Where Do You Store Your Digital Media (songs)

dmbkcdmbkc Posts: 63

I have 29k songs on my iTunes.  I know that iTunes will still be around for a while but am looking to move my music now.  I know there is Windows Media Player or whatever, which is an option.  What platform or digital media storing program do you use?

ALSO -> I currently use an iPod (yes I know old school) but the 160gb holds ALL of my music, which I like.  So I am looking for a program that would have some sort of capability of loading on an external device (other than a cell phone as I do not want to stream off my phone).  Eventually I am going to shop for some sort of device, similar to an iPod, that will store 160gb+ on it.  If one even exists.

Any help is super appreciated.

www.kcsfc.net
10.12.2000 Bonner Springs / 6.12.2003 Bonner Springs / 5.3.2010 Kansas City / 10.3.14 St Louis / 8.20.16 Chicago

Comments

  • alexross42alexross42 Posts: 352
    edited June 2019
    I use a Synology NAS to store my media files on which I run Plex Media Server which so far has proved excellent in terms of managing and organising all my music and movies - it's the best set up I've had by far.
    You can use Plex to configure your home router to allow external access via the app, so you can still stream your own media remotely and it seems to handle the setup of this in a secure way. Alternatively you can mark albums/songs as available offline so that it effectively downloads to your device (i.e.phone).
    There is a bit of financial investment required up front (especially if you opt for one of the more powerful/scalable NAS solutions) but I think it's worth it in terms of the stability and flexibility this provides.
    Plus, Plex has recently teamed up with Tidal so if you're already subscribed to that service there are extra benefits to be had.

    Post edited by alexross42 on
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  • ZodZod Posts: 9,943
    I'm old school.   I've ripped my cd's to FLAC over the last 10+ years, so I have a folder of FLAC music (every album has it's own subfolder, plus I have separate folders, for albums, soundtracks, bootlegs, singles).    It's about 800 to 900 albums in size so it's pretty big.  I have a copy of it on my PC, a 2nd copy on my media box attached to the TV, and a 3rd copy on an offline hard drive.

    I lost an entire mp3 collection once, it really sucked.    I'm pretty careful about backing it up.

    For listening, I've got the media box attached to the TV, my phone with a high quality DAC for when I'm on the move, and the deck in my truck support flac on USB drives (of which I put a 250gb sd card into a super small drive that barely sticks out., so my truck has about 400 albums at any given time).
  • rhpot1991rhpot1991 Posts: 150
    I'm probably overkill compared to most.  I buy everything on both vinyl and CD.  Vinyl is of course for home consumption.  CD gets ripped to FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, and MP3.  FLAC goes on my HD-FLAC player which travels in my laptop bag to work.  Ogg Vorbis goes on an external SSD for in my car.  MP3 is a fail safe in case it is needed later.

