How to structure music library on SD/USB?

[Markydee]

Hi All

Does anyone know of a guide of how to structure your music library on an SD CARD or USB Drive?
I have done various searches but am totally confused so I'm after an idiots guide!
I have a 32gb device so don't want to spend hours updating it only to do it incorrectly and not be able to access all the files.
I've heard of M3U Playlist files but am unsure how to do this?
Have also heard of programmes that sort the files correctly - can anyone recommend one?
Apologies for what may appear dumb questions but I have always used iPods for this but have just purchased a kenwood HU with a front USB port - a tiny USB thumb drive will look so much neater than having a cable for an iPod.
Cheers in advance

[jonm]

in folders?

[Markydee]

Thanks for clearing that up with such an informative detailed insightful and helpfull response 

[rich83]

I presume.

ARTIST>>>ALBUM MAME>>>SONG TITLE

try it with one album to test.

[stealthwolf]

Structure it any way you want. As long as it is in wma/mp3 format, it will play fine.

I use Genre/Artist/#Album, where # is a number and means that I can arrage albums in the order I want rather than the default alphabetical order.

An m3u playlist is something you will have to create on your computer and the RNS510 will support this though I've not experimented with utilising it.

Also have a look at editing mp3 tags. These allow the file to be identified without their filename so you could have an mp3 titled "untitled-1.mp3" but if you have edited the mp3 tags and typed in the author and album, it would display them on the unit whilst the file was playing.

[Markydee]

Cheers Stealth - exactly the type of info I'm after.
What do M3u files do over just creating a playlist in a folder?
Was thinking of placing all albums on in a structure similar to that u suggest then creating separate folder for playlists - the only issue woulda be that songs would be duplicated in the playlist and album folders - not to much of an issue with a 32 gb card I suppose but wondered if m3u files solved this issue?
Also heard songs are not even played alphabetically but rather the order they get copied over onto the card? There are programmes that resort the files but wondered if anyone could recommend one?
How's the speed of locating files if using a 32gb card?
Cheers again

[stealthwolf]

I think the RNS510 only supports up to Class 4 so anything faster won't be beneficial (though I use Class 10 because it's fast to copy from computer to memory card). The more files you have, the longer it takes to load and longer it takes to navigate. When I say longer, it might take a fraction of a second, but certainly doesn't leave me hanging.

I *think* an m3u playlist would play the files from where they were located, provided you don't then start moving them arond. So you should have all the folders as located, and then a folder solely of m3u files that would play the songs in the order you wanted. However, it's not something I've tried on the RNS510.

[AndyED30]

I copied all of mine over from i-tunes. I've had to convert them into MP3 format which (after a lot of working out) is straight forward enough.

It also means that you can just keep a music folder on your PC/Mac or laptop and if/when you want to add to them just copy the new tunes into the music folder and re-copy them onto your SD card with the additional music.

I have it all saved under artists and a sub-folder of albums under each artist. One of compilations and others for everything else.

Only thing it won't let you do is set it to play all tunes in random or shuffle as it will only select music from the album you're currently listening to.

Other than that...............all good!

[stealthwolf]

Right, I had a fiddle last night and the rns510 WILL play m3u playlists. I ensured the files on the sd card and the computer were the same in terms of folder names/nesting etc. I didn't copy all music across but just from the albums I was interested in. I used winamp to create a playlist and saved it. This was copied to the memory card and in the same folder as the albums.

My file structure is:
Music/#Genre/Artist/#Album/Track title
# represents numbers I've placed in the folder name so it appears in the order I want eg

1 Rap
2 Rock
3 Classical

Etc

The files on the hard drive were in an identical layout. The m3u playlist was then placed in the music folder on the memory card. When I loaded the memory card into the rns, I merely selected the playlist (navigate to the Music directory) and then select a song from the playlist to start playing. The rns510 will then play the tracks in the playlist. If you then press "selection" to select a different track in the playlist, it displays the contents of the folder the current track is in and not the playlist. You would then have to navigate back to where the playlist is stored and select another track from there or alternatively just skip back/forwards as you normally would.

[Markydee]

Ahh so it does work without duplicating files? That's great - cheers for the info 
Ill spend some time at the weekend organising my library and give it a whirl?
Good tip with numbering the albums too