Mirror files and Sonos

[Tony Atkins]

I am currently in the middle of creating mirror files, which is taking a very long time 

I mostLy use my Brennan with Sonos and have found a problem. All the albums which have been copied now show duplicated files in Sonos. Consequently If I play an album, it plays each track twice! 

Has anybody noticed this, and if so is there some kind of fix? 

Thank you

Tony 

[PMB]

Hi Tony,

Ah, the consequences of adding new features.

I'll investigate further.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Tony,

I don't have a Sonos system so I'm working blind here, but I have two suggestions to make.

1.  Can the Sonos app be set to limit the depth of folders that the library function can seek down to?  If there is a limit setting then set it to 2 (/Artist/Album) and this might prevent the mirror folders from being included in the library search.

2.  Can the library function be set to only include '.flac' files (for example).  If your primary music collection is all '.flac' then the content of the mirror folders would not be picked up as they are '.mp3' format.

Regards,

Peter.

[Tony Atkins]

Hi Peter

Thank you 

I cannot find any way in the Sonos Music Library set up to do:what you suggest. However I am no techie, and if anyone knows how do do thIs, I would welcome advice. 

Tony

[Jamie]

I too am a Sonos user. I have not used the B2’s mirror file feature. One of the reasons I avoided it was that duplication in the Sonos library was an implication as the MP3 mirror files are held close to the main WAV/FLAC files in the B2’s directory structure.

As far as I can see, there are three possible fixes for Sonos users:

First, do not use the B2’s mirror file feature. Instead, create MP3 copies outside the B2 environment using a third-party tool

Second, ask Brennan to move the location of the mirror files somewhere other than the music directory

Third, upgrade alternative music players on phones/in cars to use WAV/FLAC formats rather than MP3 format, or use streaming services on phones/in cars, obviating the need for the MP3 copies.

I have used the third option. The only downside of this option is that fewer files can be stored when disk space in limited. On the other hand, it avoids the need for mirror copies. WAV/FLAC files can be extracted from a standard B2 export. IMHO, streaming services are the best option for use on phones/in cars or anywhere else where accessibility rather than sound quality is the most important feature.  

PS I don't think that Peter’s suggestions will work.

[Tony Atkins]

Thanks for the responses. It looks like I am now going to have to delete the thousands of MP3 files Created or move the folders and individually rename them. Hmmm. Good thing I am retired and semi-locked down..The compression facility needs to name the folders   to match the album name and place them to another directory for it to work Properly with a Sonos system. 

In passing I would mention that I am an early B2 owner and while set up and loading music was a little quirky, initially, I have always been more than happy with the product.

Tony 

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Tony,

I used a slightly different approach to this situation which might be of interest to you.  I downloaded a music conversion app called 'dBpoweramp' from the Web and used it to convert all of my '.flac' tracks (approximately 7000 tracks/ 600 albums) to '.mp3' format, for use in my car unit.  I was able to set it up to complete in one run.

'dBpoweramp is an excellent product; very configurable and flexible.  It ran the total conversion in 18 hours and brought all of the tag data over from the '.flac' tracks to the 'mp3' tracks; thus saving me a huge amount of time and effort.

In addition, the 'mp3' option allows you to save at higher bit rates than 128Kb/sec (the Brennan fixed rate) so you can convert a higher quality.

You can try the app for free for 21 days with full functionality.  In my case, I got so much value from it that I purchased it (about £35), as I have an on-going use for it.

Regards,

Peter.