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[Texas42]

Did a search but couldn't find my issue so hoping someone can answer this probably very elemental question.  I just downloaded JRiver for Mac on my Mac Mini.  I already had itunes set up with a large library full of ALAC files.  I wanted to start over with JRiver sending full bit AIFF files to my 4tb external hard drive.  Instead, apparently JRiver auto imported my iTunes library (on my Mac Mini's internal HD) and just copied them over.  Not what I wanted.  How do I first, set up my JRiver to autorip CDs into my external HD in AIFF and then overwrite the previous ALAC file(s) of the same CD?  I was going to start all over with my 2,000+ CD library and rip them at a higher bit rate but seemed to be locked into my Mac Mini internal drive as the source library.  Hope this makes sense and greatly appreciate any help.  My end goal is to get JRemote set up on my Ipad and use my Mac Mini (and external HD) as my music server.  I'm sure it's easy but I'm missing a step (or two).  Thanks again.

[Arindelle]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

You don't want to use the automatic set-up (actually I would think of keeping iTunes as far away form manipulating your real library as possible ) I would select all files and remove them from the library and start over. (select and hit delete -- don't choose to delete from your hard drives or you will erase the files themselves!)

I could tell you, but please read  about importing here first  ==> Importing into JRiver

and then Audio set-up ==> Audio Set-up.

There are also other good links on this page from the wiki to cut your teeth on other basic topics Getting Started http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Getting_Started

These articles will give you a generally overview and some of the jargon, so if you need more specific help it will be easier to help you

[glynor]

MC does not move (or copy) any of your files from disk to disk (or anywhere) when you Import the files, like iTunes does. This is just the process of telling MC that they exist. So, you will generally just want to use MC's Auto-Import setup to watch the appropriate folders on your external disk.  The wiki articles Arindelle linked to above are great places to learn about this (I wrote or edited most of them).

One thing, to be clear, MC uses the concept of a Library. In MC's parlance, this just means "database", and is distinct from the media files that make up your personal "media library" (big L versus small l is the way I like to describe it). When you import files, you're adding them to your Library (but as I said above, this does not move the files around at all, just adds records to MC's database).

The reason I bring all this up is that the Library itself should not be stored on your external disk, as that will likely cause performance issues. For more information on this:
http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_Network_and_Slow_Storage#Library_Location_on_Disk

MC's Library is quite small (it is just a database) and storage size constraints are not a substantial concern, but it really wants to be on a fast disk (preferably the one with the fastest random access speeds, which would almost always be an internal SSD).

[blgentry]

Brief instructions on your questions:

1.  Getting your itunes media out of MC:  As the previous poster said, highlight everything and remove it, being sure to allow it to only remove it from the Library and not the disk.  Or shotgun the whole thing and clear the library in one step:  File > Library > Clear Library...

2.  Set up MC to rip from CDs you insert to a directory on your external drive.  Tools > Options > File Location > Audio .  Set your base folder here and set the "folder rule" if you want.  The Folder Rule sets up how it makes Album and Artist directories for you.

3.  Set up Auto Import to look in the directory on your external drive for files you may add there.  Tools > Options > Library & Folders > Configure auto import... > Folders .  You can set up one or more folders and MC will add files you place in any of these to the Library.

4.  Replace your current ALACs with the new files.  I wouldn't try to do that.  I'd just get rid of all of the itunes stuff as per step #1.  If you want to keep track, you can do that by referencing itunes itself and see what you have left to re-rip.

5.  Stuff you didn't ask about regarding file formats:  ALAC is a perfectly fine lossless format.  You *could* just copy all of those files to your external drive and let MC import them there via auto import.  Or you could transcode them to FLAC or some other format.  If the tags are a mess or you have some other issue, I guess you might go a different route.  But the format itself is definitely lossless and not a problem for MC.

AIFF is a good format; also lossless.  But it's not really very commonly used.  I'm not sure how rich it's support for file tags is compared to something like FLAC, which is widely supported and has great tag support.  Most people around here use and recommend FLAC for lossless.  It's what I use.

Good luck!

Brian.

[Arindelle]

  Brian you are training them to be lazy!  I still think it would be good to read those articles 

re the file formats, AIFF is more or less the OS equivalent to wav, its lossless/uncompressed and like wav files very limited for tagging and take up more space ... there may be reasons for using ALAC (big ipod use, MAC/apple app friendly), can't see any reason to use AIFF (or wav for that matter). Careful what you read on certain audiophile blogs about this (not going there ) FLAC is what I would recommend for tagging and future-proofing, otherwise ALAC.

[Toots]

Hi,
New user here trying out the program.  I have 5TH external drive with music, all lossless.  MC is importing as it should be but it is saying it will take 20 days!  Can this be correct?
Toots

[JimH]

Is it a USB 2 drive?