Music Media Helper (Tools for Multichannel Audio & Music Videos)

[HomerJAU]

I use a RF remote for casual listening. But for a listening session I always use an iPad app to navigate my library while Kodi plays. I can build a play list for my evening on the iPad app then sit back and enjoy.

 

[himey]

I use a RF remote for casual listening. But for a listening session I always use an iPad app to navigate my library while Kodi plays. I can build a play list for my evening on the iPad app then sit back and enjoy.

I would have to find my glasses. I prefer a big screen. Adding songs to a playlist from Plex is a piece of cake.

 

[mandrix]

As much as I wanted to like Kodi, I just don't. I didn't like it's predecessor many years ago either.
No offense to you stalwart defenders. It just feels like being boxed in and limited, to me. But I often have several things going at once that I have to navigate.
Looks really good, though, once you dress it up.
All in one apps just don't do it for me.

 

[humprof]

I can see why you want to browse to files!

You could do this in Kodi using the Kodi file browser. I should build a ‘Kodi Music Browser’ app, it wouldn’t be too difficult to implement using a MMH style interface. But I have my ensuite reno project right now and that’s another few weeks of priority so a MMH style Kodi Music Browser is a couple months away probably.

But in the mean time the Kodi File Browser will do what you want. We should start a new thread for a ‘How to’.

You can do both of those things - there's a tickbox in the options somewhere (probably 'display' or 'video') where you can choose to start Kodi in windowed or full-screen mode.

Similarly, when you add a source (folder or drive), there's an option to exclude it from your library - I've done this with my quad conversions folder because it's of variable quality (and not all tagged) so the way I browse it is to have it excluded from my library, but then from the main screen in Kodi I go to the Music section, and then scroll down to the list of options in there and one of them is 'files' and you can browse it as a filesystem.

I agree though with @HomerJAU the Library function in Kodi is awesome, and worth tagging your media properly for, especially if you have a large and/or growing collection of files.

Ah...that "Windowed Mode" checkbox is a wonder! Thanks. Donno why I'd never noticed that setting before. I'd also missed the File Browser, no doubt b/c it's cleverly hidden in Settings and/or (as Dave points out) way down in the list of "Music" sources, and I was never adventurous enough to discover it. Being able to search and play files easily that way could be a game-changer for me.

Tagging my media properly, meanwhile...I know I should do it, but it's precisely because my collection is so big already that I find that prospect so daunting! I've recently started flossing after many decades, though. And I catalogued my collection in Discogs. Does that count for anything?

Okay, so y'all may be starting to convert me. Now I need to learn how to control Kodi with a tablet, etc. Also: I don't suppose anyone has figured out how to get Kodi to play an ISO and/or a BDMV folder...? (I know, I know: convert them to FLAC files and tag them. But that's a lot of work, and I'm lazy!)

 

[HomerJAU]

Kodi plays ISOs and BDMV folders too. But when I'm not so busy I'll move these off topic (non MMH) posts to a new Kodi thread I'll start. I'll get to it this week sometime.

 

[humprof]

Kodi plays ISOs and BDMV folders too. But when I'm not so busy I'll move these off topic (non MMH) posts to a new Kodi thread I'll start. I'll get to it this week sometime.

Sorry for hijacking the thread--but much obliged for all the help.

And now to explore MMH.

 

[artwwweb]

I appreciate that, @HomerJAU, and I know you're a tireless and effective evangelist for Kodi (!). I've taken it for a test drive or two, and it's still a non-starter for me, mostly because of the way I prefer to organize and maintain my files & folders. (The "Library" paradigm just doesn't work for me. Also not fond of the way Kodi defaults to full screen mode.) Now, if Kodi would allow me to just browse my files in Windows Explorer and drag or send them to the player, I'd be all over it.

Humprof, like you, I also use MediaMonkey (on my PC). But I use Kodi for streaming to my amp and only ever use the file structure - I've always been careful to have a physical structure that works for me and use MM's 'auto-organise' options. I have a folder which is my virtual 'to listen to' pile, so I move albums in and out of that folder all the time. It sounds like you are doing similar things.

I have never felt the need to bother with Kodi's tagging/ db options. I back up files from my PC to my NAS, and Kodi reads the files from the NAS. My basic point is, I think I must work in a similar way to you and Kodi works great (due in no small part to HomerJAU's hard work on MMH) so, yes, give it another try!

 

[humprof]

Humprof, like you, I also use MediaMonkey (on my PC). But I use Kodi for streaming to my amp and only ever use the file structure - I've always been careful to have a physical structure that works for me and use MM's 'auto-organise' options. I have a folder which is my virtual 'to listen to' pile, so I move albums in and out of that folder all the time. It sounds like you are doing similar things.

I have never felt the need to bother with Kodi's tagging/ db options. I back up files from my PC to my NAS, and Kodi reads the files from the NAS. My basic point is, I think I must work in a similar way to you and Kodi works great (due in no small part to HomerJAU's hard work on MMH) so, yes, give it another try!

Sounds like we're on the same team, art. Knowing about the option to play from the file browser (instead of the library) really changes the equation for me. Have been happily exploring Kodi for the past day now. I've got other questions that the web isn't answering, but I'll save them for another thread. @HomerJAU, were you planning to move this discussion to this thread?
https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/threads/kodi-how-to-install-configure-on-windows.30683/

 

[mandrix]

As much as I wanted to like Kodi, I just don't. I didn't like it's predecessor many years ago either.
No offense to you stalwart defenders. It just feels like being boxed in and limited, to me. But I often have several things going at once that I have to navigate.
Looks really good, though, once you dress it up.
All in one apps just don't do it for me.