    Ripped versions then go to my NAS for archiving in case they are needed again.  Worst case I can always re-rip if something goes wrong down the road.  I should probably push to a cloud drive too.
  • VitalogensiaVitalogensia Posts: 1,900
    I wish I could understand the words in everyone's posts because I need to do something with my digital music as well.
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  • LongestRoadLongestRoad Posts: 477
    flash drives. lots of flash drives and duplicate.
  • tschavtschav Posts: 2,759
    Since 99% of my digital music is MP3, I use a few portable hard drives and back up on iTunes cloud (for $25/year, it’s a good safety blanket if the drives go out).
  • Indifference71Indifference71 Chicago Posts: 14,723
    Still use iTunes with 2 backups on external hard drives.  Switched to Spotify last year and absolutely love it so my iTunes is basically just PJ boots and other stuff that I can't get on Spotify.
  • elitrionaelitriona Posts: 41
    You can store up to 50,000 songs on Google Music for free. I just keep it all in the cloud and stream it (though you can download it locally if you want).
  • lexicondevillexicondevil Bay Area Posts: 1,874
    I wish I could understand the words in everyone's posts because I need to do something with my digital music as well.
    I'm with ya. I've been looking for an easy solution to replace my bricked Zune that I hooked up to an old receiver in my garage. I've bought many Sandisk and generic MP3 players to continue, but all have failed in various ways. I am currently looking into buying a tablet and using that to store and play my music in the garage. There is probably a better way, but I'm too old to figure it out.
    1991- Hollywood Palladium, California with Temple of the Dog, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains -RIP Magazine Show Oct. 6th
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    Nothing since then. I suck.
    2016- Fenway Park, Boston - Both glorious nights
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  • demetriosdemetrios Canada Posts: 87,335
    HD's. Backup HD's. Flash D's. CDr's. DVDr's. BD-R's. Mega. DropBox etc ..
  • dmbkcdmbkc Posts: 63
    elitriona said:
    You can store up to 50,000 songs on Google Music for free. I just keep it all in the cloud and stream it (though you can download it locally if you want).
    It is now YouTube music and O have like 30k on their now, free.  Only thing that sucks is back in the day when you loaded on iTunes it would carry over to Google music.  Now (if using BOTH YouTube music and iTunes) if you have to load on to both.  But YouTube music works / replaced Google Music.
    www.kcsfc.net
    10.12.2000 Bonner Springs / 6.12.2003 Bonner Springs / 5.3.2010 Kansas City / 10.3.14 St Louis / 8.20.16 Chicago
  • demetriosdemetrios Canada Posts: 87,335

  • dmbkcdmbkc Posts: 63
    demetrios said:

    You store your music in heaven?

    OH, the cloud.  10-4.
    www.kcsfc.net
    10.12.2000 Bonner Springs / 6.12.2003 Bonner Springs / 5.3.2010 Kansas City / 10.3.14 St Louis / 8.20.16 Chicago
  • Vedd HeddVedd Hedd Posts: 4,330
    Mine is on my PC, and on my phone.  I dont have the full library on my phone, but enough for offline use.  

    But that said, most of what I listen to is either Vinyl or streaming now. I still buy the vinyl and the CD for a few artists...but with subscription streaming services, there is little need to have the data files at all, really. 
    Near to death.
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  • 2-feign-reluctance2-feign-reluctance TigerTown, USA Posts: 23,090
    5 TB external. I make my iTunes up of music that isn’t on Spotify. But mostly still listen to my massive CD collection. 
    www.cluthelee.com
  • Foriginal SinForiginal Sin Scottsdale, AZ Posts: 1,743
    On my first iPhone, a iPhone 4. I have no fucking clue how to get it to my new iphone. Any ideas? 
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  • HughFreakingDillonHughFreakingDillon Winnipeg Posts: 35,808
    this is on my mind constantly. I have an iPhone, but got annoyed at how little storage it has. I have a lot of music. So I bought an iPod touch 256 GB. I currently have it filled to only 65 GB. Why? because of the cloud, that's why. iTunes changed how it operated when you upload music. So I rip a cd, it goes directly to the cloud. It's in iTunes, but then if I want it on my device for offline listening, I then have to download it AGAIN within iTunes. and that's if it fucking works. half the time one song has that incomplete cloud symbol, or the cloud with the line through it, or whatever. doesn't tell you what it means. just that it can't be uploaded to your device for whatever reason. it's maddening. 

    (i posed a rant about this in its own thread a couple weeks ago). 

    So, I've been considering starting all fucking over and with NOT APPLE. 
    Darwinspeed, all. 

