the Tag Info panel in Action Window. Also, MC can rename and relocate files easily by using library properties. Though, you may need to delete the orphaned cover art files separately if you have them inside the file folders. I have imported and tagged my cover art files too so I can easily handle them together with the music files.

In general you should be able to keep the original track numbers if you use disc numbers. Normally MC uses the disc numbers first when it sorts tracks, but I have not tested this with the bottom album thumbnails and the "Date Imported" sort rule.

I have used this numbering system: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=31501.msg216511#msg216511

[Fex]

You don't have to unimport/reimport. Just select the albums from the top thumbnail view, select the tracks in the bottom file list view and change the album name in one of selected tracks or use the Tag Info panel in Action Window. Also, MC can rename and relocate files easily by using library properties. Though, you may need to delete the orphaned cover art files separately if you have them inside the file folders. I have imported and tagged my cover art files too so I can easily handle them together with the music files...

It could be as easy as it was: Import and play. In the right order. Without any further step(s).

I don't get why it changed?
It IS a pain.

Fex

[Fex]

Sorting album grouped thumbnails by track # may not give logical results...

Why not? You import an album, so what do you expect?
And if it's not logical, you will expect playing the tracks in the right order.

Thanks
Fex

[Alex B]

The new browser system works fine for casual browsing and album playback. Album thumbnails can be in the date imported order on the top split and the file details are available in the track order on the bottom split, which can be easily closed and reopened. MC plays albums always in the correct track order because the bottom list sort order is used when the albums are send to Playing Now from the top thumbnail view.

The bottom album thumbnails are now quite redundant.

I use the old panes mode only for serious tagging and then I need to see the bottom view in the file list mode.

[tcman41]

Thanks for the input Alex really appreciate it, i am sure there is probably an easier way to do it than my way.

I tag all my files with a external mp3 tagger program before i import anything into media center, it just seems to work better that way for me.

I will tag individual songs with media center, correcting little things i see wrong, but if i am doing an whole album or redoing a whole album i do it with the tag program.

TC

[Alex B]

Perhaps not all users have upgraded to MC11.1 and are familiar with the new browsing system. I made these screenshots yesterday for another reply, but I didn't post that reply after all. The images show how the new browsing system differs from the old panes + bottom thumbnails view system.

The view items that can be seen in the pane headers are still available in the new system. In the screenshot I have selected first Peter Gabriel and then his albums. Double click on the divider hides quickly the file list when needed. The track sort order works even the list is hidden.

The new browser:




The panes & bottom thumbnails view (these are track thumbnails, but they could album thumbnails as well):

[Alex B]

Thanks for the input Alex really appreciate it, i am sure there is probably an easier way to do it than my way.

I tag all my files with a external mp3 tagger program before i import anything into media center, it just seems to work better that way for me.

I will tag individual songs with media center, correcting little things i see wrong, but if i am doing an whole album or redoing a whole album i do it with the tag program.

TC

I see. What tagger do you use? Here is a free tagger that can correctly handle MC's custom tags: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=33792.msg230762#msg230762

[lOth]

Perhaps not all users have upgraded to MC11.1 and are familiar with the new browsing system. I made these screenshots yesterday for another reply, but I didn't post that reply after all. The images show how the new browsing system differs from the old panes + bottom thumbnails view system.

I think I understand how the new browsing system works and this new system is not what has affected the smartlist I mentioned above. Rather, MC seems to have a new of handling ~sort=[date imported]-d,[Track]. Now two files that have the same [date imported] are not ordered by [Track] as they should with this expression. Look at how the two albums '2nd Round' and 'Stadium Arcadium' are displayed in the detail view mode:



The order *looks* right in the album thumbnail view:



But if I double click Stadium Arcadium, here's what I get in Playing Now:



Am I making sense now?

[Matt]

MC inserts "Disc #" before "Track #" in all "Track #" sorts.  This is by design.

[lOth]

what about the case I'm talking about? I never use Disc# (see my Stadium Arcadium).

[Matt]

what about the case I'm talking about? I never use Disc# (see my Stadium Arcadium).

Show the disc number column.  It may have unintentional values from the tags.

[Alex B]

what about the case I'm talking about? I never use Disc# (see my Stadium Arcadium).

Part of the problem is that the items are grouped only for display (album thumbnails in playlists and bottom lists). The real order underneath the visible thumbnails is still the same list order.

Even if the list order would be correct (not like in your screenshot), if the individual album tracks were not imported at the same time the result could still be wrong.

However, instead of using a smartlist you could make a new view scheme with this rule (in Step 4):
completealbum==1 [Media Type]=[Audio] [Removable]==0

Sort the "top" album thumbnails in the date imported order and the bottom list (which can be hidden) in the default order.

[lOth]

Thanks. Although I would have preferred to keep this in a smartlist, this is an acceptable alternative.

[marko]

Thanks. Although I would have preferred to keep this in a smartlist, this is an acceptable alternative.

a lot of the problems here revolving around the [date imported] field. this field contains the time as well as the date, which can skew lists sorted by [date imported].
my way round this was to create a custom, expression based field called import date, and sort by that instead...

FormatDate([Date Imported,0], yyyy//MM//dd)

and so, the following sort rule:

~sort=[import date]-d,[album]

lists albums in their correct disc # / track order, with the most recently imported at the top of the list.
works a treat for me in a smartlist with album thumbnails, might do for you too.