Topic: Suggestions for 3.5

[spacefractal]

Possible to resize the main dialog!!! Its a shame you can't do that, because in many skin you simply cant see the song title, but only the artist name (which I also liked it could been swapped, sp the titlename came first).

And yes don't change the font color or such which is pretty annoying.

[Dotpitch]

Its a shame you can't do that, because in many skin you simply cant see the song title, but only the artist name (which I also liked it could been swapped, sp the titlename came first).

Go to Options and Stuff > Titles, tick 'Scroll long titles' and change the formatting string to something you like better.

[raina]

Instead of "Current position", could the position slider tooltip display the actual song position, in the same format as the time display? Maybe it sounds redundant but the time display isn't visible all skins' all modes. Maybe THAT should actually be the trigger to change from "Current position" to, for example, "-02:14". If you can't see the time otherwise, show it in the tooltip.

[SmartOne]

In the Input plugins' panel, a great feature would be the ability to deselect formats that you don't want a particular plugin to play (like in the Associated filetypes window inside the Integration panel.)  I use plugins that play the same file extensions, and I want to choose the plugin that plays a particular filetype more accurately/the way I want/whatever.

[amit]

Usually I like the playlist to be replaced  when opening an audio file or a playlist in windows but occasionally I prefer to keep the current playlist when adding new files.

Is it possible to add an option for a key shortcut to toggle "integration -> add files to list be defualt?" on and off?

[raina]

Is enabling and using the context menu options out of the question?

[amit]

Is enabling and using the context menu options out of the question?

Usually I do exactly that with local files, but for http stream this is not possible.

[Zarggg]

Now that I'm using XMPlay to power an Icecast stream again, I have a couple requests that I've wanted for a while, but can now justify using:

• Album Artist tag - A sortable column/overriding tag in the Library and title tag (seperate from "artist", track artist)
• Disc number tag - A sortable column/overriding tag in the Library and title tag (I can understand if this would be tricky to implement, as I think I requested something like this in the past, but we came to the consensus that there was no standard tag label in use.)

I think I had another one, but I can't recall what it is at the moment.

[raina]

What IS Album Artist anyway?

[Dotpitch]

What IS Album Artist anyway?

It's the artist the album originates from, like when the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Artist) does the orchestral version of an ABBA album (Album Artist), or when multiple artists create a 'Tribute to [Album Artist]'-album by performing the original songs.

[edit]
Another way of using it:

... The difference is between the “Artist” tag and the “Album Artist” tag is really quite simple. The “Artist” tag is the artist(s) as they appear on the CD. For example on Ben Harper’s live album “Live From Mars” the album is credited as “Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals” so that is what the “Artist” tag would be. The “Album Artist” tag is where the album would be found in a music store, in the Ben Harper example, this would be “Ben Harper” not “Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals” since if you were shopping for the album you would look under “Ben Harper” to find it. ... (link)

And of course, mixed dance/trance sets generally have a DJ (Album Artist) that remixes tracks from others (Artist).

[amit]

It would be nice if available tags in xmplay were customizable. One would like to add "Artist album" tag , another would like to add "rating" tag and a third would like both

[Zarggg]

@Dotpitch:
When I state album artist, I mean exactly what I said: The credited publishing artist differs from the credited track artist. Also, it's common now to tag VA albums with an album artist of "Various Artists" and the individual tracks with the actual artist.

Edit: Remembered my other requests.

• A "stop after current track" option on the stop button's right-click menu
• An option to keep the currently-playing track in memory if the playlist entry is deleted. This would let me switch out playlists on the fly and not interrupt what's playing right now.

[Tsorovan]

What IS Album Artist anyway?

It's the artist the album originates from, like when the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Artist) does the orchestral version of an ABBA album (Album Artist), or when multiple artists create a 'Tribute to [Album Artist]'-album by performing the original songs.

Shouldn't that be the other way around?

Ponder this: what if the RPO has released an album with several orchestral versions of shitty 70s disco songs by a multitude of artists? Shouldn't the Album Artist hold RPO and the Artist tag hold the original artist?
This is another reason why I don't use tags...

[Ian @ un4seen]

Instead of "Current position", could the position slider tooltip display the actual song position, in the same format as the time display? Maybe it sounds redundant but the time display isn't visible all skins' all modes. Maybe THAT should actually be the trigger to change from "Current position" to, for example, "-02:14". If you can't see the time otherwise, show it in the tooltip.

Here's an update to try...

   www.un4seen.com/stuff/xmplay.exe

In the Input plugins' panel, a great feature would be the ability to deselect formats that you don't want a particular plugin to play (like in the Associated filetypes window inside the Integration panel.)  I use plugins that play the same file extensions, and I want to choose the plugin that plays a particular filetype more accurately/the way I want/whatever.

The plugins are tried in the order that they are listed, which in the "stuff" versions is by filename. So you may be able to achieve what you want by renaming (eg. add "0" at the beginning) the plugin that you want to have precedence.

[raina]

Here's an update to try...

Hey, cool.

[Zarggg]

Ponder this: what if the RPO has released an album with several orchestral versions of shitty 70s disco songs by a multitude of artists? Shouldn't the Album Artist hold RPO and the Artist tag hold the original artist?

