Is File Folder View available AND Adding to Playlist

[dainapoo]

Hi,

My question is fairly simple - I see answers “around” my question but not directly to it. And then a followup.My question is:

1. Can I search files by my own File System (Windows = File explorer, Mac = The Finder, I believe etc)
2. Can I then add files to a playlist from that File System, by (at least) Album.

Adding one song at a time to a playlist is tiresome. This is a shortcoming with BluOS for example. (More further down) My current playlists (50+) have anywhere from 25 to 500 songs in them.

I think it may be that many streaming users are fairly new or have not been seriously giving thought to how to organize and stream their music until now. Nowadays, there are more new and sometimes better options coming out every day. So, if you haven’t been organizing your files all along, any organizations scheme is great! But I have been ripping, organizing and streaming my music since late 1999. I’ve used dozens of streaming apps in dozens of architectures. The early apps were pretty simple in their organization schemes - save song or album in a file, organize it by artist, and genre too if you’d like. Just use the computer’s file exploring system. That’s what I did. By 2005, I had 10,000 individual songs, by 2015 it was 25,000 and now it is about 30,000, slowing down mostly because I’ve started using streaming services.

So, I created Genres. Within Genres are Artists, within Artists are usually Albums and within Albums are the songs. So:
Genre
Artist
Album
Song

Every folder is labeled in this manner. Personally, I almost always get an entire album when adding. Then most of these “older” ecosystems allow you to add a song, album, entire artist, or even entire genre to a playlist that you create. In my current streaming setup, I generally add an album at a time into, either a playlist I’ve already created, or into a brand new one. Sometimes I go to Qobuz and I’ll add something from there right into one of my playlists.

Something I didn’t expect is that, apparently in an attempt to give us more song/artist info, many new ecosystems don’t just allow this most basic of ways of getting at the music on your own hard drive. Roon, for example, gives you metadata deluxe, and that’s great, but finding that artist can be difficult when you have 30,000 to 40,000 of your own and sometimes you can’t even remember the the artist’s name. But do know, for example, that they are some kind of Indie Rock band, let’s just say. But Roon’s idea of what is a genre is different from BluOS etc. etc and different from mine. So, for me, the simplest way to find it sometimes is to go into the the Genre I created, because I created it. But I can find all my own music just using the computer’s own file system. I’ve tried Roon and others like it, and I have a very difficult time just finding my stuff. Then I want to add that stuff to a playlist, usually an album at a time. BluOS, for example, allows you to search from your own Folders. Great, but when you get to an album, you can’t add the entire album to a playlist, you can put it in a queue, which is different than a playlist and not easily (impossible) manipulated into a playlist. In about 2005, I discovered the Squeezebox. It used what is now known as Logitech Media Server. I’ve used it off and on since then. But I’ve also used Foobar, Media Monkey, Music Bee, Moode, Volumio, Winamp (my first) and many others. Most of these give you this fundamental organizing scheme. But many of the “New Cool” architectures skip this. For me it’s deal killer.

Thank you.

Daina Wilburn

[ROSELOA]

Hello,

Can I search files by my own File System (Windows = File explorer, Mac = The Finder, I believe etc)
→ Do you mean that you hope to play files via ROSE using your Windows/MAC?
You can use RoseConnectPremium PC APP, which is quite similar to Windows File explorer.
However, playing the files with File Explorer is impossible.
(You can use Windows Media Player, but it’s quite inconvenient and the method is not good for sound quality, so you will not be satisfied.)

I would recommend using RoseAPP in phone/tablet to control ROSE.
You will be able to add files to your playlist or queue by album(folder).

You better check if this is what you wanted with screenshot.

However, when adding songs to Queue/Playlist through with this menu, songs in subfolders are not added. So, the song ‘ZAYN - DUSK Till Dawn~’ will be added, but not the songs in folder A and B.
If you hope to add the songs to your playlist in subfolders, you have to go into the subfolder and do the samething as screenshot.

(You can’t add more than 3,000 songs in a queue)

[dainapoo]

Hi,

I’m not playing my files from Windows – that’s REALLY OLD SCHOOL! I’m playing them from any number of apps like Logitech Media Server, Volumio, Moode to name a few, (though I’m using only one). These are connected via my Network to a 4 TB USB hard drive, which is actually attached to a small convertible (Windows) laptop. Right now I have 3 systems in my house, using 2 Raspberry Pi’s and one Allo US Bridge, connected to the same network. One is in my living room, one in my bedroom and one on my deck. They read my music from the hard drive, called D:. For the record, I currently am using Logitech. But all the others work in a similar manner. I can have them all play the same thing, if I want that, or different. I add to playlists, on the fly.

