Unitiserve AMG lookup doesn't seem to be working here tonight?

Posted by: David Hendon on 14 September 2016

I got round to ripping a few discs into my Unitiserve (some new and some not) and looking at what it is doing with nserve on my iPad, it checks with AMG for about one second before moving directly onto Free DB and either finding the CD there or ripping it as Unknown, even for CDs which have previously ripped ok with AMG data. I rebooted the US which otherwise seems fine and it made no difference.

My internet connection is ok. So I am wondering whether there is a problem with AMG at the moment, or am I doing something wrong (the 300 CDs or so I ripped over the last year had few problems). 

Best

David

Posted on: 14 September 2016 by Blue.Dog

My apologies in advance if I'm not supposed to post such links, but it appears the service is no more.

Edit: Read the rules (again!), what Mike-B said below.

Posted on: 14 September 2016 by Mike-B

Hi David,  per Blue Dogs post above,  in case it does get zapped:   Illustrate (dBpoweramp) forum dated May 2016  .........  "The AMG metadata service is being phased out and will be switched off around July 2016. It is in our plans to replace AMG with alternative metadata (discogs is the likely replacement)"

I have the latest rev R16 of dBpoweramp ripper & it does include Discogs

Posted on: 14 September 2016 by David Hendon

Thanks guys. That is really helpful. I don't think Naim have said anything to us about this and I wonder what if anything they might do about it as it reduces the functionality of the US and HDX quite a bit.....

I'll give them a ring later in the week (have to work tomorrow...)

best

David

Posted on: 14 September 2016 by Jan-Erik Nordoen

Presumably a software update then to replace AMG by Discogs, or other service. I'll flag it on the beta group forum.

Posted on: 14 September 2016 by David Hendon

I am always a bit slow to do firmware updates and so my US is still on 1.7a but I see that 1.7b added "Rovi/MusicBrainz" CD lookup, so perhaps I need to do that asap.....

best

David

Posted on: 14 September 2016 by Jan-Erik Nordoen

Rovi owns AMG...

Posted on: 14 September 2016 by David Hendon

Ah .....well it sounds like 1.7b and I are going to get acquainted then.  (A non-forum friend with a recently-bought US says his classical CDs are still ripping and finding metadata OK.)

best

David

Posted on: 14 September 2016 by Mike-B

How many metadata look up services do Naim use ???  dBpoweramp use Discogs, GD3,  Music Brainz & FreeDB so you can either rely on whatever is default or see what each has to offer for each specific album.    As I rarely rip CD's these days I tend to see whats on offer from each,  often all the same & maybe select one & also change a line or two.

Posted on: 14 September 2016 by David Hendon

They used AMG and Freedb (an online and a local version, presumably on the HD in the US, although that's an assumption I am making) and then firmware 1.7b appears to have added MusicBrainz. You don't get to choose though; the US takes the first to recognise the CD and uses that, which can occasionally give strange results!

best

David

Posted on: 14 September 2016 by Mike-B

You don't get to choose though; the US takes the first to recognise the CD and uses that, which can occasionally give strange results!

Time to move on methinks,  a PC or Mac with its own DVD or a desktop read/writer & with a user selectable multiple option ripping prog like dBpoweramp makes US a bit past its sell by date (plus its quirks)    Once all the old CD collection is ripped, I just don't see the point.

Posted on: 14 September 2016 by ChrisSU

I'm pretty sure the US uses AMG by default (or at least used to?), and only then tries FreeDB if AMG fails to provide results. I have a vague feeling that the 1.7b update may have included some sort of changes on this front, so worth doing the update. Not something I really pay much attention to, as I've had virtually no CDs that the US has failed to identify, and then only very obscure stuff that probably isn't on any such database. 

Posted on: 14 September 2016 by Adam Zielinski

AMG no longer works, but other look up databases seem to be working fine. 

Ripping some CDs now - so far so good.

Posted on: 14 September 2016 by Adam Zielinski
David Hendon posted:

Thanks guys. That is really helpful. I don't think Naim have said anything to us about this and I wonder what if anything they might do about it as it reduces the functionality of the US and HDX quite a bit.....

I'll give them a ring later in the week (have to work tomorrow...)

best

David

They have - there is a post from Phil Harris dated 8.07.2016 on exactly that. Top of the Streaming section.

Posted on: 14 September 2016 by Mike-B

............  err a bit tenuous Adam,  Phil's note is about Rovi.   The relationship & link with AMG is not explained & the effect on US & HDX AMG metadata look up is not mentioned.

Posted on: 14 September 2016 by Adam Zielinski
Mike-B posted:

............  err a bit tenuous Adam,  Phil's note is about Rovi.   The relationship & link with AMG is not explained & the effect on US & HDX AMG metadata look up is not mentioned.

True - it's about Rovi.

Posted on: 14 September 2016 by Adam Zielinski

Ripped 3 CDs - Vangelis and 2 x Gregory Porter.

All track data identified OK. One cover art missing - 'Water' by Gregory Porter. Had to perform a manual lookup via n-Serve app. Worked OK.

Posted on: 14 September 2016 by J Saville

Check that your serve is properly registering an internet connection, under system status in either desktop client or observe for Mac. I think AMG lookups fail if it doesn't read internet connection 'true'. Or just reboot it and try ripping again. 

Posted on: 14 September 2016 by David Hendon
J Saville posted:

Check that your serve is properly registering an internet connection, under system status in either desktop client or observe for Mac. I think AMG lookups fail if it doesn't read internet connection 'true'. Or just reboot it and try ripping again. 

Yes I had already done all that. The problem is that AMG has closed its metadata service and I'm going to need to update the firmware so that the US looks elsewhere.

best

David

Posted on: 17 September 2016 by David Hendon

Following up from a thread in the beta forum, that Jan-Erik kindly started after I asked about this here, the AMG meta-data service seems to be back up again tonight. So perhaps it was just that it was down that evening.

In the meantime I have prepared the disc for the 1.7b firmware update so I suppose I may as well do it now.

best

David

Posted on: 18 September 2016 by Adam Zielinski

Confirmed - AMG is back on line for UnitiServe rips.