How can I get Neutron to list songs by file name?

[Absyn]

I have found that WAV files (which do not have metadata) are not showing up correctly in NMP. If they're formatted as "Artist - Album - Track# - Title", then in Neutron, I've got 12 files, all showing identical information.

Is there any way to have Neutron list files by the file name, rather than using metadata?

[dmitrykos]

There is Folder group in Playlist screen. You shall scroll the list with Playlists, Artists, Albums,... to the bottom and there will be Folder entry. Using it you can browse music files sorted by their location (folders).

Could you provide at least 2 examples of filenames of your WAVs which resulted in same meta info? I would analyse them and implement workaround to have them displaying better. Most probably your WAVs have tags inside and thus Neutron won't use filename information/format for guessing of metadata but will prefer tags. If you try erasing tags inside your WAVs may be it will be better, or re-tag them.

[Absyn]

There is Folder group in Playlist screen. You shall scroll the list with Playlists, Artists, Albums,... to the bottom and there will be Folder entry. Using it you can browse music files sorted by their location (folders).

Could you provide at least 2 examples of filenames of your WAVs which resulted in same meta info? I would analyse them and implement workaround to have them displaying better. Most probably your WAVs have tags inside and thus Neutron won't use filename information/format for guessing of metadata but will prefer tags. If you try erasing tags inside your WAVs may be it will be better, or re-tag them.

That didn't work either, same problem.


The syntax of the filenames:

Artist - Album Name - Track 01 - Song Title.wav


In general, instead of "Track 01", it will simply be "01", but these are older files, and had a different naming scheme.

So, in Neutron, even in folder view, every single song is coming up as:

Album Name
Artist - Album Name
Artist


And there is no tagging in these files. WAV files don't really support the same format tags as mp3's and flac's.

[dmitrykos]

> WAV files don't really support the same format tags as mp3's and flac's.

WAV has own tags (of course other than ID3v1/2/VORBIS) and Neutron supports them. Many players simply do not implement WAV tagging. Most probably your WAVs contain some tags (even repeating or false) and Neutron does not decide to try guessing filename. If Album or Artist are provided by WAV metadata it will be used.

> And there is no tagging in these files.

You can check it for sure by opening your WAV with any HEX editor or may be Audacity will allow to see/change them. I am sure tags will be there.

[Absyn]

I'll see what I can find. But the question is, is there any way Neutron can display songs in file name mode, using just the file name, and ignoring all tags?

[dmitrykos]

Currently it is not possible but your idea sounds good. I will keep it in mind and will try to implement. May be will add some kind of menu for sorting + ability to replace music entry name with filename in Folder section.

[Absyn]

Currently it is not possible but your idea sounds good. I will keep it in mind and will try to implement. May be will add some kind of menu for sorting + ability to replace music entry name with filename in Folder section.

Thank you very much. That would be very helpful.

[Bjrmd]

Another vote for sort by file name

[rs219]

While file name order could be useful, it is not the way the artists are telling "their story" and I would prefer if the developer spent time on more important issues such as NMP remembering exactly where it was when playing a song and then resuming from that when the device is turned back on, and, improvements to the UI. So that's my vote.

Also - isn't creating a playlist a workaround?

[Absyn]

While file name order could be useful, it is not the way the artists are telling "their story" and I would prefer if the developer spent time on more important issues such as NMP remembering exactly where it was when playing a song and then resuming from that when the device is turned back on, and, improvements to the UI. So that's my vote.

Also - isn't creating a playlist a workaround?

I have no idea what you mean by artists telling their story. It is *my* choice how I choose to view my files, not the artists. And I choose to view them by file name.

And if you've been reading the rest of this thread, you would understand why creating a playlist is not a workaround for this issue.

It is important for any media player to be able to work with file names, not just tags. This is important, and for Neutron this is especially so, given the issue at hand. You're saying you would prefer if the developer spent time on more important issues, so I guess you don't think it's important if you have fifty songs that all show up with the exact same information, and you have to guess which one is which. But for some people, this is pretty important.