Note I did NOT mean MMH.

 

[himey]

As much as I wanted to like Kodi, I just don't. I didn't like it's predecessor many years ago either.
No offense to you stalwart defenders. It just feels like being boxed in and limited, to me. But I often have several things going at once that I have to navigate.
Looks really good, though, once you dress it up.
All in one apps just don't do it for me.

So does that mean you use multiple players and media managers at the same time?

 

[mandrix]

No. It just means I don't need Kodi.
But it's not unusual for me to have a variety of programs open at once. I have several apps for mixing, encoding, authoring, etc. so usually I'm not looking at anything but the apps I'm using.
The visualizations and playback capabilities in Kodi are nice but not relevant to me. Unless I'm watching a concert BD, I'm usually in one app or another doing something else while music is playing.

I'm also frequently in Audition or some other music app that demand control of the output so I can hardly look at visualizations or make use of Kodi while in these apps.

For those that like Kodi, JRiver, etc and their needs are filled, that's great.
Does that answer your question?

 

[himey]

No. It just means I don't need Kodi.
But it's not unusual for me to have a variety of programs open at once. I have several apps for mixing, encoding, authoring, etc. so usually I'm not looking at anything but the apps I'm using.
The visualizations and playback capabilities in Kodi are nice but not relevant to me. Unless I'm watching a concert BD, I'm usually in one app or another doing something else while music is playing.

I'm also frequently in Audition or some other music app that demand control of the output so I can hardly look at visualizations or make use of Kodi while in these apps.

For those that like Kodi, JRiver, etc and their needs are filled, that's great.
Does that answer your question?

I use Kodi along with others too, sometimes simultaneously. I just can't imagine not using Kodi at all, but my media is tagged and that is usually the reason people don't use it, because without tags, it doesn't work nearly as well. I use it as a player and Plex serves up the (tagged) files, which is always running in the background. I also use it for movies, tv shows and live tv/dvr.

 

[mandrix]

Back in the XBMC days of what is now Kodi, I was very interested in pvr/dvr. But it was not so well developed, and the surround sound capabilities were not so good either. I eventually found other solutions.
These days I'm not much of a TV or Movie watcher, and we've pared down our TV to Prime and a few like Discovery+ and Paramount (we can get our local news, etc here). Most of these things can be stopped and restarted at will, negating the need to record, and I let my wife have the "big ass tv" all day and mostly I watch an hour or so at most in the evening.
Just have no need for all the bells and whistles.
As I've aged I find the outside chores on my wooded property consume more and more of my time as well. Even washing/waxing/cleaning the car takes me much longer now. Just the way it is, and my many youthful injuries (work hard/play harder) are coming back to haunt me now. The end result is I have less time to do the things I want to do and been forced to pare down distractions (although I try to check into QQ every day!)

@HomerJAU has done a fabulous job of explaining how to set up Kodi, and a masterful job with MMH. I'm grateful to him for all his contributions to the rest of us.

 

[mandrix]

@HomerJAU Forgot to tell you updates are not downloading for me again. It correctly identifies my dowloads folder as being on the J: drive but the download does not show up.

 

[César]

Hi, maybe wrong place to discuss my question, so feel free to delete/move.
Does anyone know how to convert m4a files with Atmos to mkv or directly how to extract the Dolby True HD stream?
I can backup my Atmos Blu-rays to mkv and then found a way to convert the mkv so that Atmos is played by my Oppo directly, but I'm still scratching my head about the m4a files.

 

[mandrix]

Hi, maybe wrong place to discuss my question, so feel free to delete/move.
Does anyone know how to convert m4a files with Atmos to mkv or directly how to extract the Dolby True HD stream?
I can backup my Atmos Blu-rays to mkv and then found a way to convert the mkv so that Atmos is played by my Oppo directly, but I'm still scratching my head about the m4a files.

MMH will do it. Go to extract audio from MKV, set the ouput for MKV, then open your M4A files.

 

[mandrix]

Otherwise VLC media player should play an M4A file with an Atmos stream in it.

 

[DuncanS]

@HomerJAU Forgot to tell you updates are not downloading for me again. It correctly identifies my dowloads folder as being on the J: drive but the download does not show up.

Is your Anti-virus or Windows firewall blocking it?

I had that happen if I did a clean install. If I wasn't quick enough it was deleted, I had to catch the Windows/Norton pop-up (I think) and say keep the file. However, I just updated to 6.2.5 from my current MMH using its update button its been ok.

 

[mandrix]

Is your Anti-virus or Windows firewall blocking it?

I had that happen if I did a clean install. If I wasn't quick enough it was deleted, I had to catch the Windows/Norton pop-up (I think) and say keep the file. However, I just updated to 6.2.5 from my current MMH using its update button its been ok.

I went through this before and I believe he found he had changed something inadvertently. But no, my antivirus has never been a problem for downloads. If anything it's probably too permissive. lol.
I never keep the downloads folder on my C: drive as I don't like to clutter it up any more than necessary, so it's actually on my J: drive. (I have 12 drives)

 

[himey]

@HomerJAU Forgot to tell you updates are not downloading for me again. It correctly identifies my dowloads folder as being on the J: drive but the download does not show up.

Just get it from the first post in the thread. I have had the same issue for the last few updates so I just go to the OP, and get it there with no issues.