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This is the one I used to use. I agree that it's a nice robust and flexible database program. What finally drove me away was that it relied on Gracenote and freedb and I didn't want to clean up metadata once for a database and once for my digital library of files. I should ask the Tag&Rename guy if he can easily write a program that scrapes up all the tag info in a defined library folder or drive and grabs it into a database separated by filename. That's essentially what iTunes and all the library programs spit out. If I recall correctly, the version of CaTraxx that I used didn't rip CDs, that was the downfall. A newer version may. If so, will it save in all the formats that dBPowerAmp will, and does it employ Accurip? Sam B clued me in on what PerfectMeta is, it's the thing in dBPowerAmp where it taps in to a whole bunch of metadata sources, and you can select one, some or all. It does a little bit better than relying strictly on Gracenote and/or freedb, but not much better. I told Sam what it is very good for is stuff like artist-released CDs which have CD text and are too under-the-radar to show up in Gracenote. Tag&Rename has even more robust meta-sourcing, as I described previously. The good thing about its ability to look in Amazon.com, .uk. .de and .jp is that it can find more correct metadata for some titles (Amazon is usually supplied by the record companies themselves, and somethimes they actually copy-edit what they submit and make sure it makes more sense and is more accurate than typical crowd-sourced jibberish). Also, the ability to search that LP database is extremely helpful. Net-net, I find Tag&Rename the most useful meta-editing tool in the box. dBPowerAmp is very useful in getting the meta right at the time of CD ripping. Keep in mind I'm very picky about things like artist names, titling of classical works and that sort of thing. My main playback device is a Logitech Squeezebox Touch, and the Logitech library software is definitely science-based, so if an artist isn't named exactly the same across an entire library, they will show up under multiple names. Same with classical pieces. It's the same in iTunes, by the way. If I want to find George Solti's performance of the Mahler 8th, for example, I don't want to wade through Georg Solti, George Solti, Solti George, Chicago Symphony/George Solti, etc. I assume this sort of thing is equally important to a library or institution, because non-uniform naming in metadata messes up database searches. The enemy to this kind of order is the hodge-podge crowd-source mess that is Gracenote and freedb. -- Tom Fine ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gene Baron" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2015 7:36 AM Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Record cataloging tools >I use Catraxx. It works well, though I created a lot of custom fields and > since I work a lot with MS Access, its underyling database, I tend to use > it to look things up and export to Excel. Thanks. > > Gene > [log in to unmask] > > > On Tue, Mar 31, 2015 at 7:18 AM, Erik Dix <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > >> Collectorz is what I use. Not sure how well it works for vinyl though. >> >> >> http://www.collectorz.com/ >> >> Erik Dix >> Notre Dame Archives >> >> >> >> On 3/30/2015 5:35 PM, Sam Brylawski wrote: >> >>> Greetings, >>> >>> I'm taking an informal survey to see what kind of database >>> applications any subscribers are using to catalog their personal >>> collections. Brian? Beyond Category? An Access app? A Filemaker one? >>> >>> I know there are a lot of file tag utilities out there. I think Tom F. >>> especially recommended PerfectMeta (correct me if I'm wrong). But what >>> I'd really like to know of are tools that you use for personal >>> cataloging of CDs, LPs, 78s, etc. In particular, tools you really >>> like! >>> >>> Thanks. >>> >>> Sam Brylawski >>> >> > >