Really, every listening session can start out by searching on my Hard Drive OR Qobuz OR by just opening a playlist. If I search my Hard Drive OR Qobuz and FIND SOMETHING I LIKE, I add it to an existing Playlist OR create a new playlist right then. If I don’t like it, I can just add something else right on top. If I’m not sure, but want to keep exploring, I’ll keep it for the time being. At the end of a session, if I’m not convinced I want this, but I’m still not sure, I’ll just close the app. It will be there the next time I open it. Sometimes I’ll go ahead a create a new playlist for it, and can decide later if I want to keep the playlist or not. Playlists are much more useful than Queues, at least the way I use it. I create them, add and delete to them and even delete them any time I want.

Here’s the problem with BluOS, which I have in house as well, but is going back- I can only add an entire album to a Queue. The problem is, AND THIS IS IMPORTANT! BECAUSE, iT SILL MIGHT MAKE YOUR QUEUES USABLE! - If I move up and down the queue, not in order, play one song from near the top and one from near the bottom, the Queue changes - The queue shows you exactly what you played in the exact order of play. And if you had a Queue with 5 albums on it, closed the app and picked up right where you left off the next time, it would add to the queue THE SONG YOU ARE PLAYING AND EVERYTHING THAT CAME AFTER IT! So, now your queue has the original queue plus wherever you picked back up the next time. It makes it almost impossible the keep the queue clean, which it has to be if you want to then save that queue as a playlist. So, it might start out in order, but it will soon have one of the songs of the Queue showing up in a second place on the Queue and everything after it, right in the middle of your original Queue!!. I would have to save it all as a playlist before playing anything. Since I have added an entire album, I’d like the queue to reflect what I added, in the order they were added. And if I happen to go down near the bottom of the queue for a few songs and then come back up, I DON’T WANT THE QUEUE TO CHANGE JUST BECAUSE I PLAYED A FEW SONGS OUT OF ORDER. IF YOUR QUEUES WORK LIKE THAT, IT MIGHT WORK! I have no interest in “the Queue” that changes as I play it.

I understand that if you are starting with a blank slate and, as a user, just have bunch of files on a hard drive, any organizing scheme would be better than nothing. I just took the time from the beginning to organize it, so that regardless of what app I used, I could find my files. But some newer apps just totally screw up what anyone else like me would have done. I KNOW I’m not the only one!! But I want to play a file from my drive, which I’ve already organized by Genre, Artist, Album and song. It could not be simpler. Most of my files have metadata, but admittedly, there are a few here and there, perhaps downloaded from Napster two decades ago. And they have no artwork. But most Napster files were MP3, which I’ve replaced in most cases by, at the least, a 16/44.1Khz FLAC file. I also have hi rez files up to 24/352Khz. A lot of files were ripped from CD’s. If there is metadata, all these apps display it. And finally, I want to add by album. And if your Queue remains intact as you play from it, we might have a workable solution.

Here are screen shots of my current system. Like I said, they sit on a drive called D: on small convertible laptop, connected to the the network. You will see, inside D:, Genre View (from within D:), then Artist View (from within one genre), then Album view (from within one artist) and finally Song View (from within one Album). You are viewing this through my phone app - Called SqueezeCtrl, one of several available for the Logitech Media Server Ecosystem. Hope that helps. AAAAAAARGHHH. “New users can only put one embedded item in a post”. Come on!! Do you want to know what I want to know? OR not?!!! I will attempt the send you 4 other posts with just a picture. What a joke, guys!

[dainapoo]

[dainapoo]

[dainapoo]

[dainapoo]

Playlist View

[dainapoo]

Can you please respond to my post of June 30? Do you need more explanation. I’m very interested. Since I’ve not used your product yet and can’t find any more info on the details of how it works, I’m not sure I follow what you are describing. It may just be that we are describing the same thing, just using different words.

Let me try: You say:
“However, when adding songs to Queue/Playlist through with this menu, songs in subfolders are not added. So, the song ‘ZAYN - DUSK Till Dawn~’ will be added, but not the songs in folder A and B.
If you hope to add the songs to your playlist in subfolders, you have to go into the subfolder and do the same thing as screenshot.”

