i am new to linux mint cinnamon 64bit and i am looking for the most obvious alternatives to my fave win audio/video tools.

foobar2000



I have seen some recommendations, but I am not sure about the actuality? So this is a call to all linux 'experts' out there. What is the situation as of September 2015?

The biggest issue in Linux is easy ReplayGain scanning. Deadbeef doesn't support scanning. Quod Libet's included program Ex Falso does BUT uses ReplayGain v1 and not the new v2 based on EBU R128. There are other alternatives but less easy to use. I use Foobar2000 under WINE to scan files.

Please correct me if I have missed an easy GUI option to scan using ReplayGain v2.

imgburn/burrrn -> k3b

Quote from: ChronoSphere on 2015-09-17 20:29:17

imgburn/burrrn -> k3b

k3b is certainly the best and most comprehensive tool for writing media that I have used (in Linux, and it is long enough now for me to be forgetting what I used in Windows).

However, my problem with it is the K and the kde desktop dependencies that come with it. I have not, so far, found anything else as good. Is there anything?

The biggest issue in Linux is easy ReplayGain scanning. Deadbeef doesn't support scanning.

easytag

Unfortunately, it's usability is worse compared to MP3Tag, but it's the best native audio file tag editor out there for linux.

Quote from: vibee on 2015-09-17 23:22:14

easytag
Unfortunately, it's usability is worse compared to MP3Tag, but it's the best native audio file tag editor out there for linux.

Have you tried puddletag?

Quote from: ChronoSphere on 2015-09-17 23:29:22

Quote from: vibee on 2015-09-17 23:22:14

easytag
Unfortunately, it's usability is worse compared to MP3Tag, but it's the best native audio file tag editor out there for linux.

Have you tried puddletag?

Or Kid3

• Write id3v2,3 to MP3s, delete all other tags -> There are functions to delete id3v1 or id3v2 or apev2. Going to test if id3v1 deletion, followed by id3v2.4->id3v2.3 is also deleted lyricsv3.
• Delete all tag fields except a given list of tag field names -> puddletag can do that, awesome!
• Automated track number tagging, reset counter for each folder -> puddletag ftw
• Search freedb (or cddb?) for selected files -> easytag as fallback
• Massively use the tag-filename and filename-tag feature -> both taggers have a focus on this, even more than mp3tag.

I'd recommend DeaDBeeF too, although I may be biased.  It will be instantly familiar to foobar users, although it doesn't do quite as much.

For the real Linux experience, try mpd.  If you like mpd then switching to Linux is the best thing you ever did.

There are so many players out there, you could spend half your life trying them all.  If you want Windows without the Microsoft logo, install Linux Mint.  Then you'll have Banshee.  Yuck!  Maybe try Audacious, adequate but not brilliant.  Or Clementine, or Rhythmbox, or Guayadeque, or Amarok, or at least a dozen more.  Probably best to stick to ones based on whatever desktop you're using, but feel free to try any of them.  One thing about Linux, it is easy to try something new and equally easy to get rid of it.  Some are library-based, or playlist-based, or folder-based, or media-based, and mpd is just mpd

I really can't recommend any taggers.  There are several, but I didn't find any to be really good.  I would normally say that you shouldn't have moved to Linux if you feel the need to use Wine, but maybe you do in this case.

The biggest issue in Linux is easy ReplayGain scanning. Deadbeef doesn't support scanning. Quod Libet's included program Ex Falso does BUT uses ReplayGain v1 and not the new v2 based on EBU R128. There are other alternatives but less easy to use. I use Foobar2000 under WINE to scan files.

Please correct me if I have missed an easy GUI option to scan using ReplayGain v2.

Isn't Replaygain v2 still "just" a proposal

but it seems you have to still have your server on the same PC as the client?

bind_to_address                "127.0.0.1"

Also, back when I was looking for alternatives, it seemed that no clients supported replaygain.

replaygain                      "track"

So what you are saying is that I can have mpd on a server where my library is, and the mpd client will play it on whichever device the client is running on?
ReplayGain has to be client side for me, because depending on the playback mode, I need it to switch between track and album gain. Also, scanning.

I've made a desktop file for both CUETools and CUERipper. Feel free to use those, you have to adjust the paths, however. The reason I'm using a win32 prefix is because some .NET packages winetricks downloads only install with a 32-bit prefix. I'm also setting the language for the program to Japanese, because otherwise kanji get mangled in file names/paths.

Quote from: ChronoSphere on 2015-09-18 18:23:39

So what you are saying is that I can have mpd on a server where my library is, and the mpd client will play it on whichever device the client is running on?
ReplayGain has to be client side for me, because depending on the playback mode, I need it to switch between track and album gain. Also, scanning.

mpd uses a server (host) - client model.

Let's say mpd is running on the host, where it needs to have access to the audio files. Either the files are on the local hard disk of the host, or the machine has access to the files e.g. via samba share.

For the output, you can use any audio interface on the host machine, or optionally run a http audio stream (or both together). As mpd is the audio player, it also needs to apply replaygain. The client itself does not output any music, it only controls mpd playback (play, pause, volume, output selection, etc).

What do you mean by "depending on the playback mode"? Afaik, it's not possible to assign different replaygain modes for the various output devices. However, you can still change the host's replaygain mode via most clients. Another approach might be to run several instances of mpd, ehere each has another output device assigned.

# Network settings for the daemon itself
bind_to_address                "10.8.0.1"
port                            "55000"

# Web stream is just another audio output
audio_output {
       type            "httpd"
       name            "My HTTP Stream"
       encoder         "flac"
       compression         "5"
       port            "8000"
       bind_to_address "10.8.0.1"
       format          "44100:16:2"
}

# Change to the address/port you used in mpd.conf
export MPD_HOST=10.8.0.1
export MPD_PORT=55000

i must admit, i dont like the softwarecenter at all. many versions of tools are simply outdated, missing great new features.