macOs Catalina Version 10.15.7 (19H1) running on a Mac mini 2.26 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB 1067 MHz DDR3 running Ron Version 1.8 (build 988)
Networking Gear & Setup Details
Connected Audio Devices
Number of Tracks in Library
Description of Issue
I have a 3 Cd box set in my ripped CD collection called “The Trance Box”. The 3 CDs are stored in folders called ‘The Trance Box CD 1_ Uplifting’, ‘The Trance Box CD 2_ Full On’ and ‘The Trance Box CD 3_ Classics’. I believe the folder names were what Apple iTunes called them when I initially ripped the CDs many years ago.
If I select Albums in the side bar and search for “Trance Box” or even just “Trance” then Roon does not offer any of the 3 CDs as a possible match.
If I select Albums in the side bar and scroll down the list then I can see the album covers but the names of all 3 CDs are shown as “39 Trance Anthems in the Mix” - which is the subtitle on the album covers.
Could someone please explain why Roon is coming up with a different album name than that stored as the folder name on the hard drive? And why can’t it find them with a simple “Trance” search when that is what it thinks is in the album name?
Further to the above, provided that all three CDs are Identified by Roon, then that assigned title is from the metadata held on these discs by Roon’s provider. I agree it is frustrating when this differs to what you think of as the album title and can easily make albums unfindable as you start searching for the wrong title. Roon doesn’t use album subtitles or allow individual artwork for box sets unfortunately.
I have a lot of compilation albums so have suffered from this issue for many years due to a combination of the ‘metadata misnaming’ issue and Roon’s poor search capabilities. The only way to avoid frustration was to tag albums on import. At least this way I could easily find them without having to search.
The Filter function is very useful now for finding difficult titles.
I’ve just looked inside one of the album files called “01 Threesome.m4a” using TextEdit. Most of it is gobbleygook but I did find this section not too far down;
You might try loading the files into a metadata editor like Yate or similar —look around on the forum for one that suits you and your platform—instead of a text editor. That will show you (and allow you to edit) the metadata fields clearly.
Thanks for taking the time to write in! To better understand your situation, could you please send over a screenshot of the albums in question? A bit part of this is ensuring that Roon identifies the album, and also ensuring that Roon can properly read the album tags.
Another option would be to select all three albums and merge them. When selecting all three albums, click the three-dot dropdown at the top of your window, and select ‘Edit’ and ‘Merge Albums.’
Hi Ben,
Thanks for your response. I will send the screenshots and try the merge. But I can’t do that for about 3 weeks because I am rather a long way away from my Roon system!
Question; if I merge the 3 cds in the album set will they appear as one humongous album? Or will I still be able to select the individual cds by name e.g. uplifting, classic?
When merging the 3 CDs, I would take advantage of the tag feature to tag each cd as its own, followed by merging them together. That way, they’ll be lumped together, but you can still search and play them separately based on the allotted tag.
