I finally decided to rip my entire CD collection using dBpowerampR12 to FLAC, then re-encode from FLAC to other codes as needed.
For most CDs it's easy. A few CDs pull incorrect or sub-optimal album art which later needs to be corrected (same as REACT or any other program I've tried). Not a big deal. Some track names and artists need cleaning up, again that's easy.
Where I'm having a problem is correctly tagging and organizing multi CD albums, albums which are part of a box set and other compilations.
For this discussion I'll list three concrete examples in detail, then ask for opinions/solutions.
Here are 3 CDs I'm having trouble with tagging/organizing:
Pink Floyd\[1995] Pulse
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&a...10:dpfwxqudldfe
Pink Floyd\[1992] The Wall (Part 2) [Shine On]
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&a...10:09fyxqr5ldje
The Beach Boys\Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of the Beach Boys [US]
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&a...10:3xfwxqealdke
In dBpowerampR12 Pink Floyd\[1995] Pulse pulls bad album art. This would be easy enough to fix using something like Tag and Rename, but Tag and Rename has a bad habit of rewriting capitalization on tags you didn't ask it to modify, but more importantly Tag and Rename expects the track numbers to be sequential, not on a per CD basis.
So, for the case of Pulse Tag and Rename would expect to see tracks 1-24, not tracks 1-11 and 1-13
In allmusic.com and amazon.com they also catalog tracks for Pulse as 1-24, so it got me to thinking, should I organize the same way? Just have one folder for a multi CD album and renumber the tracks to match allmusic.com and/or amazon.com.
What would you do? What is an easy way to rip 2 CDs, but have the tracks numbered consecutively (i.e. 1-24) automatically?
There is a similar issue with Pink Floyd\[1992] The Wall (Part 2) [Shine On], but it has an added issue of being a re-released album as part of a box set. I'm not sure if I want to tag the album by year of original release or by issue date. Also, I would like to capture the fact that this is The Wall (Part 2) from the [Shine On] box set, but I'm not sure if I want that in the album title, or as part of the comment or a new field all together.
What would you suggest?
On the Beach Boys Sounds of Summer CD allmusic.com has additional information for each track. For example, Track 1 is a [2002 Stereo Mix], Track 2 [Mono Version], Track 4 [Original Stereo Version], Track 9 [New Stereo Mix], etc. I would like to add that data to the tags, but I'm not sure where to put it.
As part of the title? And additional tag? I'm looking for suggestions.
Also, on compilation CDs which have songs from different years, it would be nice to tag the year of each song original release date, but I can't think of a way to do that easily, for example, at the time of ripping the CD.
I know these are edge cases, but I'm wondering how other people have handled these situations, so I can determine why might be the best strategy for me.
QUOTE(Richthofen @ Apr 18 2007, 16:23) 
What would you do? What is an easy way to rip 2 CDs, but have the tracks numbered consecutively (i.e. 1-24) automatically?
The easiest way is usually to consider each disc as a "separate" album: rip each CD as "Album Disc N", where N is the disc number. Set track numbers on each disc to start from 1 onwards.
QUOTE(Richthofen @ Apr 18 2007, 16:23)
I'm not sure if I want to tag the album by year of original release or by issue date.
Always tag by issue date, since tagging by original release will result in no difference between the original version and the box set version, and confusion hence.
QUOTE(Richthofen @ Apr 18 2007, 16:23)
Also, I would like to capture the fact that this is The Wall (Part 2) from the [Shine On] box set, but I'm not sure if I want that in the album title, or as part of the comment or a new field all together.
In the Album field of the tag, enter "Albumname [4DigitYear Boxsetname Box Set] Disc N"
QUOTE(Richthofen @ Apr 18 2007, 16:23)
On the Beach Boys Sounds of Summer CD allmusic.com has additional information for each track. For example, Track 1 is a [2002 Stereo Mix], Track 2 [Mono Version], Track 4 [Original Stereo Version], Track 9 [New Stereo Mix], etc. I would like to add that data to the tags, but I'm not sure where to put it.
Do what allmusic does: "Trackname [Version]"
QUOTE(Richthofen @ Apr 18 2007, 16:23)
Also, on compilation CDs which have songs from different years, it would be nice to tag the year of each song original release date, but I can't think of a way to do that easily, for example, at the time of ripping the CD.
No easy way to do that, and IMO it doesn't make any sense either for the same issue vs. release explanation I gave above. Just tag by issue date.
Hope this helps
How to name/tag multi discs albums is always a personal preference of a few various ways.
separate release and track #
- album (disc #) + track#_of_that_disc
merged album, use track number to indicate disc position
- album + 3 digit track number, first number indicating disc, other 2 numbers for track... ie 101, 102, 201 etc
merged album, sequential track#
- album + tracks 1-24 etc
Some apps may support the 'disc' tag allowing you to avoid using the track and album titles to indicate the physical disc, but this seems relatively uncommon (I think itunes can use tho?).
Personally, I use the merged album + 3 digit track number.
separate release and track #
- album (disc #) + track#_of_that_disc
merged album, use track number to indicate disc position
- album + 3 digit track number, first number indicating disc, other 2 numbers for track... ie 101, 102, 201 etc
merged album, sequential track#
- album + tracks 1-24 etc
Some apps may support the 'disc' tag allowing you to avoid using the track and album titles to indicate the physical disc, but this seems relatively uncommon (I think itunes can use tho?).
Personally, I use the merged album + 3 digit track number.
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