    Cheers,

    HFD




  • BR2428BR2428 Posts: 118
    I never got into any of the cloud/streaming services. All my ripped cds and other downloaded music (Bandcamp, etc) reside in an iTunes library local to my computer. It’s been pretty seamless synchronizing music the old fashioned way with a USB cable attached to my 128GB iphone/old iPod. I’m not looking forward to the day when they stop supporting cable sync. 
  • GlowGirlGlowGirl New York, NY Posts: 9,694
    BR2428 said:
    I never got into any of the cloud/streaming services. All my ripped cds and other downloaded music (Bandcamp, etc) reside in an iTunes library local to my computer. It’s been pretty seamless synchronizing music the old fashioned way with a USB cable attached to my 128GB iphone/old iPod. I’m not looking forward to the day when they stop supporting cable sync. 
    That is what I do as well. Easy. When I get a new phone I just plug it into my computer. Sync with my iTunes library and I am good to go. 
  • demetriosdemetrios Canada Posts: 87,335
    dmbkc said:
    demetrios said:

    You store your music in heaven?

    OH, the cloud.  10-4.

    I'm slowly putting alot up there. Still I back up using HD's. Backup HD's. Flash D's. CDr's. DVDr's. BD-R's. Mega. DropBox etc 
  • JM12271JM12271 Posts: 209
    edited April 2022
    Storage:
    I have converted/downloaded/ripped all music to .flac or .mp3 (where I couldn't find the .flac files) and store them on a 5 GB Western Digital HD (3.8 TB so far)

    Organization & Playing:
    To access those files, I use JRiver Media Center.  The latest build is about $25. I am still using MC24, and it works fine.
    It can be found here:

    Listening:
    To listen with headphones or via my Yamaha Amplifier, I use the FiiO K5 DAC:

    On the Go/In the car:
    Finally, to listen in the car or on the go, I really enjoy the ONKYO Hi-Res Digital Audio Player DP-X1A:

    It has two slots for MicroSD Cards, the max I have  been able to use is (2) 256 GB cards in each slot.(I noticed the description has changed and says 64 GB) It has Bluetooth, so it pairs with my car, or I use my headphones while out an about.

    My preferred MicroSD Card:

    Headphones:
    I really enjoy these Sennheiser Headphones. But we all know it is personal preference and quality of file you are listening too.

    Conclusion:
    Just like you, I have a hot mess of songs, I think I am over 64K and they are all converted to FLAC, FLAC HD or a handful of MP3.
    JRiver Media Center has been fantastic, specifically:
    Importing files to Library
    Ripping CDs
    Creating Playlists
    Transferring files to Micro SD Cards
    Capturing Artwork

    I moved on from iTunes as I wasn't getting the performance I wanted in the area of organization.

    As for Micro SD Cards, I have over 30 of them to swap and use with Onkyo player depending on what I am in the mood for.
    I hope this helps. Again, can't speak highly enough about my Media Center experience.

    I also hope I did not come across as a snob. I have spent many years building this entire system and it produces what I want, the ability to sit in my den, in my recliner and access any album I own and listen with the full room experience.

    And to answer the question - yes - every Pearl Jam bootleg both Offical and pre-Official Bootleg Series dating back to 10/22/90 is ripped to .flac goodness for enjoyment. (I am a nerd, I bought all Official Bootlegs on CD and Digital files for 2005 and 2006)

    Cheers
  • Cropduster-80Cropduster-80 Posts: 2,034
    edited April 2022
    On my first iPhone, a iPhone 4. I have no fucking clue how to get it to my new iphone. Any ideas? 
    That’s 100 percent why I do subscription services. It just transfers automatically 

    You probably need to connect the phone to a computer,add everything to your computer if the files aren’t already on the computer,then plug in a new phone and transfer.  

