Does anyone use a FLAC DJ library on MacOSX? I currently manage my library in iTunes, which integrates well with Traktor. iTunes has issues but I like the interface for editing tags and organizing my collection, and it’s easy to import my iTunes playlists into Traktor. But of course iTunes annoyingly won’t recognize FLAC files. So currently I have a separate FLAC library that I use Plex for listening to, but I don’t (yet) use them in Traktor. Plex is fine for listening but it’s really made for video content so its FLAC organizing and editing tools are useless. Can anyone recommend good OSX software for managing a large FLAC library, particularly one useful to digital DJs? I’ve tried clementine and it is way too buggy.
I realize ALAC is an option that is available to both iTunes and Traktor, but it is not supported by rekordbox, and I want lossless library that I can pop on a USB stick and use with CDJs when I need to.
As I’m using rekordbox and serato, and for backup reasons, my library is kept on a NAS drive and synchronized via Chronosync to the laptops. Using iTunes only to have its playlists in my DJ softwares is not worth the efforts imho.
Downloading Swinsian and Meta now; thanks! $20 each is not bad if they do the trick. I also started playing with the free download of rekordbox which might do what I need (though it doesn’t seem to be that useful as a standalone player).
Why? that seems to create even more problems. My goal is to be able to edit ID3 tags (I tend to use the “Comment” tag significantly), sometimes in groups, and I want the tags to be read across platforms. FLAC is better supported across platforms when it comes to ID3. And I really don’t want gigantic files, regardless of the idea that I can theoretically buy bigger USB sticks, hard drives, etc. FLAC is common enough these days, what do people use to do this?
Also - I need (obviously) the tagging to impact the file, not the program’s proprietary database. After doing a bunch of work on tags in rekordbox I see that none of it is saved to the files themselves
Primarily because iTunes supports wav / AIFF. Your original post stated you use iTunes for your music management, so i was offering you a solution that would fit with your current workflow. And as @ErikMinekus has mentioned above, AIFF files also support ID3 tags.
The big thing here, that LOTS of people miss (and, like the OP, learn about the hard way) is that you want to keep the tags in the files themselves - NOT in any softwares library/database.
Massive thing. For windows users, there’s MP3Tag. You really shouldn’t be using any other software for tagging your files.
No I wasn’t :-/ I haven’t used a CDJ since I sold my mk1 (yes, purchased in like 2002!) about 5 years ago. And tbh I haven’t messed with digital much since at least that long, only Traktor for the occasional gig; at home I’ve only been spinning vinyl exclusively. So sorry for my ignorance
I was also under the impression that there were issues with ID3 for AIFF files but I haven’t looked into that sort of thing in years either. It sounds like AIFF might be the way forward for me, which does solve the problem of wanting to stick to iTunes. Is that what most folks use who are doing lossless in say Traktor? I guess I could also use ALAC for iTunes and Traktor and just export to AIFF if I ever need to play off a flash drive.
There is a mac version of mp3Tag that works through wine but I just tried it and it got all the columns confused (e.g. the Year column was showing the key) and that was enough to scare me off. It looks cool tho Is there any reason to prefer an mp3Tag-like program over the interface in iTunes (or Swinsian, which I’ve played with the last couple days)?
you should really try out swinsian, it is sweet, fast and worth every 24$ penny.
to sync your playlists from swinsian to traktor/serato, you have 2 options i can think of:
and it generates an itunes xml file from swinsian. if this works, then you can stop reading here and enjoy itunes playlist integration in traktor/serato.
now, i didn’t get ximian to properly export my swinsian playlists (but it exported all my tracks from swinsian to the xml file). so instead of relying on the itunes xml integration in traktor, i use a custom apple script which syncs all files from a swinsian playlist called “trax” into a new folder on my computer. this folder is the same folder i read files from in traktor. this should work similarly with serato. now i have 2 copies of some tracks for dj-ing, but this way i can enjoy making playlists in swinsian, without manually adding/deleting files in finder.
this is the script, which you can run with osascript swins2trax.applescript in your terminal or easily add to an macos automator:
-- copies all tracks from the playlist "trax" in swinsian to a directory
set thelist to "trax" -- name of swinsian playlist, change if desired
set thedest to "/Volumes/space/Trax/" -- destination directory, change if desired
set thedesttmp to "/Volumes/space/.Trax/" -- this gets deleted after syncing
try
do shell script "([ -d " & thedest & " ]); exit $?"
on error
display dialog "Error: directory " & thedest & " is missing"
error number -128
end try
tell application "Swinsian"
repeat with theplaylist in playlists
set thelistname to name of theplaylist as string
if thelistname is equal to thelist then
do shell script "rm -rf " & thedesttmp
do shell script "mkdir " & thedesttmp
repeat with thetrack in tracks of theplaylist
set thefile to location of thetrack
do shell script "cp -a \"" & thefile & "\" " & thedesttmp
end repeat
do shell script "rsync -auvv --delete " & thedesttmp & " " & thedest
do shell script "rm -rf " & thedesttmp
end if
end repeat
end tell
display notification "All trax are ready!"
Is there any reason to prefer an mp3Tag-like program over the interface in iTunes (or Swinsian, which I’ve played with the last couple days)?