From Omnifi Wiki

To ensure your SimpleCenter and DMS1 / DMP1 operate smoothly the following information is provided for the most consistent experience. It is meant to be a guideline only, and is far from infallible. Other techniques will work but you may get mixed results.

[edit] Preparing the Songs

Prior to importing songs into SimpleCenter, a number of tasks ought be accomplished.

1. Use A Good Ripper

When ripping the music, ensure that the ripping software has the ability to write correct TLEN tags as part of the ID3V2 information tacked to the end of the file. A TLEN tag contains the number of milliseconds of the total playback time of the file. This becomes especially important when importing VBR MP3's and SimpleCenter's algorithm used to calculate the length of the songs.

2. Carefully Tag Your Songs

Ensure that the songs are properly catalogued using MP3Tag Tool (obtain it through the Links page). Ensure that every file has the at least the Artist and Album info. SimpleCenter manages its database by grouping songs into several major categories:

1. All Media - songs are catalogued by Title
2. Artist - all songs by an Artist is grouped here and arranged by Title
3. Artist/Album - all songs by an Artist is grouped by their respective Albums and arranged by Track Number
4. Album - all songs are grouped by Album (suppose multiple artists go to make a single album) and arranged by Track Number
5. Genre - all songs are grouped by Genre and arranged by Title

Information which is not specifically provided will be lumped into a single category of "Unknown", and become difficult to locate since SimpleCenter and DMS1 / DMP1 do not navigate by filenames out-of-the-box.

3. Adjust Your Song's Gain

Ensure songs are sound-adjusted for volume using MP3GAIN (obtain it through the Links page). Some songs are louder than others and may have you reaching for the volume knob time and time again. MP3GAIN will sample each of your songs, either individually or as an Album, and add in tags and parameter lists to encourage the MP3 decoder to adjust its volume level. The DMP1 and DMS1 can take advantage of these tags and work wonders. The benefit is actually subtle; you'll only notice you're not wanting to change the volume knob all the time. But play a song on the DMP1 which was not preprocessed by MP3GAIN and you'll quickly remember why this was a necessary step.

4. Check Your VBR Files

Ensure Variable Bitrate Songs have an accurate TLEN tag applied to it. Programs such as VBRFix attempt to write a VBR header to frame zero to aid in the navigation and duration calculating. However, the SimpleCenter cataloguing algorithm does not recognize the VBR header. Instead, it looks for the presence of the TLEN tag and uses it. If not, it attempts to "estimate" (poorly) the length of the song.

An incorrect song length (duration) has no deleterious effect on playback in SimpleCenter, the DMS1 and DMP1 except that the progress bar on the DMS1 and DMP1 will read incorrectly depending on whether the estimated duration overshot or undershot the actual duration. This can easily be corrected if the TLEN attribute is added to the song, and the song is re-catalogued into SimpleCenter, or if you have a Super-Wamperdyne Text Editor then you can edit the mediadb.xml directly.

5. Pick A Good Folder Structure

While the SimpleCenter (and DMS1/DMP1) could not care less what the directory structure is because they rely entirely on the ID3 tag information, it is always good practice to arrange your files in a manner that is easy to understand. Especially if you decide to utilize Twonky music server or Lincomatic's DMP1Sync which utilize Folder Navigation. Below is a suggestion for a directory structure that is flexible and portable:

 C:\My Music\

 C:\My Music\Artist1\
 C:\My Music\Artist1\Album1\
 C:\My Music\Artist1\Album2\
 C:\My Music\Artist1\Album3\
 C:\My Music\Artist1\Misc\

 C:\My Music\Artist2\
 C:\My Music\Artist2\Album1\
 ...
 C:\My Music\Artist2\Misc\

 ... ...
 
 C:\My Music\Misc Artist\

 ... ...

 C:\My Music\Misc Albums\

This structure makes it easy to add new albums (if you rip entire CD's). Try not to place your Songs in the "My Albums" or "My Music" folder INSIDE your "My Documents" folder. "My Documents" is just that--my documents. Others may not have access to it, and if you decide to move your SimpleCenter installation to another machine you'll have to either recatalogue your songs and lose all of your playlists, or go through extensive editing of your mediadb.xml and customize it for the new machine.

By placing all your songs into a single "My Music" folder on the C:\ drive (or a networked F:\ drive), you have a generic installation that facilitates movement between machines. Additionally, your navigation by folder will become less convoluted. It is easier to Navigate the above structure than to navigate:

C:\Documents and Settings\lumkichi\My Documents\My Albums\Artist1\Album1\Song1.mp3

especially if 99% of my songs always appear in the C:\Documents and Settings\lumkichi\My Documents\My Albums\ folder...

[edit] Maintaining the System

[edit] Occasionally Revamping