Traktor on PC and Macbook, shared music files, shared/synced itunes library/playlists

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Traktor on PC and Macbook, shared music files, shared/synced itunes library/playlists

Hi

I’m fiddling around to be able to use my workstation PC for track preparation (beatgridding, cues etc) while using my Macbook for “performance”

I currently have Traktor installed on both machines, imported the Traktor collection from the mac into the install running on the PC.
Obvoiusly I had to do a consistency check and relocate all music files as the macbook has all music locally.

The full music library (actual music files) is synced to a mirrored folder on my NAS, which synced to local folders on the PC. So my music library is mirrored 3 times. I could also of course just used the NAS-folders directly on the PC.

This solution is OK for working with existing files in the duplicated DB on th PC. If I do the preparation set my grid/gain/cues and “lock” the file it will be synced to the NAS and from there synced to the Macbook when it connects to the network (or via internet). The sync will also happen if any of the files are changed from Traktor on the MAC.

On the mac I have used iTunes and iTunes XML integration in traktor to make and store playlists as well as autoplaylists/smart playlists.
This part is not something I can’t figure out how to solve as I would like to be able to edit/create playlists on my workstation PC that I can tranfer/sync to the mac.

The filepaths for the PC and mac are different and the playlists created on the PC can not be used on the MAC (directly), I could sync the collection.nml file between the two, but I want to avoid running a consistency check/relocate every time a change has happened.

My go-to application for music library management on the PC is MediaMonkey, which is able to export a iTunes XML to a folder I decide, however this XML will not function due to the different folder structures used in MacOS and Windows.

So…after all this I’m wondering if anybody has dealt with the same issue?

2

So, not sure if this is something others could find useful or if its only me, but I will leave what I have found out so far here

Before being able to do much myself I reached out to And The Groove Remains Production Team

I got a reply with a link to a video explaining the proccess very well:

The proccess/changes needed to create a duplicate of the collection is quite simple:

I’m using a USB in this example called “MUSIC” on the MAC, it will be assigned letter “F:” on the PC
The USB contains these folders on the root level

MAC: [MUSIC]
PC: [F:]

  • Music - all music is located in subfolders
    • House
    • Techno
    • Dubstep
    • etc…etc…
  • Traktor files
    • MAC (holds the collection.nml for the mac)
    • PC (holds the collection.nml for the pc)

PS: I did all the find/replace operations below on the PC in Notepad++
The video above suggest using BBEdit if you are editing the collection.nml on a mac
I’m assuming TextWrangler also works fine

MAC → PC

1: open “Macintosh HD\Users\User\Documents\Native Instruments\Traktor 3.2.0\collection.nml”

This will solve the library:
2: replace VOLUME=“MUSIC”
with VOLUME=“F:”

This will fix the paths for the playlists created in traktor:
3: replace TYPE=“TRACK” KEY="MUSIC/Music/
with TYPE=“TRACK” KEY="F:/:Music/

5: save as “MUSIC\Traktor files\PC\collection.nml”

Collection is READY FOR PC, when usb is inserted to PC:

6: copy “F:\Traktor files\PC\collection.nml”
to “C:\Users\User\Documents\Native Instruments\Traktor 3.2.0\collection.nml”

PC → MAC

1: open “C:\Users\User\Documents\Native Instruments\Traktor 3.2.0\collection.nml”

This will solve the library:
2: replace VOLUME=“F:”
with VOLUME=“MUSIC”

This will fix the paths for the playlists created in traktor:
3: replace TYPE=“TRACK” KEY="F:/:Music/
with TYPE=“TRACK” KEY="MUSIC/Music/

5: save as “F:\Traktor files\MAC\collection.nml”

Collection is READY FOR MAC, when usb is inserted to MAC:

6: copy “MUSIC\Traktor files\MAC\collection.nml”
to “Macintosh HD\Users\User\Documents\Native Instruments\Traktor 3.2.0\collection.nml”

Migrating “iTunes” XML (Generated by MediaMonkey"
Media library is fully managed in MediaMonkey on the PC
Mediamonkey plugin “Export to iTunes XML” is installed and exporting to XML upon exit of MediaMonkey

1: copy “C:\Users\User\Documents\MusicLibraryXML\iTunes Music Library.xml” (to leave original untouched)
to “F:\Traktor files\PC\MediaMonkey iTunes DB\PC\iTunes Music Library.xml”
2: open “F:\Traktor files\PC\MediaMonkey iTunes DB\PC\iTunes Music Library.xml”
3: replace Locationfile://localhost/F:/Music/
with Locationfile:///Volumes/MUSIC/Music/
4: save as “F:\Traktor files\MAC\MediaMonkey iTunes DB\PC\iTunes Music Library.xml”

iTunes Library is READY FOR MAC
5: point Traktor to the folder where the “mac”-version of the iTunes XML is stored:
iTunes media Library "MUSIC\Traktor files\MAC\MediaMonkey iTunes DB\iTunes Music Library.xml