HTPC Tip of The Day: Music

Today’s tip of the day is an attempt to get more out of your 10′ music experience. A big WOW factor for a lot of setups is having a nicely organized jukebox either on your HTPC or on various touchscreens/clients through out the house.

Browsing a large music collection on most 10′ Media Center applications can be a bit on the pokey side. One way around this is to create playlists of the music you frequently listen to. As an example, I have created a few playlists loosely based on genre and a playlist based on the most recent purchases I have made. 

If you know the artist/album you are looking for. Just hit the number on the remote (think telephone) that would correspond to the letter of the artist/album.

Crucial to a good browsing experience is having your mp3’s properly tagged. Purchased albums are usually not a problem but for those of us who have pieced together their digital music over the years, tags can get out of control. Programs like mp3tag and Tag&Rename are very useful to batch files. I know I have more work ahead of me :). I have a lot of orphan singles that clog up the Artists/Albumn view I use in VMC.

If you want to view your iTunes music in VMC/MCE you will want to check out MCETunes.  

Zune tracks will playback natively but maybe required to renew your licenses on occasion. I prefer the method of buying the music, burning to a CD and ripping it back:). This saves any DRM hassle you may come across. Of course, there are less legal methods to doing so.

If you want to rip your CD collection, I would encourage you to check out this lossless CODEC guide . Why rip lossy when you can rip lossless :). 

Do you have any tips for a better 10′ music experience? Let us know in the comments.