Do I use a website to download songs off of YouTube or Spotify?
Where should I store the music? I haven't any clue about self-hosting. I'm running GrapheneOS, is it enough to save the songs in Files and play in an app like Auxio? Maybe sync with SyncThing?
What's the best way to compress mp3 files but still retain the quality (even possible)?
Could really use some help as I'm very inexperienced. :)
If I dont mention them, it probably means I left them at their default settings, but each one has their own system so feel free to change them if it suits you better.
I download in flac because I want to have them at ~the highest possible quality (ripping CDs or finding each song infividually in various sources and comparing them might provide a better quality, but thats too much of a hassle) and I compress them to .opus format at 128kbit to copy them on my phone. Thus, I keep one flac collection and a cloned, compressed version of it in opus.
Near the ⅘ of my guide I think I describe how to compress files with fre:ac and which app (symphony on fdroid) handles well opus files. I had some frustration with how hard it is for apps to recognise song tags, especially multiple song tags (like 2 artists in a song). If you encounter such an issue, use a different separator other than \\, like ;.
The rabbit hole can get a bit deep quickly.
Have fun :)
Thanks for your help! Will definitely continue following your guide.
However, I've already stumbled upon a few issues. First, my computer can't seem to locate the deemix music folder that I supposedly created when I installed the application. Nowhere to be seen. Not sure what to do about it, maybe I installed the wrong version?
Furthermore, the playlists I have downloaded state the following errors: "cannot read properties of undefined" and "no such file or directory"...
First, my computer can't seem to locate the deemix music folder that I supposedly created when I installed the application. Nowhere to be seen. Not sure what to do about it, maybe I installed the wrong version?
Hm, I suppose you talk about the folder where your music is downloaded. Thats a bit weird, mine saves it in C:\...\user\Music\deemix Music\
I also suppose you downloaded deemix from the link I provided in my guide, which I think is where I downloaded it too (plus deemix doesnt get updated anymore), so I dont think you got the wrong version. For the record, mine is 2022.12.14-r222.5d447b6035.
Furthermore, the playlists I have downloaded state the following errors: "cannot read properties of undefined" and "no such file or directory"...
I dont think I've encountered that issue either, maybe it's because it cant locate the files in the lost folder you talked about before.
I'd suggest you create another folder woth your file explorer, set deemix to download there and retry. I'd also suggest to first test it by downloading a single song (just type anything in the search bar) before downloadig a whole playlist to not waste time
It worked now! Super thanks. <3
Ayy, arrr, glad you made it:)
Oops, too early to cheer... looks like I can only download individual songs seamlessly, but when I try the playlists the "cannot read properties of undefined" error keeps popping up. Ugh, I'm so close to the finish line, why's there always a hinder. (':
Hang on, I have some ideas
(Maybe either theres a mistake in the way you connected spotify or some issue with the links. I'll do some tests and report back.)
So, I did some tests. Apparently you can download individual songs with spotify links, but it can no longer download spotify playlists. I think spotify possibly changed their api recently, breaking deemix... I had used it in the past to batch download ~3k songs..
I used this reddit post to create the spotify app, but there's probably an issue with the api.
Ugh... thats an issue.. I might create a post about that on the community tomorrow or today (its getting late)..
I feel like I wasted your time too🫤
If I get any updates I'll try to let you know.
You didn't waste my time. This experiment kick-started my process of finally downloading my music, even if it didn't work out completely. Not yours or anybody else's fault anyway. (: Do feel free to update me!
Hey again! Just a random question.
Is it okay to skip the tagging steps in your guide? My school computer won't allow me to download the mp3tag application, and I wonder if these tagging steps are necessary or will mess anything up if skipped? I downloaded some songs to my phone and most metadata and lyrics are there, and that's fine with me. Does not completing the guide make me miss out on anything important (such as metadata or syncing the files)?
Deemix fetches a lot of metadata and they are kinda accurate. If the tags appear properly on your devices you probably dont have to care much more. Besides, you can do it in the future if your needs change. Thus, I think you can skip it.
As to why I do it:
Deezer and any platform may have lacking info, so what I try to do is kinda merge tags from various sources in a way that I get ~the most and best info. Unfortunately (or fortunately) there is no standard way of tagging or at least ~noone uses it (I think flac and opus have some general tagging guidances, but many times they are ignored), so I tried to make my way of organizing the mess.
Another reason is that if you have proper tags, you (almost) no longer need to create playlists (which are hard to move across devices). I also came up with the idea of adding a custom genre to the genre tags of songs. For example, I add the [F@vourites] genre tag to my favourite songs and I can simply select to play all songs under the [F@vourites] genre, bypassing the need of playlists.
I just find it neat (but probably breaks the standard even more), lol. (And it's a good way to unconsciously distract myself from my responsibilities.)
Do you think it would be fine for me to download all songs and then wait until I'm able to download the tagging applications, or does everything need to happen in one go for everything to sync? I'm thinking waiting about a year (when I buy a new computer) and then use the apps to tag my songs, or will I still need the data from deemix?
Do you think it would be fine for me to download all songs and then wait until I'm able to download the tagging applications
Yes, I think that's what I would do. Downloading from deemix and tagging in other programs are separate processes, so you can do them separately at different times.
I'd probably even encourage to download them now, because as you can see, deemix doesnt get updated anymore and things start to break.
It also gives you time to revise your methods of downloading and tagging. (For example, I started downloading my songs from a website, one by one, until I found deemix (that website got shut down soon after, rip).)
So, no need to do them simultaneously. Download them now and tag them next year or whenever you can. You can afterwards simply sync the ("properly") tagged files to your other devices and have the metadata everywhere.