File tags / organization

[Ian_Murphy]

Okay, here’s a deep dive into album tagging / sorting. This is serious trainspotting time, so don’t stick around unless you enjoy this kind of puzzle solving.

REPLACEMENTS - TIM

Here’s a screenshot of the Windows directory:

Master folder with subfolders, each labeled with parenthetical subtitles.

The ALBUM tag in each file is uniform.

In Roon, each subfolder appears as an album, labeled with subtitles.

ROBERT FRIPP - EXPOSURES

Here’s a screenshot of the Windows directory:

Master folder with subfolders, each labeled with parenthetical subtitles.

The ALBUM tag in each directory has a uniform title and a parenthetical subhed matching that directory (i.e. ‘disc name’).

In Roon, the whole collection appears as one directory,

with discs correctly subsorting within.

Personally, I like the way the Replacements listing shakes out, but more to the point, I just find this perplexing. Why the different behavior? (When I started this journey, the Fripp ALBUM tag was identical to the Replacements - all uniform. Still didn’t get desired results.)

What do you suggest / think?

[Rugby (aka Daniel or Big Dan)]

Try getting rid of the leading CD0 - in the album titles and just use Major Loops I, Major Loops Ii, etc.

[Mike_O_Neill]

In your windows view , Roon interprets (Text) or [Text] as an album VERSION, same as have having a formal [Version] Tag in your metadata

eg

Keeping the album name “bare” in this case Full House causes the Grouping of the 2 albums under Version on the album page

Your Robert Fripp example will split because you [Album] tag is different, if this is a box set you need to make [Album] the same in all cases and then the individual discs will show in one album

This may help

Identifying Multi-Disc Sets - FAQ: How can I ensure multi disc sets and box sets...

[Ian_Murphy]

This had an unexpected side effect - making this change kept the multi-disc structure in Roon, but added the parenthetical names as onscreen text:

(I manually inserted cover art since last screenshot.)

[Ian_Murphy]

Thank you - I was forgetting that Roon treats parentheses as version instructions. The Tim set is an example where, for my own listening habits, it’s more useful to have the four discs broken out to discrete panes.

(The Fripp collection is so expansive, I’m not sure whether it’s more awkward to have one “album” with 300 tracks, or 32 clickable tiles. I’m trying to achieve the latter.)

[Ian_Murphy]

Still don’t know what accounts for discrepancy. Replacements set comes up as four clickable ‘versions’:

where Fripp collection appears as a single set, though it seems to me to be organized the same way:

(Get same results when all Fripp tracks were totally consistent, and also now that they are named with parentheticals but with “CD01’ removed.)

Thanks for any continued suggestions.

[Ian_Murphy]

You mention a formal [version] tag but that’s a figure of speech, right? I think I know the the only tags Roon sees are its own two custom tags.

[Rugby (aka Daniel or Big Dan)]

@Ian_Murphy

making this change kept the multi-disc structure in Roon, but added the parenthetical names as onscreen text:

Exactly, since Roon is set by default to use anything in () as version information. This is also what you showed in your Replacements pic…

Note, you can change the behavior of the version indicator from parantheses to something else instead in Settings/Library/Import Settings. See…

So you could Turn OFF “Look for Album Version in Parentheses”.

[Mike_O_Neill]

If you set a custom tag [Version] externally , Roon will honour it. I use JRiver where I can do that

you could try not using brackets, say Exposures - Subtitle

Also is the Album Artist Robert Fripp in each case and the Album title Exposure with no extras the same for all tracks

Can you screenshot your tags somehow

‘

[Mike_O_Neill]

Correct me if I’m wrong but the 4 Tim versions each contained the same set of tracks and were literally different version (maybe an odd bonus track different)

The Exposure and Exposures plural confused me , I take it it’s the box set !!

That is a whole new mess

@Ian_Murphy

In Roon, the whole collection appears as one directory,

@Ian_Murphy

The difference you are seeing is a single disc album as opposed to a multiple disc album. From what I see not many (if any) are previously released albums so splitting them off is going make more mess

@Ian_Murphy

Roon is seeing Exposures (xxx) in the Album title and Extracting a common album name Exposures . Wat you are seeing is a box set . Its odd since some cases discs are only one track

Please post a picture of when you click on that Image do you see a Disc Dropdown “all discs”

Exposures seems to be a collection of CD’s of previously unreleased works and live shows

https://www.discogs.com/release/23146883-Robert-Fripp-Exposures?srsltid=AfmBOooseCO0z_z1R8sVZnClLNGJ17qePLiMcTbAjjr4eOyJEg1iUd9i

Editing with Quotes is not easy !!

[Ian_Murphy]

Stopping in to say I appreciate all of your attention; I’m at the day job where it’s hard to be mind-numbingly thorough in my responses.

But just to address a couple of totally legitimate questions:

These cases are more similar than different; each is a reissued album doubling as a box set containing non-standard tracks (i.e. neither contains exclusively the track listing of the original issue).

Of the 4 Tim discs, two are the reissued album and 2 are entirely different content.

The Fripp box is an expansive collection of doodles (some of which are sixty-minute instrumentals so, yes, one track per disc).