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Recommendation on CD catalogue software (1 Viewer)

Jeff_A

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I've been using Music Collector software for over two years and I am very happy with it. It's extremely versatile with excellent product support and very frequent updates (improvements) to the program. :emoji_thumbsup: :emoji_thumbsup: :emoji_thumbsup:
Good luck!
 

TomCW

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What Jeff said. I've also been using it for years. Many printout options, good user interface, more fields than Kansas. :)
Tom
 

dpippel

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Same here Ron. I've been using Music Collector for about a year and it works great. I did a lot of comparisons when I was looking for cataloging software and it was the best of the bunch. It's versatile and robust, and is under ongoing development. Music Collector's only drawback, in my opinion, is its complexity. Once you get used to it there's no problem, but it can have a bit of a learning curve.
 

Brian E

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I've tried Music Collector & it's good for standard fare collections. Just wish it had good options for classical music. I use their Book Collector software & like it. Updates are free which is good.

You can get a trial (100 CD limit) version of Music Collector, I'd try that before buying.
 

Ronald Epstein

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Just bought this software.
It's a nice step up from a catalog program
I had been using since the early 90s.
Problem is, I have to re-enter about 1600
CDs, and that is taking me at leaat 2 days
to do.
Not the fault of the software, but I am a
bit disappointed that less than a third of
my popular classic rock and pop music collection
had cover art available. Doesn't seem to be many
discs with available artwork.
Otherwise, Collectorz.Com Music Collector
is a pretty damn good catalog program.
Thanks for all your help.
 

dpippel

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dpippel

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Matt - I don't know, but I'm sure there is somewhere.
Robert - Unless you've got plenty of free time on your hands and the expertise to do it, why reinvent the wheel? $25 (the registration fee for Music Collector) doesn't buy a whole lot of my time. :)
 

John Wes

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Ron, don't know if this is what you were using before but at least it's based on Dbase. So you "could" port it over if this is the case to another program that's based on Dbase..
Anyway...Organize Your Collection, went south.....it's now freeware..
Yep...I've been using this for 7 years for my CD collection as well as my albums.
The downside is there isn't a CDDB for it, but heck, for free, you can catalog, your stamp, comic book, or anything you collect.
Mine is cataloged by Artist, Title, Song, Label, what it's worth is..and even has room for album pics and a description of the album or the song...I can find any song in my collection in a matter of seconds..If your not into typing you could simply cut and paste your info from Amazon or any other place that sells CD's..
You could make the main screen up to suite any type of collection you may have....
If your into free software, this one was just released to the public for the tidy sum of nothing. Not even a postcard. (Humm..those are collectible also!)
Happy collecting!!!
Organize your Collection
This program will allow you to catalog just about anything and even has templates for anything I could think up...
You can even define how you want the catalog printed up. Of course you can even store a pic of the album cover wtih it, which leads me to belive this may be the one you were using. It still has support, only it's from programers willing to donate time to it.
Pretty nice for free...
I've tried Collectors and I do like it, including the CDDB but CDDB doesn't include Label or number..Something to consider..
 

Paul.S

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How long has Collectorz.com/Music Collector been around? I'm concerned about entering a lot of info. into a database at a site that then goes defunct/is no longer updated for whatever reason.

Also, is it fairly common amongst these types of programs to be able to add a title to your personal collection database by just entering a title's catalog number or SKU, or is that a rare function?

Thanks,

-p
 

Ronald Epstein

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Paul,

Perhaps I can ease your concerns.

I just had a crash course in learning and using

Collectorz. Com Music Collector.

I just downloaded and paid for it blindly

two days ago and started using it to enter my

collection of 1300 CDs. It took me two days

non-stop but I have finally finished the tedious

task.

Up until now I had been using an outdated CD

catalog program called Spinfree AudioFile.

It worked in the same manner as this new program

but was limited in its graphic capability.

All these programs use the Internet (CDDB) to

obtain CD information based on the # and length

of the included tracks. All you do is pop the CD

into your computer tray and whoala!

For the above reason, even if the company goes

belly-up and/or stops updating the software, it

will still work. Spinfree AudioFile went

out of business years ago and I was still using

the program.

