• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Building HEOS-proof music collection

sjeesjie

Active Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2020
Messages
238
Likes
133
I need your advice on building my FLAC music collection. I want to copy all of my cd's to a NAS and play them from the HEOS app (I guess this is DLNA?).

I've noticed that I already got in trouble with some cd's, especially compilations. For example, I copied a disc named Deep Soul Treasures, which contains 25 songs by various artists. I followed the best practices I found on the internet for this album, so I set the tags as follows:
Album: Deep Soul Treasures
Tracknumber: different across 25 items
Album artist: Various Artists
Releasetype: album;compilation

Still, HEOS thinks the album is by the artist that's registered under the first song. Should I change something in the meta tags or is this just faulty behaviour of HEOS?
The only way I can find the album now, is to select Browse, then Music, then Album, and select the album from the huge list of albums. I'd have loved to go to Artists, select Various Artists, and then choose the album. Thank goodness I've only just copied a small amount of albums...

Another thing I was wondering.. I have some double albums. I register the disc number correctly but still the app shows all songs under 1 album. Is there no way it can be splitted by disc number?
 

Webninja

Senior Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Oct 8, 2018
Messages
419
Likes
468
Location
Los Angeles
Are you committed to the HEOS ecosystem? That app behavior would make me look elsewhere, but as long as your NAS library is organized the way you want, maybe another platform like Roon or Plex or MediaMonkey could better connect your library to your speakers.
 

Jimbob54

Grand Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Oct 25, 2019
Messages
11,066
Likes
14,697
I need your advice on building my FLAC music collection. I want to copy all of my cd's to a NAS and play them from the HEOS app (I guess this is DLNA?).

I've noticed that I already got in trouble with some cd's, especially compilations. For example, I copied a disc named Deep Soul Treasures, which contains 25 songs by various artists. I followed the best practices I found on the internet for this album, so I set the tags as follows:
Album: Deep Soul Treasures
Tracknumber: different across 25 items
Album artist: Various Artists
Releasetype: album;compilation

Still, HEOS thinks the album is by the artist that's registered under the first song. Should I change something in the meta tags or is this just faulty behaviour of HEOS?
The only way I can find the album now, is to select Browse, then Music, then Album, and select the album from the huge list of albums. I'd have loved to go to Artists, select Various Artists, and then choose the album. Thank goodness I've only just copied a small amount of albums...

Another thing I was wondering.. I have some double albums. I register the disc number correctly but still the app shows all songs under 1 album. Is there no way it can be splitted by disc number?

How many CDs? Do you have the NAS already?

Honestly, just go streaming. Store or sell the CDs. Ive done what you're proposing. Around 1000 CDs - just not worth it

I now have a library of over 3000 favourite albums to play basically wherever I want using (or via) my phone . Qobuz/ Tidal/ Amazon HD are all lossless and Spotify premium is (i hate to say it) indistinguishable from them in most circumstances.
 

jae

Major Contributor
Joined
Dec 2, 2019
Messages
1,208
Likes
1,508
I've never used HEOS and this may be a stretch, but perhaps double check your album artist tag. What are you using to tag this? These are usually either "ALBUMARTIST" or "ALBUM ARTIST" in the file's field name. Some playback software is not compatible with both of these tags or only expects one field name or the other and that may be the problem.
 
OP
S

sjeesjie

Active Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2020
Messages
238
Likes
133
Are you committed to the HEOS ecosystem? That app behavior would make me look elsewhere, but as long as your NAS library is organized the way you want, maybe another platform like Roon or Plex or MediaMonkey could better connect your library to your speakers.
Well I have a Marantz ND8006 with which I thought it would be convenient to stream the music from my NAS. But HEOS turns out to be pretty terrible for this task. What about BlueOS, is that any different? I also checked out Volumio, that wasn't much better either.

What device(s) are you using it with? Such information may assist us in offering you a solution.
My NAS is a pretty old Netgear ReadyNAS Duo V2. It can do DLNA, iTunes and Squeezebox I believe. I have DLNA selected.

How many CDs? Do you have the NAS already?

