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[Sop1]

I have decided to move my Library from iTunes to MC and am looking for tips and/or best practices from experienced JRiver users.  My current iTunes library is on it's own dedicated internal HD with all files being in either ALAC or WAV format.  Most ALAC files were ripped from CDs using iTunes and the WAV files are a result of converting and recording vinyl or personally recorded music from tapes of live performances and importing them into iTunes.  I have not used MC before and am viewing the project as a clean install.   One goal is to get to  a standard lossless format to future proof the library and to get away from the limitations of Apple.  My metadata in iTunes is pretty complete but is a real hodgepodge due to the wav files and the source recordings.  I have done a lot of manual data entry.  I've been able to attach album artwork to the wav albums by making a small, empty dummy file in acc format and associating it to the album as the last track using the same manually entered metadata via "Get Info" manual entry.  So, my metadata is stored various ways in iTunes. 

My questions are:  Should I first convert everything to FLAC using dbpoweramp allowing me to make a duplicate copy of the file structure in FLAC?  I'm thinking I would then install MC and import the files??  If I keep the iTunes file structure I'm thinking I will have the best chance of getting as much of the metadata as possible.  ??  Also, should I go right to v18 to start out?  Would it make any sense to covert all files to AIFF within iTunes first?  Would that grab more metadata and make it more available for the MC import?

I appreciate your help and any other ideas you might have.  Also, I am planning that my sonos will find and use this MC library as well.  Thanks!

[InflatableMouse]

Hi Sop, welcome.

What I would do to begin with is backup your itunes library and media files. Make a copy of the media files to another location for MC to work with so that when something goes wrong, you won't be messing with your itunes library/media files. Make sure MC does not see your itunes folder or you will end up with double entries and/or you might be modifying your original itunes files. IMHO this is your most important step, safeguard your original files and let MC deal with a copy!

MC should be able to import and play all your files, ALAC, AIFF, Wave should not be an issue. If you wish to convert, I wouldn't do that with itunes anymore, import them in MC first and convert them with MC.

Wav files do not store tags in the files, so when you import them in MC they won't have any tags. If you have organised your files on disk like \Artist\Album\Track # - Track Name.ext, you can use Library Tools to fill the properties from filenames.

I think Mc18 is stable enough for you to start out with, nevertheless you may run into issues as it is officially still beta.

Last but not least, I'm not sure how you should handle your cover art with the dummy files, maybe someone else has fancy ideas about that .

[Sop1]

Thanks for the reply and feedback.  A complete backup of the iTunes files, as is, was in the plan.  I already do back ups of the entire iTunes Library main structure to a separate HD to another computer.  I was thinking I would backup and then use the existing files from their current location for the move to MC.   You bring up a great point, I don't want duplicate files to clean up so I will keep one set of files within search range.

I was planning to convert the library to flac with dbpoweramp before installing MC but it sounds like I don't need to do that, just do it with MC.  ??  Great, saves time and money.

My WAV files are indeed organized on disk as \Artist\Album\Track # -Track name.  I have also entered Genre etc in the Get info section.  I hope MC will pull most of that data.  I really really don't want to re-enter every track name.

The "dummy" cover art files are not handled consistently by iTunes.  They are always included as files in the same folder along with the Track # TrackName content files, but sometimes iTunes created a single  m4a file and other times it created a jpg file for each of the tracks on that album.  Either way the cover art works.  I hope MC recognizes them as the cover art for that album and/or track but am not optimistic.

Thanks again

[MrC]

In the event that some data is not pulled into MC, it is trivial to have MC use your directory structure to grab the Artist, Album, Track # and track Name components (since you have a nice organization).

[FastKayak]

Sop1, you will find MC to be a Swiss Army knife of tools and organizational power.  Depending on your level of comfort you might want to really start with a small subset (yet another copy) of your iTunes library and run thru one or more imports, file conversions, etc. before going about the entire structure.  Not that you can't take an existing MC library and do lots of organizational changes down the road, but still, if it was me, I'd start small, get what I want and then go about doing everything.

FastKayak / Larry

[Sop1]

FastKayak - That's what I will do, good idea.  I need to just jump in and see what program is all about.  The responses so far indicate MC will do what I am looking to do and will be well worth the effort.  Thanks.