    As long as the media is in iTunes (or whatever they call it now) on your computer it should always sync with your new phone as long as you connect it. I’ve still got some ripped music in my library and it’s just an extra step to get it to a new phone 
    Post edited by Cropduster-80 on
  • vant0037vant0037 Posts: 6,061
    My what?
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  • dmbkcdmbkc Posts: 63
    JM12271 said:
    Storage:
    I have converted/downloaded/ripped all music to .flac or .mp3 (where I couldn't find the .flac files) and store them on a 5 GB Western Digital HD (3.8 TB so far)

    Organization & Playing:
    To access those files, I use JRiver Media Center.  The latest build is about $25. I am still using MC24, and it works fine.
    It can be found here:

    Listening:
    To listen with headphones or via my Yamaha Amplifier, I use the FiiO K5 DAC:

    On the Go/In the car:
    Finally, to listen in the car or on the go, I really enjoy the ONKYO Hi-Res Digital Audio Player DP-X1A:

    It has two slots for MicroSD Cards, the max I have  been able to use is (2) 256 GB cards in each slot.(I noticed the description has changed and says 64 GB) It has Bluetooth, so it pairs with my car, or I use my headphones while out an about.

    My preferred MicroSD Card:

    Headphones:
    I really enjoy these Sennheiser Headphones. But we all know it is personal preference and quality of file you are listening too.

    Conclusion:
    Just like you, I have a hot mess of songs, I think I am over 64K and they are all converted to FLAC, FLAC HD or a handful of MP3.
    JRiver Media Center has been fantastic, specifically:
    Importing files to Library
    Ripping CDs
    Creating Playlists
    Transferring files to Micro SD Cards
    Capturing Artwork

    I moved on from iTunes as I wasn't getting the performance I wanted in the area of organization.

    As for Micro SD Cards, I have over 30 of them to swap and use with Onkyo player depending on what I am in the mood for.
    I hope this helps. Again, can't speak highly enough about my Media Center experience.

    I also hope I did not come across as a snob. I have spent many years building this entire system and it produces what I want, the ability to sit in my den, in my recliner and access any album I own and listen with the full room experience.

    And to answer the question - yes - every Pearl Jam bootleg both Offical and pre-Official Bootleg Series dating back to 10/22/90 is ripped to .flac goodness for enjoyment. (I am a nerd, I bought all Official Bootlegs on CD and Digital files for 2005 and 2006)

    Cheers
    Are you able to plug your 5 GB Western Digital into your vehicles audio system (radio) using a USB?  If so, does it work?

    I know you use Micro SD cards so maybe you bought an after market unit but would be nice to have one "offline" device to store all music and play in your vehicle.....  You Tube Music works - but can be slow or offline when in rome...
    www.kcsfc.net
    10.12.2000 Bonner Springs / 6.12.2003 Bonner Springs / 5.3.2010 Kansas City / 10.3.14 St Louis / 8.20.16 Chicago
  • JM12271JM12271 Posts: 209
    Following Up.....

    Are you able to plug your 5 GB Western Digital into your vehicles audio system (radio) using a USB?  If so, does it work?

    I know you use Micro SD cards so maybe you bought an after market unit but would be nice to have one "offline" device to store all music and play in your vehicle.....  You Tube Music works - but can be slow or offline when in rome...

    Great Q's!
    I only use the Western Digital for storage that I plug into my MacBook and access files via J River Media Center on my MAC. (I highly recommend Media Center for file organization) I honestly have never tried plugging in via USB with the WD in the car and will see this weekend as you piqued my curiosity. I think it is highly unlikely to work, but will see.

    For the car, it has bluetooth, so I use the Onkyo player that pairs with it, and I swap SD cards - two slots for what I am in the mood for. I also use it if I am working in a coffee shop, or outside doing something.  To be honest, the Micro SD Cards were an investment and took time to organize files, but it is great now to grab one card and listen to any show of the 2000 PJ tour for example. So I have all my music on the WD HD and I have them spread across 25 Micros SD cards for on the go activities.

    I know there are cheaper players, I paid $700 for the Onkyo in 2019 and my jaw dropped when I saw it was $980 when responding in this thread. I looked at a handful of Sony players, so if you go Micro SD card route, and a player where you can swap cards, you can use the AV input or bluetooth to use in the car.

    I hope that helps. Feel free to PM me or respond here if you have any more questions. I hope I am adding value to your post and not muddying the waters.
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