MMI Poor tag handling and sorting?

[wildbore]

Hello everyone, I would be grateful for some expertise in setting tags in music to get the most out of the MMI, please, as my MMI currently behaves in the most rubbishy fashion when browsing music.

First issue: It seems to me that the MMI doesn't understand the difference between Artist and Album Artist. Thus, if I load a compilation album (either on SD Card or into the Jukebox, the behaviour is the same on both), then the Album appears in the Album browser as many times as there are different artists on the album - that could be twenty separate entries in the Album Browser for a single compilation album (which has the album artist set to the single value "Various", by the way).

It's not just compilation albums, every album that includes tracks that are duets with other artists will then appear as separate albums. For example, the album Debbie Harry and Blondie / Greatest Hits appears as three albums: one album for the Blondie tracks, a second for the Debbie Harry tracks, and a third for a duet by Debbie Harry and Iggy Pop (a dreadful song, by the way - should delete it really).

And it gets even worse. Once you start playing a compilation album, you find that the track listing that appears on-screen is not actually that of the album you selected but that of all the artists on the entire jukebox, sorted alphabetically. For example, I select the "Greatest Hits of the Seventies" album and the first track up is Abba (sometimes you can't beat a bit of Abba). The next song that should be played is the Bay City Rollers, but instead I get Alphaville - a song from a completely different album. Admittedly, it's a much better track than the Bay City Rollers, but it's not the right track. Hope you get the idea!

If all your albums are single-artist albums, you wouldn't notice this quirk because it appears that the MMI has selected that album; but it hasn't, it is listing all the tracks on the entire source listed alphabetically by artist name.

As far as I can see, I need to re-write all of the Artist information tags with just the Album Artist value - which is pretty rubbish.

Second issue: Forgetting the album browser, I can use the folder browser, which has the benefit at least of presenting all the tracks in the selected folder, rather than all the tracks on the source. That works better. But suppose I have scrolled through my folder listing to get to Pink Floyd The Wall. To get to "P", I had to start the scrolling at Abba (there they are again!) and tediously rotate that scroll wheel until finally I arrived at "P" and Pink Floyd. I select The Wall and start listening but then think "this isn't a The Wall day, it's a Dark Side of the Moon day", my only way back to the folder listing is using the back button but when I press it there I am back at Abba!!!!! Why can't it remember where I was in the folder listing? I have about 500 albums on the SD card and it is very frustrating scrolling through them all to get to where I want, always having to start at the top of the list.

I have noted that if the planets are aligned and the Gods are smiling then the "Fast Scroll" feature cuts in (occasionally) but - and here you know I have another complaint - when that activates, it only lists the track name, even though you are browsing folders, artists, or anything else. So there I am, scrolling through folders, the fast scroll cuts in and it just says "Life behind the line" or "Could be you" or some other obscure track title and I am supposed to know which folder I am in??!! Maybe it's some form of convoluted "Name that artist" quiz system?

Am I doing something wrong? I have read and re-read the manual but there is very little on this subject. Has anyone assigned tags in such a way that the MMI works fluidly?

Thanks for any guidance.

[AllotmentChap]

If I were you, I wouldn't rely on tags. They're universally badly managed (not just audi, but everywhere). You're better off organising your music as

/root/album/artist/song.mp3

And letting the folder structure keep your albums together.

[wildbore]

Thanks for replying, bit of a shame, but I can see your point. My music is all organised that way, but I had been hoping that the tags would elevate navigation above that simple view.

What do you think, though, about the system constantly returning to the first folder when you navigate via folders? Very frustrating.

[Daglass]

What Alphaville song? Forever Young??
Awesome track

[AllotmentChap]

I think because you have a single folder with 2000 tracks that's why it returns back to the same folder each time. With mine, when I click 'back' it just goes to the next folder up, and so in your Floyd scenario it works exactly as you want it to. Although clearly you'd actually choose Delicate Sound of Thunder - but the principle is the same. ;-)

[wildbore]

What Alphaville song? Forever Young??
Awesome track

No, Big in Japan - but both are great.

[wildbore]

I think because you have a single folder with 2000 tracks that's why it returns back to the same folder each time. With mine, when I click 'back' it just goes to the next folder up, and so in your Floyd scenario it works exactly as you want it to. Although clearly you'd actually choose Delicate Sound of Thunder - but the principle is the same. ;-)

Hmm. Don't know. All the albums are in separate folders - but it is possible I put the whole lot in one aver-arching folder. I will check. Thanks for the advice.

[johnsimcox]

If it works in the same way as the AMI does with an iPod then there should be a "Go Up" option at the top of the track list for the album which takes you up one folder in the hierarchy. I think also that the fast scroll displays the information that relates ti the option you selected at the outset. So if you select your chosen track from the tracks list it displays trach names, but if you ar int he ALbums ior Artists section (and not within an album) it will display the album or artist name

[DeltaCity]

Hi,

Couldn't agree more about Album Artist. The nice album browser which shows the album covers flipping past is useless because MMI neither considers Album Artist nor the Compilation ID3 tag. I have a Sonos at home which works fine with Album Artist. MMI could did with a fix for this. So I fall back to using the folder view which isn't progress from my old 2010 A6.

Regarding opening folder view at the folder containing the current playing track, I was getting annoyed that clicking BACK after switching ignition off/on reverted to showing the Media Centre selection screen and clicking folder view took you to the top of the folder list. However, if you click BACK from Now Playing to get to Media Centre, then folder view, then go back to Now Playing and then click BACK again, you'll find yourself in the right folder and you can then BACK out of it into your Artist folder (if your folders are arranged like mine - Artist\Album) and make your adjacent folder selection. Bit of a faff but it works.

Cheers
DC

[mobilejo]

Are you guys talking about Jukebox or SD/USB media?

I use a free bulk ID3tag editor to copy the Album Artist to the Artist field and I never have a problem.