MinimWatch Settings

[DavidHB]

(24-09-2014 00:05)NASssd Wrote:  I am setting up a NAS right now for a large rock collection and was wondering what the most common settings used are other than the default ones. I have downloaded MinimStreamer and am transcoding flac to wav, so I have that setting handled. My question is pointed toward the tag settings and what most people have done for optimal sorting and control point display. The library consists of downloaded hi rez files from HD Tracks and Accoustic Sounds (flac format) along with CD's ripped to flac using EAC. I have read the users guide and would like to see examples so I can put together the proper combination for my situation.

I'm afraid that it's not that easy; there are too many variables and you are no more 'most people' than I am. Players (renderers) vary in their behaviour, and so do control points, so the setup you need may well be particular to your system and your requirements. That said, there is also good news.

One piece of good news is that you understand that you are building a system with a number of data, hardware and software components, and you want it to work together seamlessly. Another piece is that your logic begins with the data - your music - which is exactly the right starting point in my view. If you have a collection of music, you will have some method of accessing it now. I suggest that your first step is to see how close you can get to your current process using the MinimServer defaults.

If all the relevant tags are listed in the MinimServer indexTags property and appropriately populated within the files themselves, MinimServer will create and refine your browse tree on the fly as you work through the nodes of the tree. If your control point and player allow MinimServer to do its thing without interference, your browsing experience will be pretty much seamless.

With music other than classical, the commonest form of browse sequence seems to be by artist, then by album, then (perhaps) by track - either playing the tracks directly or enqueueing them to form a playlist. My recollection is that MinimServer supports browse sequences of this kind "out of the box", so experimenting with the defaults in your system is the obvious first step.

Once you have a browse tree that gives you your basic capability, you can populate other tags and add them to indexTags as appropriate. You can also use tag formatting and alphabetical listing to make the tree display in the way that is useful to you. The key thing is to experiment and decide what you (and no-one else) do and do not like. When you then come up with specific "How do I ... ?" questions there will be people here on the forum with the answers.

David