Which program to sync music to my Clip+?

[Zaphod]

Hi everyone.

I'm searching for a simple way to synchronize a playlist to my clip+.

I use windows 7 and I'm using foobar2000 to listen to music on my computer but it does not have a sync feature (it exists only for ipods).

The difficult point is that, as nearly all my media library is in flac, it should be able to perform on-the-fly conversion from flac to mp3 with LAME (only for flac files, not for mp3).


I tried Songbird (I didn't manage to do any conversion at all), winamp (no mp3 conversion) and MediaMonkey (no conversion in the free version, not possible to test the gold version).

Thanks in advance for any help!

[CrowdAds]

[Marvin the Martian]

If you have the hard drive space, use foobar to make LAME conversions ahead of time, then you can use Mediamonkey to sync your playlist. I keep my flacs out of Mediamonkey (even though I have the Gold version) and just use it for the lossy stuff and my DAPs....foobar I use for flac playback on the computer and for its various and wonderful utilities.

[skip252]

foobar2000 can convert the contents of a playlist to a Clip+ in MSC mode with some setup and the right encoders. You would then have to create a playlist using the files that have been placed on the player.

If that's not what you mean by sync you may want to expand on what you are looking to do. I've found sync means different things to different people. I've seen where a fair amount of confusion come from differences in understanding what a person means when they talk about syncing.

[Zaphod]

Thanks for your answers.

By sync, I mean, if I have 500 songs on my clip, and my playlist contains 480 of the songs already in the clip, and 40 new songs:
- only convert and transfer the 40 new songs
- delete the 20 songs that aren't anymore in the playlist

I also want to convert only the flac files, not the ones that are already in mp3.

[rrfpacker]

I've been using Media Monkey for a couple of years. I've had no trouble syncing to two different Clips.

I auto sync everytime, works like a charm.

[Zaphod]

The problem with MediaMonkey is that it's impossible to try the Gold Version.
So I can't tell if it will be ok for me...

Do you use the auto convert feature?

[skip252]

I remember a thread where you reworked your database in Rockbox. Will you be trying the sync you described here on a Rockboxed player?

I've read numerous accounts of MediaMonkey performing the type of sync you describe on a MTP connected player. AFAIK it won't do what you describe on a player loaded in the MSC mode needed for Rockbox to function properly.

[Zaphod]

Originally Posted by skip252

I remember a thread where you reworked your database in Rockbox. Will you be trying the sync you described here on a Rockboxed player?

Yes... the kind of Sync I want is just sync with any UMS device.
I also need this for the USB flashdrives I use on my car radio.

Originally Posted by skip252

I've read numerous accounts of MediaMonkey performing the type of sync you describe on a MTP connected player. AFAIK it won't do what you describe on a player loaded in the MSC mode needed for Rockbox to function properly.

In fact, I tried MediaMonkey and the autosync features works fine with a flashdrive.
The only thing I couldn't try (as it is not in the free version) is the on-the-fly conversion.

But as MM use LAME to convert to mp3... this should be OK.
I just have to run some tests to see how FLAC tags are converted to MP3 tags.

I don't like MM as a mp3 player... but the sync feature is the best I've seen so far.
So, I'll keep on with foobar for playing music... and I'll get MM to sync it to my Clip.

[skip252]

Been a while since I used MediaMonkey. I didn't know it now has the ability to update playlists as part of MSC sync. Any tips on how to set that up? I'm pretty sure that there's others that will be interested in how to do that.

As far as the auto convert feature Marvin The Martian has mentioned using that as part of loading his DAPs. He should be able to let you know if he feels it's worth the upgrade charge.

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by Zaphod

But as MM use LAME to convert to mp3... this should be OK.
I just have to run some tests to see how FLAC tags are converted to MP3 tags.

I'm testing this now.

Originally Posted by skip252

As far as the auto convert feature Marvin The Martian has mentioned using that as part of loading his DAPs. He should be able to let you know if he feels it's worth the upgrade charge.

I usually only use the MP3Gain on the fly, but as I said above, I'm testing the full conversion process.....I added a FLAC double-album with album art to my MM library, set the auto-convert with the DAP in question to convert to LAME V0 with MP3Gain attached.

OK, results are in, which I'll illustrate with a couple of screengrabs....album art came over nicely, and the two images show which fields are filled in. These MP3Tag screengrabs are reading the converted files right from the DAP which is connected in MSC mode.

[Zaphod]

Thanks for all your answers.
MediaMonkey seems to be the right software for me.
The Gold version is not expensive (20$) and I can use it on 3 computers...

I also like the podcast features of MM, which combined to the Sync with my clip, can be very useful.

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by Zaphod

Thanks for all your answers.
MediaMonkey seems to be the right software for me.
The Gold version is not expensive (20$) and I can use it on 3 computers...

I like this a lot.....I have it on both of my computers. And I do think it is worth $20....there are tons of things the program can do.

Originally Posted by Zaphod

I also like the podcast features of MM, which combined to the Sync with my clip, can be very useful.

I used it for my podcasts for a long time, and it worked very well for me.

[rrfpacker]

Originally Posted by Zaphod

The problem with MediaMonkey is that it's impossible to try the Gold Version.
So I can't tell if it will be ok for me...

Do you use the auto convert feature?

Zaphod,

To answer your question, I do not auto convert, everything I have is an mp3. I have the gold version and I don't remember the difference between the free and gold version other than you can create auto-playlists with gold, a must have for me.