Print

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

[Matias]

I installed a new SSD, formatted everything and reinstalled Win 7 x64 and latest MC 15.
After reloading my 350GB library from my data HDD, I synched my iPod Classic 120GB.
It took the whole night converting flac to MP3 320kbps (I chose these settings).

The problem is, I just found out that my new installation has a "J River Conversion Cache" folder in my User/Music folder, and this has 18GB copies of my MP3 music in it!!

1) What is this folder? Why hasn't MC deleted it after the synch finished?

2) Is it really needed to write all this in my SSD? I wish my RAM was used instead (6GB) if needed and avoid writes on the SSD.

Thank you in advance.

[joh]

When you convert from one format to another, MC has the option to save a copy in its conversion cache. You can either disable this cache, or point it to another disk (assuming you kept your HDD). Goto "Tools / Options / File Location". Click on the button the words "music cache" and choose your option.

Good luck! /Olle

Ps: the purpose of this cache is that many people use high quality formats on their pc's and then convert to a lower quality format for portable devices. In order not to have to reconvert the file every time you want to copy it to another device, the lower Q version  is cached.

[Matias]

Thank you for the tip.  I disabled my cache here.

[Frobozz]

If you've still got a mechanical HD attached you might consider putting the conversion cache on the mechanical HD.  Otherwise the next time you sync your iPod with those same songs it would take all night to do the conversion and sync again.  If the files are in the conversion cache there is no need to convert them again during the sync and that saves a lot of time.

I've got an 80 GB iPod.  If every file on it needed to be converted the sync would take way more than just overnight.  I take advantage of the conversion cache so my syncs can be done in a reasonable amount of time.

[Matias]

But even if I did not change my original flac files (Last Date Modified unchanged), it will still convert to MP3 and synch?
That is no good.

It should be:
1) Check if flacs changed
2) If yes, convert to MP3
3) If caching is enabled (for other devices), store in HD
4) Copy files to iPod

That should be the reasonable way of synching.
Why would MC check the changes based on the cached MP3?

[NRGman]

But even if I did not change my original flac files (Last Date Modified unchanged), it will still convert to MP3 and synch?
That is no good.

It should be:
1) Check if flacs changed
2) If yes, convert to MP3
3) If caching is enabled (for other devices), store in HD
4) Copy files to iPod

That should be the reasonable way of synching.
Why would MC check the changes based on the cached MP3?

+1 it would be stupid to do it any other way...

[Frobozz]

I would have to think that J River is being smart about what needs to be re-synced or re-converted and tries to avoid unnecessary conversions and file transfers.  I don't know what all the rules are for determining what gets converted or transferred during a sync and what factors would cause a file to get re-transferred even if it is already on the device.  I would suspect that some, but not all, tag changes could trigger a re-conversion and re-transfer even if the actual audio data in the file hasn't changed.  Going just by file modified dates wouldn't be optimal because file modified dates can get updated for changes that shouldn't need to cause a re-sync.

But even with proper smarts it seems that many files end up needing to be re-transferred when I do syncs.  Probably because I'm always updating cover art and fiddling with tags. 

I also like the conversion cache because it ends up creating an MP3 version of my library.  Handy.

And there are times that you may find you need to erase your iPod and start over.  That's happened to me before when the cover art stopped working on the iPod.  Easiest way to fix that is to erase all the music files and re-sync.  The conversions cache is very useful when that happens.

I'm just suggesting that you use the conversion cache feature if you can.  I find it useful and I like it.  Compared to the size of my FLAC library and other media files the size of the conversion cache is minor.

[glynor]

It does check for changes, and only rebuilds the cache file if it needs to because the file has changed.  You can also disable this check as part of the sync settings if you want, and then it will not rebuild the cache file even if the source file has changed (which can be convenient in some cases where you know the changes are irrelevant).

[Frobozz]

I didn't know you could disable the conversion cache update for changed files.  That could be handy, especially if I want to do a quick sync for a few songs and don't want to risk having the sync take a long time due to other files getting updated.  I'll have to experiment next time I sync the iPod.

There's always features hiding in MC that I don't know about or didn't think of taking advantage of.  I'm doing a lot with MC but still only using a portion of its capabilities.

[sunfire7]

I love the cache feature but I would like to have something like automatic cache instead of having to sync to a handheld to build the cache!!

[phoenix91]

I love the cache feature but I would like to have something like automatic cache instead of having to sync to a handheld to build the cache!!

+1

[Matias]

+1!

[squeedle]

When you convert from one format to another, MC has the option to save a copy in its conversion cache. You can either disable this cache, or point it to another disk (assuming you kept your HDD). Goto "Tools / Options / File Location". Click on the button the words "music cache" and choose your option.

Thank you! I was losing my mind trying to change my sync DSP options and not seeing them take effect until I read this and deleted the cache. There should be some mention of this cache and perhaps options to delete it in the Sync Options window. I'm sure this has caused other people confusion too.