I am very impressed with Collectorz. Com Music

Collector
. It does exactly what it is supposed

to do in an effortless manner. Now that I have my

entire collection entered, I can sit back and look

through the many statistics graphs and CD cover

thumbnails that I was never able to see with my older

CD database program.

I would highly recommend this program.
 

Paul.S

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Ron:

Thanks much for taking the time to reply with the helpful information.

Did you ever have (or have any other Music Collector users ever had) a situation wherein you own a CD that's not in CDDb? At that point, can you just go to CDDb and submit that disc's info for inclusion?

-p
 

Ronald Epstein

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Paul,

You know, I never actually went to the CDDB

website (if there is one) and tried to submit

a title. That's a good idea, though.

I'm not even certain who inputs all of the

CDDB information. Is it industry based or

user based (like DVD Profiler)?

I will say this....

I inputed 1300 CD titles. I have a very

obscure collection of music which includes

a lot of DJ industry music and even sound

effects recordings. Every single one of the

CDs was correctly found through the CDDB lookup.

That's amazing. I remember years ago when

I first did a catalog of my collection using

CDDB there was a lot of stuff not recognized.

Here's something to be careful of....

If you are like me and have a lot of compilation

music discs (such as decades collections), you

may find them listed under different titles but

with the exact same songs/tracks. It seems that

a lot of these collections change hands over the

years and get released under new labels with new

titles.

For example, TIME/LIFE music has repacked their

Sounds of the Seventies series into

Ultimate Seventies. Same thing with some

of their '60s series. The new discs have the

same songs as the old -- just under a new name.

Fortunately, the software allows you to change

any of the TITLE/ARTIST/TRACKS/LABEL/YEAR fields.

Also be aware that (at least in my case) only

a small portion of the library you input will

have cover art available for immediate download.

I was quite shocked that less than a third of

1300 CDs I inputted provided me with album cover

art. While members have provided links (above)

to alternate cover art download sites, my

collection is way too big for me to sit and try

to obtain covers for all the missing entries.

....by the way, the above is not the fault of

the software but rather what is actually available

through the CDDB download.

So, to wrap this all up, I am very happy with

this software. It's miles ahead of what I had

previously been using, and for a cost of $35 it

should provide for a LIFETIME of collecting needs.
 

Paul.S

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Ron et al.:

I would think CDDb is user-based/-supported.

Another question: can anyone who has cataloged both hybrid and non-hybrid SACDs comment on how those discs are handled by CDDb/Music Collector? Since DVD-ROM drives don't play single layer SACDs, I presume those SACD titles have to be entered manually?

But as to the hybrids, are those (mis-)identified as being the dedicated CD, and you then just modify the listing in your/the CDDb so it is the hybrid? Most labels that I know of have assigned SKUs/catalog numbers to hybrid releases that are at least slightly different from the title's CD sister.

-p
 

Paul.S

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Finally just placed an order for the Standard version of Music Collector.

I'll find out for myself soon enough, but I'm still interested in feedback from anyone who already has the app installed and who also owns hi rez discs on how/whether you can use the software to add those SACD and DVD-A titles to your database. Manually I'd surmise.

I suppose it's all in the authoring/flagging but I was mildly surprised to recently find that--for whatever it's worth since I'm hearing Dolby Digital--a few of my DVD-A titles do indeed play in my Sony DVD R/RW ROM drive (Metallica, Hotel California, Crowded House and Sinatra At the Sands).

-p
 

Jeff_A

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...I'll find out for myself soon enough, but I'm still interested in feedback from anyone who already has the app installed and who also owns hi rez discs on how/whether you can use the software to add those SACD and DVD-A titles to your database. Manually I'd surmise...
I haven't entered an SACD for quite some time (they don't produce them anymore), but I believe the program loaded them automatically with no problems.
 

dpippel

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If you're talking about Music Collector automatically scanning the disc ID then it will only work with Hybrid SACDs. Computer CD-ROM/CD-RW drives cannot read single layer SACDs, and some have trouble with Hybrid discs as well. I'm not sure about DVD-A titles, but they should be OK in a DVD-ROM/RW drive.
 

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