Answered

How to get 2 CD sets to show up in the Sonos S2 app Music Library as 2 separate CDs?

  • 18 September 2020
  • 12 replies
  • 324 views

Userlevel 1
Badge +3

I currently own the Amp and have the S2 app installed on my Mac which is running 10.15.6.  I mainly use the Amp and the Sonos S2 app to play music that is stored on my Mac.

I needed to add album art to my stored music so that it would show up in the S2 app Music Library.  I discovered that the best way for me to do this was to find album art for each of my 400 albums (folders) and place each one called “folder.jpg” separately in each folder.  That works great and the album art shows up in the S2 app Music Library.  However, when I rip a 2 CD box set, only one album for it will show up in my Music Library, and all songs from both CDs are in it.

How do I get both albums from a 2 CD box set to show up separately as 2 CDs in the Music Library?  I use an app called XLD https://sourceforge.net/projects/xld/ to rip CDs as FLAC files to my Mac.  It uses the freedb music database to tag the CDs that I rip.

One more question.  I have many AD/DC albums stored on my Mac.  When I go to the S2 app Music Library, half of the AC/DC albums are under “AD/DC” and the other half are under “AC-DC.”  How can I get all to just show up under one name?  Thanks.

icon

Best answer by John B 19 September 2020, 23:58

View original

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

12 replies

Userlevel 6
Badge +17

Hi @lordpuffer.

Welcome to the Sonos community and thanks for reaching out to us.

I would like to suggest the following steps to check if it would help out.

  • For the AC/DC issue, I would like to suggest to try and copy the content of the AC-DC folder and paste it on the AC/DC folder. Once done, I would like to suggest updating the music library folder on the Sonos app.
  • For the CD ripped issue, I would suggest trying to check if the ripped files are contained on a single folder and try to separate them via each folder/cd content. Once done, I would like to suggest updating the music library folder on the Sonos app. The outcome of the ripped files from a CD would depend on the setting of the app being used as Sonos only projects on how the information is stored from the source.

I hope this helps.

Please let us know how it goes. We are always here to help.

Thanks,

Userlevel 1
Badge +3

Thanks for your response.  As for the AC/DC issue, all of my folders that contain albums by AC/DC have the same artist name of “AC/DC”.  The only differences are the album names.  The Sonos S2 app Music Library seems not to be reading the folder names when it decides how to place it in the Music Library.

Also, for the CD ripping issue, each album is in a separate folder as it is ripped to a separate folder.  Again, the only difference for a 2 CD box set would be that one folder would be named Disc 1 and the other Disc 2.  It should show up that way in the Music Library as two albums but it does not.

It seems that what I name the folder does not effect how it shows up in the Music Library.

Userlevel 6
Badge +17

Hi @lordpuffer.

Thanks for the immediate response.

Interesting. Very unusual behavior for the Sonos App. Allow me to recommend contacting our technical support team for a more in-depth troubleshooting step with possible screen sharing sessions (with your permission) so they can check what is causing the issue and how to have this issue taken care of.

Please let us know if you still have further questions or concerns. We are always here to help.

Thanks,

 

Userlevel 7
Badge +16

Maybe have a look at the Tags/ Metadata for the Album Problem.

 

I've found these will overrule the filenames sometimes (all the time?).

Userlevel 1
Badge +3

Thanks Keith...It must be a Tags/Metadata problem.  It’s overulling the file names.  Changing around the file names is easy.  However, I have no idea how to change the Tags/Metadata so that each 2 CD album shows up in the Music Library separately and so there is only AC/DC and not AC-DC also. 

Another issue that I just discovered is that almost every album that I have that the Music Library names as “Greatest Hits” or “Super Hits” shows up under the artist name under “Artists”, but does not show up under “Albums”.  I guess it is because there are so many with the same “Greatest Hits” album name.  Is there a way to make all albums show up under albums?

I’ll have to contact Sonos Tech Support and see what they say.

 

Apart from the 'Folders' view itself, the folder structure does not affect the way Sonos organises artists and albums.

Sonos uses the tags (metadata) embedded in the files. So you would need to use an editor like mp3tag to make the artist name consistent. Some must be tagged AC-DC and others AC/DC at the moment. To be on the safe side edit the Artist tag and the Albumartist tag.

If you want the two CDs to appear separately then the album names need to be different in the metadata.

oh and for Greatest Hits edit the Album tag to include the artist's name. Mp3tag allows bulk changes.

Userlevel 1
Badge +3

Thank you John.

@lordpuffer - In fact, if you have a Windows PC you can right-click a file (or highlighted group of files), then click Properties and go to the Details tab.  You can perform some simple edits here - if only to experiment with the effects.

Userlevel 1
Badge +3

I don’t have access to a Windows PC.  Unfortunately, mp3tag does not run on Catalina https://www.mp3tag.de/en/mac-osx.html and that is my OS.  I’m going to move to Big Sur when it’s released, however, since it won’t run on Catalina, I don’t know if it will run on Big Sur.

Is there another editing program that can be recommended that is more Mac friendly?

I am sure someone will know but Apple is an alien world for me I'm afraid.  Google 'tag editor for Mac'

Userlevel 1
Badge +3

SOLVED - I just wanted to give an update on this.  Based upon everyones info, I used an app called Metadatics which is a music tag editor.  I was able to correctly and completely tag my entire music library and everything now shows up correctly in the Sonos app.  I would highly recommend Metadatics for anyone with a Mac who wants to organize their music.