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[Blue Boy]

I wonder if there is a difference if you install MC 15 on an external HD together with the music folders.  I found out that this is the easiest way to handle and tag my albums.  I can do it on my Laptop in my office.

But does it have any impact on the sound?  I figure MC has to handle all the music and then "transmitting" it to the computer and windows before sending the signal to the hifisystem (in my case an external DAC.)

This might be a silly question, but still I want to do everything right so I don't have to redo all my music once again.

Also, how do you save a music library? I have done my ripping in Wav. and drag them into mediacenter, in mediacenter I tag them with album and artists name, and then add covers from file. This weekend I have tried different things with MC but everytime I have to redo all my albums, it is kind of time consuming, please have patience with me as I'm learning, never even listened to a MP3 file before this. I also noticed that some album covers are gone when starting up MC and they was there from the start.

I'm glad for all inputs you can give me on this.

Blue Boy

[JimH]

If you're talking about a Portable Install, it should be fine.  

Here's a link to Audiophile Info on our Wiki.  You may find something useful there.

When you rip, if you use MC, the files are automatically imported.

If you're ripping with something else, you can set MC to auto-import.  Options are under Tools/Options/Library.  You will need to know the location of the files.

Please feel free to ask anytime.  There are a lot of experienced users here who can help you learn.

[Blue Boy]

Thanks for your answer, but do you mean that portable install on a USB HDD doesn't differ audiowise from an install to the computer's HDD and installing on C: where Windows7 is installed?

[JimH]

They should be identical.

[tunetyme]

Blue Boy:

It sounds like you are beginning to move all your music onto a hard disc.  You will love it.  A few basics.  A wav file does not have a "tag" file associated with it.  It is lossless.  In other words you can recreate the CD it was ripped from "bit perfect".  
There are a number "lossless" music compression software like Monkey Audio (ape files) and Flac.  In my opinion they are the best.  They compress your audio like a "zip" file for music that is "bit perfect".  They will reduce your file size up to 50% give or take 10%.  You can recreate your original CD "bit perfect" from these lossless files.  
MP3 is a "lossy" format.  It actually reduces the amount of data in the file.  These can be reduced in size 80-90%.  You can not recreate your original "bit perfect" song from an MP3.  There is a lot of info out there about these different formats.

Storage is cheap, the need to go to an mp3 is questionable except for ipod's.  If you have an ipod and want to sync your PC's music with your ipod MC will help you with that.  I don't have one but I understand that MC will do that for you.  There are others on the board that will be happy to help you with that. As I understand it, MC will convert the files (from wav, ape, flac,etc.) to an MP3 format and copy them to your ipod.  I love my music but I don't need to carry it with me all the time.

Some can hear the difference between an MP3 and a lossless file others can't I am one of those who can hear it.  A lot depends on the system that you are playing it on and the volume.  If you are on cheap pc speakers it is very difficult to determine if it is an MP3 or a lossless file.  

I store all my files in a lossless format.  They have tags so when I input data such as album, title, track, date etc. it is stored with the music itself.  You can put lyrics and a whole lot of info about each song and store it within the tag or in Media Center.  That way when I upgrade (I just upgraded to 15) I can do an initial install and it will look up everything I have in each tag and import it into Media Center.  It's great.  

If you have questions, just ask.

Tunetyme