Honestly, just go streaming. Store or sell the CDs. Ive done what you're proposing. Around 1000 CDs - just not worth it

I now have a library of over 3000 favourite albums to play basically wherever I want using (or via) my phone . Qobuz/ Tidal/ Amazon HD are all lossless and Spotify premium is (i hate to say it) indistinguishable from them in most circumstances.
I have never counted my cd's but I think it's about 400 or so. I already had the NAS, so it's not that I bought it specifically for this. So you've been in this position too.. Look I have Spotify already and I'm very happy with it but it's not perfect. Sound quality wise it fits the bill, I tried Tidal one time and my ears just can't hear any difference. I even thought Spotify sounded better to me! Lol... the problem is that some content is just blocked out. I hate that. From the top of my mind, for example the album Human Clay of Creed missed some songs a while back (I see that it only misses one right now). It's just one example but it happened more often. Ah well maybe I just have to put on the cd if this happens.
 
OP
S

sjeesjie

Active Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2020
Messages
238
Likes
133
I've never used HEOS and this may be a stretch, but perhaps double check your album artist tag. What are you using to tag this? These are usually either "ALBUMARTIST" or "ALBUM ARTIST" in the file's field name. Some playback software is not compatible with both of these tags or only expects one field name or the other and that may be the problem.
It's albumartist, one word. I'll try the other one too, thanks for the suggestion.
[edit] Done: it doesn't work :(
 
Last edited:

jae

Major Contributor
Joined
Dec 2, 2019
Messages
1,208
Likes
1,508
If you're on Android maybe give BubbleUPnP a try.
 

Jimbob54

Grand Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Oct 25, 2019
Messages
11,066
Likes
14,697
Well I have a Marantz ND8006 with which I thought it would be convenient to stream the music from my NAS. But HEOS turns out to be pretty terrible for this task. What about BlueOS, is that any different? I also checked out Volumio, that wasn't much better either.


My NAS is a pretty old Netgear ReadyNAS Duo V2. It can do DLNA, iTunes and Squeezebox I believe. I have DLNA selected.


I have never counted my cd's but I think it's about 400 or so. I already had the NAS, so it's not that I bought it specifically for this. So you've been in this position too.. Look I have Spotify already and I'm very happy with it but it's not perfect. Sound quality wise it fits the bill, I tried Tidal one time and my ears just can't hear any difference. I even thought Spotify sounded better to me! Lol... the problem is that some content is just blocked out. I hate that. From the top of my mind, for example the album Human Clay of Creed missed some songs a while back (I see that it only misses one right now). It's just one example but it happened more often. Ah well maybe I just have to put on the cd if this happens.

I have tried Spotify,Tidal and Qobuz . Content wise, thats the order best to worse in my experience . I know the "blocked out" thing, more Qobuz than the other 2 TBH but maybe depends on territory.

Seriously the best thing I ever did was stop worrying how to store/ play MY library and just think about what I want to listen to, which is as much new stuff as possible but still go back to the archives when I want.

And yes, keep the CD and use for the odd track you cant get on streaming, but I suspect you will do this a couple of times a year, max.
 

BillG

Major Contributor
Joined
Sep 12, 2018
Messages
1,699
Likes
2,266
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
Some DLNA/UPnP implementations can be quite buggy. I see someone suggested BubbleUPnP, that might help as it has options for the type of server-side search algorithm to use.

Alternatively, you could install a different server package on your NAS as it might help as well. I like the following:

https://emby.media/nas-server.html

It supports streaming to DLNA/UPnP devices, and its client app is quite attractive and easy to use. I suspect it'll interface with your amp just fine. By the way, please don't let its seemingly video-centric focus dissuade you from assessing it. I use it almost exclusively for audio, and am quite happy with it:

https://emby.media/emby-for-android-mobile.html
 
OP
S

sjeesjie

Active Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2020
Messages
238
Likes
133
Thanks @Jimbob54 maybe I’ll give up on the backup plan then. I’ll keep buying the cd’s I really like after all.

Still, as a software developer I scratch my head sometimes over how comes that a lot of these players/readers are often so useless. With the id3 tags nowadays you could build a pretty solid interface you’d think.
 

Tatteredmidnight

Active Member
Joined
Nov 19, 2018
Messages
275
Likes
506
Location
New Jersey
Thanks @Jimbob54 maybe I’ll give up on the backup plan then. I’ll keep buying the cd’s I really like after all.

Still, as a software developer I scratch my head sometimes over how comes that a lot of these players/readers are often so useless. With the id3 tags nowadays you could build a pretty solid interface you’d think.
Seems like that superficially, but as someone who does ingest and ETL on a lot of unstructured data, it’s a rabbit hole that goes very deep.
 
