Enthusiast I

iTunes Library Manager

111 replies
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For Sonos users who wish to choose which of their iTunes playlists are transferred to Sonos or for users who wish to use lossy formats for their ipods and lossless for their Sonos system. It makes a custom XML file on the NAS with unselected playlists removed and/or references adjusted to the lossless files. If you wish to only transfer a subset of playlists the application can be configured to display a playlist selector before the custom XML file is generated. The application can be configured to run and create the custom XML file on your NAS each time iTunes is closed.

http://www.darrenlink.talktalk.net/ituneslibrarymanager

http://www.darrenlink.talktalk.net/ituneslibrarymanager/download

I have written an application that solves two main issues for Sonos and iTunes users. Many people like to use iTunes to catalog their MP3 collection for use with iPods but prefer to store lossless files (perhaps apple lossless) on their NAS for use with Sonos. The "iTunes Music Library.xml" cannot be simply placed on the NAS as all the tracks are pointing to the lower bitrate MP3 files. Also many iTunes users have too many playlists to be imported into the available Sonos memory. (Especially if lots of smart playlists covering your entire library are defined)

My application solves the above two problems by changing the paths of the MP3's (or other lossey file types) within the "iTunes Music Library.xml" to the equivalent paths of the lossless files. It also allows the user to choose which playlists they wish to be imported into their Sonos system from their iTunes library. It also eliminates the need to maintain two separate iTunes libraries (although you are still required to create lossey and lossless copies of each track)

The application caches (and maintains) a one to one mapping between each file in iTunes with the equivalent higher quality file on your NAS. This caching allows the application to run through approximately 10,000 tracks on my PC and write an alternative xml file to my NAS pointing to the lossless files within about 25 seconds.

The application is completely configurable so it can be configured to match your setup.

More information, screenshots and the download link are above.

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DarrenLinkAuthor

Enthusiast I

Buzz,

Here's a quote:
The matched tracks don't disappear if you turn off or unsubscribe from Match, as they're just plain m4a files.

From the following page:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1246300

Basically you can upgrade the quality of existing tracks by only paying for a single years subscription. This is going to be very useful for my wife's dad who has many scratched CD's that have ripped with poor quality as a result of lots of scratches.

Darren

controlav

Lead Maestro

Yes, the dtc manages to kick off a re-index, so it should be possible for you to do it also.

On the ContentDirectory UPnP service call RefreshShareIndex.

Author of the leading independent Sonos apps for Android, MacOS, iOS, Windows and Xbox.

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DarrenLinkAuthor

Enthusiast I

Controlav

Last night I improved the integration of the Sonos indexer code into my app. I am calling RefreshShareIndex.

It works reliably but only once without stopping and starting the application. It basically discovers the Zones, kicks of the indexer and then disconnects from the Zones. Re-running the same code without restarting the app and the Zones are not discovered. My app is designed to stay running all the time but I dont want it to be permanently connected to Sonos all the time it is running. I just want it to connect and disconnect as and when required. I hope I can resolve this issue so I can include the indexer in my next release.

Thanks

Darren

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elinono

Lyricist I

Hi everybody,
Hi Daren,

Thanks for your software, it seems to be well created ! It works allmost perfect for me. When I Actualise my sonos library, I get all my playlists...empty !

For information, if I just copy paste the Itunes Library.xml, I get my playlists with mp3, but none is working (Wrong adress)--> Normal

So does anybody have the same problem?

Thx

elinono

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ucdscott

Avid Contributor I

Hello,

I'm using iTLM to import playlists from iTunes to Sonos. Unfortunately, iTLM no longer finds the new playlists that I have created in iTunes.

I've verified that iTLM is source library config is correct. What else can I try short of uninstall and reinstall?

Thanks,
Scott

buzz

Grand Maestro

ucdscott,

Import will fail if there are more than a combined 40000 tracks in your playlists.

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ucdscott

Avid Contributor I

ucdscott,

Import will fail if there are more than a combined 40000 tracks in your playlists.

Import from iTunes into iTLM or iTLM to Sonos?

If the former, why?

How do I determine the total number of tracks contained in all my playlists?

Thanks,
S

buzz

Grand Maestro

ucdscott,

I'm not an iTunes or iTLM user.

SONOS will import iTunes playlists directly from the XML file -- as long as the track total is within the 40000 track limit. Here are some additional details.

If the iTLM output is a generic playlist, the rules are different because these become "Imported Playlists". While there is no theoretical limit to the number of tracks in an Imported Playlist, at about 65000 tracks a playlist will become difficult to use, however, you can define multiple Imported Playlists, each approaching 65000 tracks.

An imported playlist is mostly a simple text file and counts as one library track. In theory, one could have a single music track and 64999 Imported Playlists. While playlists are imported during a SONOS library update, Imported Playlists are read live. This means that the content of a playlist could change and that change will be visible the next time that the playlist is opened, regardless of any index updates. (Note that the display of that playlist will not be updated as you watch) This is not true for iTunes playlists. iTunes playlists are imported by the indexer and stored in the SONOS players. Only the location of each Imported Playlist is stored in the players, the contents are fetched from the library as needed.

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ucdscott

Avid Contributor I

ucdscott,

I'm not an iTunes or iTLM user.

SONOS will import iTunes playlists directly from the XML file -- as long as the track total is within the 40000 track limit. Here are some additional details.

If the iTLM output is a generic playlist, the rules are different because these become "Imported Playlists". While there is no theoretical limit to the number of tracks in an Imported Playlist, at about 65000 tracks a playlist will become difficult to use, however, you can define multiple Imported Playlists, each approaching 65000 tracks.

An imported playlist is mostly a simple text file and counts as one library track. In theory, one could have a single music track and 64999 Imported Playlists. While playlists are imported during a SONOS library update, Imported Playlists are read live. This means that the content of a playlist could change and that change will be visible the next time that the playlist is opened, regardless of any index updates. (Note that the display of that playlist will not be updated as you watch) This is not true for iTunes playlists. iTunes playlists are imported by the indexer and stored in the SONOS players. Only the location of each Imported Playlist is stored in the players, the contents are fetched from the library as needed.

My issue is is with iTLM not seeing the new playlists I've created in iTunes. Thus, your guidance (while useful information) does not apply.

S

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DarrenLinkAuthor

Enthusiast I

Ucdscott,

It sounds like you may have hit the 40000 limit mentioned by buzz. I hit this issue and its one of the main reasons I wrote my app. I wanted an ability to choose which itunes playlists to import into Sonos, so I created the playlist selector. This feature means that the playlists that you haven't selected are removed from the output XML file that the program generates.

Please try selecting just your new playlists to see if this works. Before doing this, if you use the analyse destination library function it will tell you the count of playlists and the number of contained tracks for each of the following categories:

Standard Playlists
Smart Playlists
All Playlists

If the tracks count for "All Playlists" is greater than 40,000 Sonos will not be able to import them all.

Darren

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