And searching should be only for artist name and songtitle. Nothing fancy more than that.
It seems you're trying to make the point MC is too complicated for the "regular user" while not paying attention to what's being discussed here. Displaying only duplicates of [Artist] [Name] is dirt simple in MC. The problem is how to refine and what to do with that information. Duplicates defined this way can be...
- a different quality
- a different version (e.g., single, extended, live, etc.)
- a remastered version
- necessary to maintain a complete album
- some combination of the above
...and what one wants to do with them is a matter of personal preference. A popup that tells you a track being added to the library is a duplicate is next to useless.
Wig and marco have offered interesting suggestions, but I don't think this can be handled by one smartlist without being tied for an arbitrary way of handling duplicates and/or only working while tracks are in a recently added list. When checking duplicates, I always want to see all duplicates for the particular artist. I can't decide what to do with a new duplicate until I see those that already exist (that I've likely previously decided to retain). I rarely want to delete a duplicate, unless it makes sense to delete the whole album (e.g., I'm not particularly attached to the album, and most of the tracks are in a compilation of better quality). I'm more likely to replace lesser quality recordings with better ones, keeping identical duplicates. This is easy for me because there are few multiple artist compilations in my library. I can manage duplicates any way I please simply by displaying them for a particular artist.
This is obviously more challenging for multiple artist compilations, but I would still handle it in the same way. For the same reasons, I'm still going to need to see all the duplicates (new and existing) for each artist separately. This is not as difficult as it soundsusing a Panes View. Use or create one that includes: a search list pane for selecting duplicates, recent additions, and whatever else might be convenient; Artist; Album. If you have any fields that might be helpful in narrowing the scope of the duplicates to be considered, include those as well (e.g., I use a [a.Class] that allows me to choose original, live, compilation, multiple artist and soundtrack albums). Group by [Artist], [Name] (I find it useful to have use an expression field: [Artist] [Name]). Sort inside groups in any manner that suits you (I sort by [a.Released], a custom album-related field).
Such a view will allow for the management of duplicates in any circumstances. The panes are simply used to first select the artist (e.g., one artist from a new mix album being added), then display all the duplicates for that artist. In most cases, it be easy enough to see the tracks from the album in question. If there are many duplicates for that artist, it may be necessary to restrict the number of album types (e.g., I might look at duplicates in original vs. compilation albums separately). When done with that artist, reset the Artist pane, select the album again, and then the next artist.
