the other day i ripped a 10 disk set (abendroth from pristine audio). this left me with 10 individual folders in roon. i know that i can merge the 10 disks, but the result is that the 10 disks appear as a single disk. i also know that if the metadata for individual disks contain the information “disk n of m” the merge will respect that setting. but how, within roon, do i locate and edit that piece of data for each of the individual disks? or is this something that’s done manually after merging?
Once you merge them if the metadata for each individual disc was correct Roon should then display it as a single library item yes but will show the number 10 in top right corner and when you look at the tracks it should go like 1.1, 1.2 etc then 2.1, 2.2 etc all the way to 10.
If it does not after merging you can also try Roon identify which may help to sort them if it was not correct to begin with.
Did you add each disc number to the metadata when ripping? It’s best to do this and keep the album name as it is with just the title. The disc number helps it identify which disc it is from the set. You should have one top level directory for the album which should be just its name then under that you can either have them all in one directory if they have the disc I’d metadata and album title. If not then you need a CD1 CD2 folder etc with each album in it. The latter makes it easier to use in other applications.
You don’t need to merge anything in Roon itself it should just see them properly if done this way. I would always add disc metadata regardless. I have a lot of boxsets and this method works perfectly.
What are using to rip CD? This metadata should be added if your using a decent ripper such as dbpoweramp. You should use a metadata editor if not to add this info, mp3 tag on windows is the best as it will perform look ups to metadata’s services. If your on a mac then there MusicBrainz Picard or state.
If your ripping more CDs I would recommend to get dbPoweramp suite as it has what you need and will add metadata during ripping.
You can’t edit metadata in Roon so if it’s not there to start with your on an uphill struggle.
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This is 100% correct guidance.
Also in the CD1, CD2 subfolders suggested by @Simon_Arnold3 do not any further text like CD1 - First Disc or Roon will assume this is a separate album and create your 10 individual album issue
Just go simply CD1 etc
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looks like i need to re-rip the set.
yes, i use dbpoweramp.
no, i did not add “disk n of m” metadata while ripping.
roon can’t help, since neither it nor db poweramp recognized the disks or the set (abendroth’s bruckner symphonies from profil)
it is unfortunate that roon doesn’t allow one to add this piece of metadata to ripped disks, but insists that when merging everything is mashed together into one virtual disk.
in my opinion as a veteran software developer an editor should have read/write access to ALL relevant information.
thanks for the quick responses.
Roon isnt and never has been marketed as an editor, it doesn’t touch your files at all, it’s purely read only application.
any operation which modifies metadata is an editor.
It doesn’t modify metadata on your files at all so it’s not editing anything.
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You very probably don’t need to re-rip anything, the “music” data isn’t in question, just the meta data. Assuming the filenames are prefixed by track number, the first thing to do is prefix that with the disk number. Eg disk 1 track one becomes “1-01 trackname”. All the files can now be put in the same folder, preferably called “album name”. Now, look in Roon, and see what it did with it. Report back, and we can “help” further.
Roon only writes to it’s own database , that’s why its so big (relatively)
All along Roon has never touched you actual files that why many users favour dbPowerAmp or the like to edit the audio files.
My workflow is to tweak the metadata before dropping into the Roon Watched folders. I use a mix of JRiver, MusiCHI Tagger and Tag & Rename depending on what needs editing
I keep a (Master) copy of the MusicLibrary on an HDD on my main PC then when happy I sync with the SSD in my NUC
Not sure if this is helpful but I also use dBpoweramp and use the following naming string:
[IFVALUE]album artist,[album artist],[IFCOMP]Various Artists[][IF!COMP][artist][][]/[album]/[IFMULTI] [disc]-[][track] [title]
For a multi disc set this gives me an album artist folder and an album sub folder which includes the discs in the following format - disc number, track number, title.
As long as you rip the discs with exactly the same title (no disc 1, disc 2 etc in the album title field) and complete the disc number field (1/2, 2/2 etc) then you’ll get just the one album cover in your library with all the individual discs clearly indicated within it.
The squares in my original post should be open and closed square brackets ([]).
I normally would indicate this during ripping, but if you didn’t, you can use a metadata editor (I use Yate on mac) to enter this info. Roon has generally understood this and done the proper thing.
Try SongKong on the album, it has a built in roon profile that adds the data so it works best for roon.
export 1 album and then look at the metadata
It doesn’t change a thing. All my files have the same dates they were copied to Roon and no modification dates that are different and no additional. You editing its database nothing more. What are you seeing changed or added?
mp3tag, see RoonId for example, you not? all the genres are updated to Roon genres, export and see yourself
Are you referring to the Export function of Roon? This is the only time that Roon will add metadata into files - and it adds the metadata into the exported copy of the files - not the originals.
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yes have already wrote it so above „export“