No, the correct tag in that case would be RPO, since the RPO released it and performed all tracks.

A good example of album artist would be for this album, for instance:
http://www.discogs.com/Nightwish-The-Carpenter/release/675035

Nightwish released the single, however, Thy Serpent and Children of Bodom also performed tracks on the release. Another (rarer) example would be if a "guest artist" performs a track on a release. In this case, the main artist would be both the album artist and track artist for the majority of the tracks, with the guest artist being the track artist for his and her track.

Another example, which is far more prevalent in my collection, would be the "doujin" (amateur, self-published) releases in Japan. In this case, albums/singles are "released"/credited by the "circle" (group that created the project), but the tracks themselves are credited to the individual persons who performed them.

Also, when you have an album with multiple performers, such as a compilation or soundtrack, it is a common practice to tag the album artist as "Various Artists".

[piovrauz]

just want to point out that the new position changes is broken (I suppose) on FLAC+cuefile, since it doesn't display the time, but simply the word "Position" (before it was "Current Position").

Can this be fixed please? (if it's really a bug) Thanks.

[Tsorovan]

Ponder this: what if the RPO has released an album with several orchestral versions of shitty 70s disco songs by a multitude of artists? Shouldn't the Album Artist hold RPO and the Artist tag hold the original artist?

No, the correct tag in that case would be RPO, since the RPO released it and performed all tracks.

A good example of album artist would be for this album, for instance:
http://www.discogs.com/Nightwish-The-Carpenter/release/675035

Nightwish released the single, however, Thy Serpent and Children of Bodom also performed tracks on the release. Another (rarer) example would be if a "guest artist" performs a track on a release. In this case, the main artist would be both the album artist and track artist for the majority of the tracks, with the guest artist being the track artist for his and her track.

Another example, which is far more prevalent in my collection, would be the "doujin" (amateur, self-published) releases in Japan. In this case, albums/singles are "released"/credited by the "circle" (group that created the project), but the tracks themselves are credited to the individual persons who performed them.

Also, when you have an album with multiple performers, such as a compilation or soundtrack, it is a common practice to tag the album artist as "Various Artists".

I find your examples extremely contradictory, but maybe it's just not written very clearly. Anyone else not agree with Zarggg's RPO example? RPO = "Album artist", original artist = "Artist" if you ask me.

[Dotpitch]

ID3 has no specification for the Album Artist tag, and neither do APEv2 and VorbisComment. Implementation is based on how other players treat the tag.

Anyone else not agree with Zarggg's RPO example? RPO = "Album artist", original artist = "Artist" if you ask me.

ALBUM ARTIST: [...] the tag can contain the overall artist of an album (like e.g. "the foo-bar collective",) multiple artists (e.g. with split-EPs) or if an album does not have a clear overall artist (for example with compilations) just "Various Artists". Simply said: you're free to enter whatever you like as long as it describes the overall album-wide artist(s). (link)

So, you could put RPO in the Album Artist field, iff you think the original artist has enough right to be put in the artist tag rather than in the comment field. That probably depends on why you bought the album, were you going for an orchestral version of the disco songs or for the orchestra with 'modern' songs?

Ofcourse, if XMPlay gets this tag implemented, anyone can use it as they see fit. The majority of the time it will be equal to the Artist tag anyway.

[Ian @ un4seen]

just want to point out that the new position changes is broken (I suppose) on FLAC+cuefile, since it doesn't display the time, but simply the word "Position" (before it was "Current Position").

Can this be fixed please? (if it's really a bug) Thanks.

Is there a time display in the skin that you're using? The time will only be shown in the bubble when it isn't already displayed (the ImAbar skins are an example of that).

"Current" was removed to make room for the time

[SmartOne]

The plugins are tried in the order that they are listed, which in the "stuff" versions is by filename. So you may be able to achieve what you want by renaming (eg. add "0" at the beginning) the plugin that you want to have precedence.

This may work, but it's definitely not convenient.  Renaming the plugins requires that XMPlay be restarted.  A selection system like in the Associated filetypes panel seems a more versatile solution.  Plus, it would be another improvement over Winamp. 

[saga]

As far as I know, setting the "extended filter rnage" flag in a module forces XMPlay to switch to MPT filter mode. What I'd like to see (for modules that have NOT set the extended range flag but sound terrible with IT filters) is an option in Options'n'Stuff to explicitely enable MPT filters. Or maybe autodetect IT files made in MPT and enable it by default.

[Zarggg]

I find your examples extremely contradictory, but maybe it's just not written very clearly. Anyone else not agree with Zarggg's RPO example? RPO = "Album artist", original artist = "Artist" if you ask me.

I have absolutely no idea where you are getting this from. Original artist = "Original Artist". Artist = "Track Artist".

[Pike84]

But this wasn't about "original artist" or "track artist", but "artist" and "album artist" .

Anyway, I agree with Dotpitch; it can be interpreted either way, depending on the case. In the "RPO goes disco" case, I'd do as Tsorovan, and put the original artist in the "Artist" field.

[raina]

And I would /naturally/ put RPO as the Artist because that's what I would actually be listening. Original Artist is self explanatory and like in most cases, there is no need for Album Artist. My logic for Artist is actually the logic for Performer but that's getting increasingly redundant for the majority of recordings.