OP
S

sjeesjie

Active Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2020
Messages
238
Likes
133
Can any of you tell me if blueos works good for playing from NAS? I’m considering a bluesound node or vault.
 

FrantzM

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 12, 2016
Messages
4,337
Likes
7,731
If your collection is mostly of classical music then, I ( and many other) would not have many solutions.
Else Roon is the best I have found so far. as for DLNA, I have avoided it, while researching it: My take, implementations often do not respect the standards, a bit difficult to implement correctly, etc. I wasn't encouraged. It could be much easier than I think but ...
Again Roon: The best for non classical music.

My views align completely with those of @Jimbob54 on this thread.. so far :)
 
OP
S

sjeesjie

Active Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2020
Messages
238
Likes
133
My gripe with Roon is that you have to pay for it. Just to play my own music? No thank you.

Why do you make difference between classical and non-classical music @FrantzM ?
 

Jimbob54

Grand Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Oct 25, 2019
Messages
11,066
Likes
14,697
My gripe with Roon is that you have to pay for it. Just to play my own music? No thank you.

Why do you make difference between classical and non-classical music @FrantzM ?

For me , the benefit of Roon that I am prepared to pay for is the fact it can integrate seamlessly my "owned" files stored on a drive here and streaming music (from Qobuz or Tidal). It will simply hide any duplicates and present a library with every album I either own or have "favourited" on streaming. I am a big fan of shuffling so Roon lets me do a shuffle through all 50,000 or so songs in my combined libraries. That, for me , is worth the asking price .

For smaller libraries , or where you dont want this universal shuffle, I agree with @sjeesjie the price is not worth it.
 

Kal Rubinson

Master Contributor
Industry Insider
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 23, 2016
Messages
5,273
Likes
9,789
Location
NYC
Well I have a Marantz ND8006 with which I thought it would be convenient to stream the music from my NAS. But HEOS turns out to be pretty terrible for this task. What about BlueOS, is that any different? I also checked out Volumio, that wasn't much better either.
None of those will equal what you get from products like Roon, JRiver, foobar, Audirvana, etc
 

Feanor

Senior Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Feb 22, 2019
Messages
382
Likes
496
Location
southwestern Ontario
How many CDs? Do you have the NAS already?

Honestly, just go streaming. Store or sell the CDs. I've done what you're proposing. Around 1000 CDs - just not worth it

I now have a library of over 3000 favourite albums to play basically wherever I want using (or via) my phone . Qobuz/ Tidal/ Amazon HD are all lossless and Spotify premium is (i hate to say it) indistinguishable from them in most circumstances.
I'm not (yet) enthusiastic about streaming. Maybe someone would recommend at service that (a) supports at least 16/44.1 resolution, (2) Classical music in a comprehensive manner, and (3) has low monthly subscription cost.

I tried Tidal, ($20/mo for 16/44.1), and I can't live with it for Classical music. You can't even search by composer. So if I search for, say, "Shostakovich" and what I get is 'Artist' = Shostakovich, i.e. Composer is conflated with Performer. If I then select 'See all Albums' (which presumably include albums with Shostakovich as either Composer OR Performer), I get what is a pathetically short list of albums. Of these, a high proportion are compilations that may includes one or two movements of compositions as tracks. Also, I get a remarkable number of "Shostakovich performs Shostakovich"-type albums: interesting but largely irrelevant -- Shostakovich wasn't a notable performer.

As a mainly Classical listener I buy CDs very selectively, rip them to computer files stored on NAS, and play the using Foobar2000 on a dedicated computer.
 

rgpit

Active Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Sep 29, 2019
Messages
200
Likes
515
Location
Colorado Springs, CO
I'm surprised folks haven't mentioned the free Logitech Media Server. It can be installed on a pc, Raspberry pi, or many NAS devices. With the "Material Skin" and "Music and Artist Information" plugins installed I'm much happier with LMS than with Roon. In addition Qobuz, Tidal, and many other apps can be easily installed. Currently I'm using it on a pc along with 2 Rasperry pi's, a microRendu, and multiple Squeezebox endpoints.
 

Soniclife

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Apr 13, 2017
Messages
4,500
Likes
5,417
Location
UK
Still, as a software developer I scratch my head sometimes over how comes that a lot of these players/readers are often so useless. With the id3 tags nowadays you could build a pretty solid interface you’d think.
Because they don't care about quality, the open source world shows it can be done to a high quality.
A pi into the USB input with a distribution you like on it will work so much better.
 
Top Bottom