[garfield]

Is there a way to change the default sort order for Music in Files mode?

The default default is Name, but this way it sorts multi-disc albums as track-1, track-1, track-2, track-2, etc. Sorting by Track seems to sort multi-disc albums correctly as track-1, track-2 for the first CD and track-1, track-2 for each next one.

All my CD rips are album+.cue with REM DISCNUMBER X present for multidisc albums.

I'm using the default unmodified Estuary theme.

Manually deleting or editing the configuration files are not as welcomed as doing everything with KODI menus but still OK.

Many thanks in advance.

[Karellen]

Moved to music

[DaveBlake]

AFAIK Kodi will remember the previously used sort order, so change that on the side blade manu and when you used that view again that is the sort order it will apply

[garfield]

Unfortunately, not. I have to manually sort each album. May be I'm doing something wrong.

[DaveBlake]

Just me mis-remembering then. File view is limited in many ways, I suggest that you use the music library instead.

Kodi will scan from correctly located cue sheets (alongisde the music file). However the data that it reads from cusheets is limited to just that in the original cuesheet standard, support for individual music files with embedded metadata tags is far richer.

[garfield]

I'm using the library of course. But it is difficult to locate specific release of the same Album via library.

For example there may be several editions of the same album or single, with the same album title of course. Currently I'm dividing them from each other by DISCNUMBER in the cuesheet. As the result I have a long continuous list of tracks and if I, for example, want to play the specific release I at first should recognise this specific release by its tracklist and then shouldn't miss its 1st track in this huge list.

That's why I have asked how to visually divide multidisc albums by disc. The solution you've offered is a working one but it preserves the inconvenient plain huge list.

By using Files mode I can at least chose the specific release easily. But if this specific release is a multidisc, then I again have track 1, track 1, track 2, track 2, etc.

I still can sort by track each release, but not all releases at onse and save this default.

If those default settings are located in an .xml, I would be thankful if you guide me to its path and name.

May be I'm just not awared how to deal with such situations in library. I'm quite new to KODI.

[DaveBlake]

Kodi does support multiple releases of the same album for music that has tracks in individual files that are tagged with Musicbrainz ids, using the mbids to identify different releases. Cue sheets do not offer mbid support, as I have said before it is limited compared to tagging.

Your workaround of entering the different releases as different disknumber is going to bring you the issues you experience. Kodi GUI does not offer a way to visually divide albums by disc, it only displays a plain list or wall of songs from an album. There may be a skin that does it differently, but I don't know of it.

The default sort order for file view is not configurable, there is not xml file to change. The default sort order in the music library applies the last order that you used.

[scott967]

Your workaround of entering the different releases as different disknumber is going to bring you the issues you experience. Kodi GUI does not offer a way to visually divide albums by disc, it only displays a plain list or wall of songs from an album. There may be a skin that does it differently, but I don't know of it.

The default sort order for file view is not configurable, there is not xml file to change. The default sort order in the music library applies the last order that you used.

Not a skinning guru, but I think you would need to use a plugin to accomplish this, then in the skin create lists with dynamic content from the plugin.  But the plugin would need to either get discnumber from the item's info tag or JSON assuming that can be retrieved.  I don't think the commonly used community plugins like Skin Helper Service provide that feature.

You can set the sortmethod in a dynamic content container via skin code.

scott s.
.

[garfield]

Kodi does support multiple releases of the same album for music that has tracks in individual files that are tagged with Musicbrainz ids, using the mbids to identify different releases. Cue sheets do not offer mbid support, as I have said before it is limited compared to tagging.

May I just add this mbid tag to a file which contains the complete album? I suppose that as that specific mbid represents the specific release it should be the same in every song-file that belongs to that release.

Or am I just simplifying the situation to suit my needs? )

[black_eagle]

Kodi does support multiple releases of the same album for music that has tracks in individual files that are tagged with Musicbrainz ids, using the mbids to identify different releases. Cue sheets do not offer mbid support, as I have said before it is limited compared to tagging.

May I just add this mbid tag to a file which contains the complete album? I suppose that as that specific mbid represents the specific release it should be the same in every song-file that belongs to that release.

Or am I just simplifying the situation to suit my needs? ) 

Yes, the 'MusicBrainz Release Id' is consistent across every track of a specific release, so that each track can be tied to a specific release.

Gotta ask, why don't you just tag the actual files, rather than sticking with cue sheets ?  Ultimately, it's easier and tidier than a cue sheet, Kodi understands pretty much most of the tags and produces better results when using them.  There is software available that will tag all your stuff correctly with little user intervention, although it's possible to select different versions of the same album manually in the event that it isn't identified correctly.

[DaveBlake]

May I just add this mbid tag to a file which contains the complete album?

No, that will not work. To take advantage of Kodi's mbid tag support you need to have separate files of each track each fully tagged (with not just Musicbrainz release ids, but a number of other tags and mbids too)

Or am I just simplifying the situation to suit my needs? ) 

Yes, and try as you might Kodi just is not designed to work in the unusual way that you want it to.

[garfield]

why don't you just tag the actual files, rather than sticking with cue sheets ?

This way allows to make the folder/file structure less complicated for multidisc releases. It is very hard, at least for me, to keep clearly organized a music single which may have more than ten different CD versions with different tracklists while it could contain the same song version putted on the same track number on different CDs related to the same single; check for example this link - this single contains 13 different disc variations (only 5 is visible by default but you may unhide all hidden variations by pressing the common menu sign and checking all the switchers and flags on). Not to say that different album reissues mostly contain the same tracklist.

With album+cue scheme I can just add the catalog number at the end of the filename and have my filestructre well organized and eazy to understand.

This way also allows true gapless playback - I know it is an old problem and modern music players are most likely could play gapless from separate files nowadays.

As for converting my collection from album+cue to files I have very huge CDs collection which was ripped disc by disc during years and every rip is triple-checked by me manually. I just don't want to go through the same routine once again but with different settings. I know that I could repeat this process right from my album+cue couples with some well known software like CUEtools or EZ CD Audio Converter to name a few. But I know no way how to stir up that software against my Music folder just once and take some rest [for several days] while it do its job preserving original quality and tagging of my existing rips.

And what about the CDs with tracks hidden in pre-gap before the album itself?

Also there would be problems with SACD rips that in their original format just could not be tagged other than via cue files as far as I know.

[garfield]

No, that will not work. To take advantage of Kodi's mbid tag support you need to have separate files of each track each fully tagged (with not just Musicbrainz release ids, but a number of other tags and mbids too)

Ok. Lets imagine some different versions of the same promotional CD single that contains only one track. The first one contains the album version, the second one contains extended version, the third one contains regular radio version and there may be the 4th one with US radio version.

4 different versions of the same single. Ripped by tracks all of them would contain only 1 file.

Tagging those files accordingly still wouldn't work?

[DaveBlake]

...a music single which may have more than ten different CD versions with different tracklists...

Wow, only a true fan would have that many repeats of a track in their collection! Honestly I don't think Kodi music library can help you manage that, in fact I can't think of a media manager that can.

[garfield]

Actually dividing CDs of a multiCD albums would help more than enough.

Anyway there are still real CDs on my shelf. No problem. )