Music library software

[nkitsell]

I apologise if this has already been done, I had a quick look through the forums and couldn't find anything that answers my question so decided to post a new thread.

Basically I want to move away from using itunes, but haven't yet found anything that fills my needs.

My ideal program would be one that doesn't get sluggish even with a library of around 10,000 songs, allows synchronizing with an ipod classic and a android phone (4.4 kitkat if it makes any difference), but most importantly will sync play counts and other data to and from these devices. I use smart playlists based on play counts etc a LOT in itunes but cannot find any other software that has anything similar to smart playlists,

For example, I have a smart playlist for songs with the "last played" not in the last year. This is so I can review what I haven't listened to in a year and decide to either delete the track to keep clutter from my library, or maybe just enjoy a blast from the past.

Most of my smart playlists use either playcount or last played statistics, and I need these to be synced back from my ipod/android to my laptop.

I'm aware I can get an app for my android to sync with itunes and do this, but the whole point is i don't actually like itunes. It's just the only one I can find with the functionality I want.

SO, now that I've babbled, is there any other software that has smart playlists and will sync with android and an ipod classic?

 

[nkitsell]

Just in case anyone else out there has a similar question to mine, I've solved it by using media monkey. Syncs to my ipod and phone including play counts. Only drawback was I had to buy the paid version to get the auto playlists (which is like smart playlists in itunes). To be honest I think it was well worth the money and haven't looked back since! I love my ipod but hate itunes!

 

[MajorFubar]

From the perspective of being genuinely curious as opposed to wanting to start a war, what is it that Media Monkey does that iTunes doesn't? I have never found anything wrong with the much-maligned iTunes other than it doesn't have what I call a 'HiFi mode' where it hogs the soundcard, streams directly from RAM and switches the bit rate/bit depth (which is why I use it with the BitPerfect plugin). The actual workflow of the program, its interface and everything else about its functionality have always seemed perfectly acceptible. What am I missing?

 

[cheeseboy]

From the perspective of being genuinely curious as opposed to wanting to start a war, what is it that Media Monkey does that iTunes doesn't?

in the op's case, i think the biggest thing is that it doesn't do Android...

 

[nkitsell]

cheeseboy got it mostly - I dislike how it only works with apple devices. But also I'm not a fan of the interface and it used to crash every now and then. I don't like how it's constantly asking me to sign in to the cloud and trying to get me to buy things from the itunes store, I just want to listen to my music and sync my library across multiple devices.

Also, I just don't like apple in general

 

[Porknocker]

I have been using MediaMonkey for years now. I even found an app to get it to work with my Squeezebox Touch. The ability to experiment with different sound drivers on the fly is an added bonus.

My library has in excess of 45,000 entries. They range from humble low res mp3, all the way up to 24/192kHz WAV files. I am running it on a PC, with the audio files on a Zyxel NSA310 network server. I also have it running on a laptop that I upgraded with a 2TB hard drive.

 

[fr0g]

Helium Music Manager is another excellent one. FTR

 

[MajorFubar]

Am I going to get laughed out the place but doesn't anyone have any love for the standard Windows Media Player? Or doesn't the most recent version of Windows come with it? I haven't seen any version since Windows XP (WMP 10?). Still, it kind of did the job, librarian and all. No?

 

[nkitsell]

EU courts ruled that microsoft had to offer versions of windows without WMP, but they still offer it as a free download and you can still get versions with it included.

 

[nkitsell]

Ever had any issues with MM and ipod? It syncs fine with my android but now whenever I try to eject my ipod after a sync it says the drive is in use, and if I just pull the plug, my ipod won't recognise any of my music files.

The whole reason I chose this program is so that I could sync both devices with one library, I don't want to go back to using MM for my android and itunes for my ipod because then metadata will be different on each device x_x

 

[SteveR750]

I've been using J River Media Centre. It's not the cheapest, but I'm pretty sure it will do everything you are trying to do, including the smart playlists.

 

[chebby]

Am I going to get laughed out the place but doesn't anyone have any love for the standard Windows Media Player?

I was going to say much same about iTunes inasmuch as I love it and saying so about any Apple product attracts angry villagers with flaming torches and rocks!

However my litlle environment here is all built around Mac Minis, AirPort Extreme 802.11n, iPhones, iPad Minis, AirPlay and iTunes. It's grown that way since my first ever DAC and first ever Mac 8 years ago.

It works for me seamlessly. It's all exactly as 'standard' (with no 'hacked' or 'jailbroken' or 'tinkered around with' bits or 3rd party add-ons) and all completely up-to-date. I install every update without fail and have never had a problem.

Most importantly I get 'gapless' playback which is absolutely vital for 80+ percent of my preferred content and listening. Too many platforms (or add-ons) don't do this.

Apple haters will p### all over this contentment to stick with what I like and what works for me. But I don't give a rat's rear.