Hi,

I'm not sure how this happened, but I've got songs in my empeg, which don't appear to be correct.

When I check the file properties for a certain song - say:

All Saints - Never Ever

I get the following information in the dialog box:
Genre - Rock
File Size - 7029519 bytes
Duration - 628 (388224 ms)
Format - 144kbits/s VBR stereo

However, when I check the same song (copied from the original, but some time ago) I get:
Genre - Misc
File Size - 6197376 bytes
Duration - 627 (387324 ms)
Format - 128kbits/s stereo

Now, this almost makes sense, since I re-ripped this file using VBR relatively recently. However, I deleted the song, before I entered the new one.

This worried me a bit, so I checked the csv output from emplode. Sure enough there are two fids for the same song - 520 (CBR) and 1968 (VBR).

So my questions are:

* How can I tell if a song is a copy (reference) to another from emplode - I can't see a way.
* When you delete a song, if there is a reference to that song elsewhere - does it inherit the file from the original?

Cheers,

Paul.

Paul Haigh, Reg. 4120
(mk1) 6GB, Blue, 00254
(mk2) 12GB, Red, 00357

OK – I think that I understand what it going on here now after a little testing..

When I delete a song from the empeg, if I've got copies (references) to that file elsewhere the file does not get deleted, even if I know that I've deleted the original version.

I tested this already and it definitely behaves in this manner:

New Playlist (Test)
sync
New Song in playlist (PAULPAUL)
sync
Copy of PAULPAUL in playlist Test
sync
Deleted original song (I.e. position 1)
sync
Check CSV File from emplode - file still exists.

This sounds like intended behaviour - and I'm sure that mac (or Roger) has brought this up before.

The reason that I found this out is that I'm loading new VBR versions of previously CBR ripped songs onto the empeg. My process for this was as follows:

Delete original playlist from 'Artist' directory (which everything references)
Load new playlist in Artist Directory
sync.

This is obviously no good, since my copies of the original have now taken on the old files (CBR) rather than the new files (VBR).

So... If I play the artist from the Artist playlist - everything sounds find, but if I play from the Genre playlist, or from the 'Greatest Hits' playlist, I get the CBR file (which sounds awful).

The only way to actually 'Delete' a file from the empeg is to remove all references from the empeg to the song, before I load on new copies of the same. I suspect that I'm wasting a lot of disc space on this issue.

I can understand not deleting the file when you can't remember which is the original - but now I have to go off hunting for all references to the thing before it'll actually go from the disc.

I'm interested in what people think about this...

Cheers,

Paul.


Paul Haigh, Reg. 4120
(mk1) 6GB, Blue, 00254
(mk2) 12GB, Red, 00357

Yep, this is the case. Emplode v1.1 has better searching facilities, so that you can track down files more easily.

Thanks to a suggestion from n6mod (when he visited us last year), it's also got a "Replace Tune" feature, which will replace a tune with a different file - including all references to it. Precisely for this reason.

Which just goes to prove: If you want a feature implemented, buy us beer. The amount of beer varies with the difficulty of the task.




Roger - not necessarily speaking for empeg

Thanks for bringing this up. I've updated my FAQ entry on this subject to include the point you just made.

___________
Tony Fabris

There is no original of the tune in empeg - all references are equal, as you found out. Referencing consists simply in listing tune's FID in a playlist - the list that got it first is in no way special.

I like the feature Roger mentinoned ('replace the tune' - I hope emptool gets it too) - much easier than hunting down all appearences of the tune through emptool's ls -lr output. Currently, when replacing a tune (badly ripped or something) I ftp it over apropriate file, adjusting tag file manually if required and not touching playlists at all.

Cheers!

Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Zagreb, Croatia
Q#5196, MkII#80000376, 18GB green

Which just goes to prove: If you want a feature implemented, buy us beer. The amount of beer varies with the difficulty of the task. Hmmm, I was trying to think of a good request to be followed by a few pints of Guinness (or your beer of choice as long as it does not contain the word 'lite') but you guys are too good about thinking of these things first. However I am curious how much 'liquid motivation' would be appropriate to speed up the release of 1.1 :-) Obviously too much beer could potentially slow down the process, but there must be an ideal amount that would cause the empeg gang to forget about their other responsibilities and concentrate on 1.1 and voice recognition :-) -Mike

Its' been some time - I admit, (so please don't through stones at me) that I forgot we had voice recognition on the MkII.... but only for a very short time!...really!

:P

-CHiP