McWilliams’ World

QMP = Quintessential Media Player

I’m a tad anal-retentive when it comes to my MP3 collection (over 20gb). I like to have everything tagged properly and the file name formatted in the right way. How do I do it? I use QMP. To me, it’s simply the best solution for tagging and renaming my media files.

Recently I tried a few tagging applications; MP3Tag and MediaMonkey thinking I might find a stand-alone tagging app that may be better than QMP. Although they do an okay job of tagging, the interfaces and options are over complicated and results aren’t always a lock.

QMP, although it’s primary role is a media player, it has a killer tagging utility. Extremely easy to use and has all the features you need; multi-edit, file rename + formatting options, etc… What I like is its integration with GraceNote. It’s very rare that GraceNote won’t match the track I’m trying to tag - unless the file name or initial tags are completely wrong.

I used QMP for years as my media player but since buying a Zune, I now use the Zune software to play my music. Why not utilize the Zune software for my ripping and tagging needs? #1. I have a wide variety of music and some times the Zune app does not recognize the CD or tracks. #2. There a little to no customizing options when ripping and near zero for tag/filename options. It’s a love hate relationship with the Zune software. I like how it’s laid out but I hate that it doesn’t have certain features built in. It’s a bit dumbed-down. Not to mention that it frequently misdiagnoses an album or track or ignores tag changes. That last one bugs me. 98% of the time the Zune software will recognize changes to a file’s tags right away, but when it doesn’t, there’s not much you can do other than wipe the Zune’s “meta database”; which causes it to re-catalog your entire library. Very annoying.

Typically I follow these rules when managing my music library:

1. Always start with a good rip; I use either QMP, or CDEx to rip my CD to MP3 format, tag the files (at rip time) and name the files properly.
2. If #1 is not an option, then I utilize QMP to re-tag and rename.

Following those rules make for a neatly managed library and the Zune typically follows suit.

So if you’re looking for a good tagging app, look no further than Quintessential Media Player.

Received our two Zunes this morning yesterday via FedEx that I bought off of Woot.com for $99/each - a smmmmmmmmokin’ good deal if you ask me. Let me tell you, I shared the same enthusiasm as everyone else that got in on the deal. Everyone was clamoring to get tracking info and counting down till the units arrived.

Ours arrived in perfect condition - if the refurbished sticker or refurbished notice wasn’t on the box, you’d never know these weren’t new. Absolutely flawless.

I spend most of the day ripping A LOT of my Cd’s that I haven’t got around to dumping. I still used my trusty old Quintessential Player to rip - It just works nice. I’m also going through and cleaning up all the ID tags on my music so they’re recognized better in the Zune software. Again Quintessential Player helps out by using GraceNote to find the track information and apply it en mass.

I’m sooo stoked I got these Zunes! They rock!