I was following you until the last sentence. “you have to go into the subfolder and do the same as the screenshot”.

Are you really saying that I CAN ONLY ADD ONE SONG AT A TIME? If so, this is the issue I was talking about with BluOS. I want to add the entire folder at a time (which would almost always be an album) because this is how I listen. If I had to add each song individually, for every album, that would take a very long time and be very tedious. But am I understanding you correctly?

There are dozens, if not hundreds of streaming apps that can do what I want. I like your product because you put DAC/Streamer/Preamp in one box. Okto Digital, for example makes a very respected DAC/Streamer in which they put a Raspberry Pi in the box. If it had at least one analog input that would be well enough, because I know a dozen apps right off the top of my head that run on a Pi, work quite well reliably, are mature, and offer everything I want. Almost any streaming software that runs on a Pi can do this. Almost any streamer going back to 2000 can do this. Yes there are new features that metadata opens up, but it starts with this feature for me. I’m not a techie/gear head I’m a 60 year old audiophile who learned streaming apps, but these techies have already written the first book on streaming. Just don’t throw away the basics while adding the new cool stuff. Some of us have been doing this a long time and we have extensive collections of files and all these other apps just WORK. I’m just looking for someone to put a complete streaming app inside an all in one device. If you are there, great! If not, I’ll check back with you later but move on for now.

All the Best,

Daina Wilburn

[ROSELOA]

Hello,

Are you really saying that I CAN ONLY ADD ONE SONG AT A TIME?
→ No, I will add screenshots. Please check.

0. Take a look at this screenshot. Let’s say this is my FOLDER TREE.
   In folder named pop songs, there are folders named ‘Muse’, ‘Oasis’ and other music files.
   

   

1. If I get into ‘Muse’ folder(which is under ‘Pop songs’ folder) and then touch the 'THREE DOTS MENU → Add to Playlist, only songs in ‘Muse’ folder will be added to your playlist.

2. If I get into ‘Oasis’ folder(which is under ‘Pop songs’ folder and then touch the ‘THREE DOTS MENU’-> Add to Playlist, only songs in ‘Oasis’ folder will be added to your playlist.
   

   

3. If I don’t get into any other folders(staying in ‘Pop songs’ folder) and touch the THREE DOTS MENU and touch ‘Add the Playlist’, only the songs 11, 12 and 13 will be added to your playlist.
   

   

[dainapoo]

Hi there,

I believe that is EXACTLY WHAT I WANT!! In the third example, it appears you just have three “orphans” if you will - meaning songs that you have not placed into a specific artist or album folder - is that correct?

If so, that’s just fine. I have very few orphans and if I added any of those it would be one at a time anyway.

Let me know about the 3rd example you showed me, just to close the book on this. Because otherwise, this IS what I am looking for!!

Thanks again,

Daina

[ROSELOA]

You’re right. Only the songs in the folder belonging to the time of touching the 3 dots menu are added. If there is a subfolder in that folder, files belonging to the subfolder are not added.

[dainapoo]

Right. So, if I had a folder of Smashing Pumpkins, and sub folders representing their different albums, So, something like this (assume that there are individual FLAC songs in each sub folder):

Smashing pumpkins->
->Gish
->Siamese Dream
->Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
->Adore

If I click on the 3 dots for one album, say “Gish”, and select “add to playlist”, then I would add the contents of Gish (all the songs in Gish) to the play list correct?

But If I try to click on the 3 dots for Smashing Pumpkins, it is NOT going to automatically add the contents of the 4 subfolders, meaning the individual songs of each subfolder (album). So IF I wanted to add the entire Smashing Pumpkins library to that playlist, I would have to “3 dot” each sub folder (album) individually, correct? That’s not a big deal. I was afraid that if I went into, again, say, Gish, I would have to add each song individually, which would be quite time consuming if that album consisted of a lot of songs. That is the issue with BluOS.

I normally add entire albums at once.

Best,

Daina

[ROSELOA]

If I click on the 3 dots for one album, say “Gish”, and select “add to playlist”, then I would add the contents of Gish (all the songs in Gish) to the play list correct?
→ Correct

So IF I wanted to add the entire Smashing Pumpkins library to that playlist, I would have to “3 dot” each sub folder (album) individually, correct?
→ Correct

You got it

[dainapoo]

Fantastic! Sold!

Thank you!

Daina