Programs for File management - HELP

I have Windows Media Center which, I feel, is excellent for ripping/cataloging your cd's. I think Windows Media Center has an excellent interface for storing/tagging/playing your music collection, it is also very simple to use. You have a choice as to what quality to rip them, (MP3, lossless, etc.) I also have just downloaded EAC (for ripping) and Foobar (for playing) but I'm not familiar enough yet to qualify for an opinion of these processes. Other Audiogoners will probably have some other suggestions that may work for you also, just check them out and see what fits your needs best.

iTunes works great on the PC! Go here:

http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

Pick Windows, and enjoy.

You might not like this answer, but the only way to make sure you're ripping and tagging your cds right is to practice first. You should burn the same cd several different ways and then open up your interface such as iTunes, Media Monkey, Foobar, etc and see how the cd comes up. For example, is it listed in folk or jazz. Now try to have it listed as trip-hop. Once you figure out how to change the genre, you don't have to rely on the often incorrect genres automatically picked by your ripping program.

When you burn a compilation, is the artist listed under the artist section, or was it accidently listed in the album section. This is a big problem. If you come across a compilation cd that isn't recognized and the track titles are blank, type them out and see if after the cd is burned everything is listed properly. It probably won't be until you figure out how. Do you type the artist and THEN the track title? Do you separate the artist and track title with a comma or with a hyphen?

One of the biggest pitfalls is tagging the year. I have a big jazz collection and some John Coltrane, for example, was released only recently. So the automatic tag might be, say, 1998. This is bad because when i want to random play jazz from the 1960s, the title won't be in there. You need to learn how to change this before you burn the cd - perhaps you can make the change after (I don't think so) but i don't know how. Even if you can, do you want to have to go back?

A tip: You don't have to burn the entire cd to practice. Just burn a track or two so you don't have to wait to see the results.

I would suggest practicing for a while and then when you set out to burn all your cds, for the first 50 or so, after each burn, open up your interface program and check to see that the cd is tagged properly before moving on to the next cd. I can tell you from experience that this will save you a nervous breakdown, $17,000 dollars in psychiatric visits, a two month stay at bellvue and other incidentals like fixing holes in your walls and apologizing to neighbors for the late night sobbing.

Good luck my son and god bless.

I have used EAC for ripping and Foobar 2000 for playback with exelent results in a Windows XP environment. However, I was given a 30 Gig. iPod six months ago and started to use iTunes (yes, in Windows XP), ripping for loading up the iPod but also using it for playback (still using EAC and Foobar 200 too). For file mangagement, there is no question about the advantages of iTunes, it just makes everything so simple and accessible- automatically. You can call up the whole collection by artsist, albums, genre, playlists, etc. And for the most part, I see myself ripping my collection into iTunes for that very reason. And in regards to sound, I really do not hear any differences between the two, using Apple loss less file system in iTunes and Wav. in Foobar 2000. I recommend you download iTunes (it is free) and try it out, it is that good for the purpose that you have in mind, regardless whether you are an Apple user or not.
Good Luck

Thanks for the responses so far. I suspect that Kublakhan has the most realistic answer. There are no shortcuts. Practice makes perfect. Please continue contributing with ongoing advice. Thanks in advance! Gerry