Ripping CD on Unitiserve and unable to get tags

I presume that you have tried restarting your Unitiserve? You have to shut it down correctly but I'm sure you know how to do that.

The Unitiserve with 1.7b firmware uses MusicBrainz as its first choice, then AMG, then FreeDB on line and finally if there is nothing anywhere else, it checks the on board version of FreeDB which is a small subset and quite out of date. I recall that there was a rumour some time ago that the AMG metadata service was being discontinued, which makes the 1.7b firmware update really important (as it added MusicBrainz). But if the MusicBrainz service is down, then you are stuck with FreeDB.

So you could try to check if MusicBrainz is up and you could also try ripping again a CD that ripped ok before.

(i just checked with my UnitiCore and MusicBrainz is up at the moment.)

best

David

Hello David.  Thanks for the quick reply.  Yes, I have shut down the Unitiserve (using the green button in front) and restarting with the switch in back.  System status shows the system version is 1.7b so I believe I carried out the update correctly.  The one CD which didn't work this week could be the problem so I will try another one on your suggestion.  Otherwise, could there be some problem with the Unitiserve itself.  As I have used the desktop client (N-serve for Mac) and gone into maintenance I have found that some screens do not display properly (still contain parts of previous screens).  It's strange but makes me think something has gotten corrupted.

It could easily be the one CD or that MusicBrainz was down (or the request timed out) when you ripped the CD.

I find that it's quite common for the UnitiCore to find no data at all about a new CD. I ripped three new classical CDs a few days ago and the Core only found anything for one of them. But a couple of days later, one of the other two was recognised by Rovi, although the third remains anonymous (despite being one of the top featured discs of the month in Gramophone last month.)

I doubt there is anything wrong with the US, but you could call Naim and have chat to the support people. They may have ideas why N-Serve for Mac isn't behaving as you expect.

best

David

If you've only tried one CD, maybe it is one that none of the databases can find. Otherwise, I would suspect a connection issue, but that seems unlikely if iRadio is working. You could try ripping the CD on a computer, and see if that is able to find the metadata - otherwise you may just have to add it manually.

David Hendon posted:

The Unitiserve with 1.7b firmware uses MusicBrainz as its first choice, then AMG, then FreeDB.....

If that's the case, then MusicBrainz must be rubbish, because nearly all of my CD rips were identified by AMG. Very occasionally, I get one from Provider 8, whatever that is, and even more rarely, from MusicBrainz.

I just checked back and it's AMG first, then MusicBrainz then FreeDB so that's why most of your rips were AMG Chris.

Apologies for getting AMG and MusicBrainz the wrong way round. It's in this thread if anyone wants to look. Doesn't change my advice to the OP though.

https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...n-the-unitiserve-hdx

best

David

As I understand everyone's input the Unitiserve will try to access AMG then MusicBrainz and then free DB.  This is what I see when I monitor the ripping process on my phone.  I've started doing this routinely and if FreeDB is the database being used then I will see no data (or more typically incorrect data) and then I abort the rip.  I am going to pick up a CD which previously ripped correctly but in the mean time, for this discussion, the CD I am currently having trouble with was ripped correctly on my laptop using iTunes which I believe uses GraceNotes.  I suspect that rules out a problem with this specific CD (?).  From this forum discussion does it seem this is a more common problem due to the database servers or does it suggest a problem unique to my device?

I don't think this is a problem with your Unitiserve. Incidentally you can always let the rip go ahead with incorrect metadata and then edit it using n-serve either in MAC or IOS.

The fact that Gracenotes finds the metadata isn't really relevant, because Naim doesn't use GraceNotes.

best

David

OK.  I will pick up a previously ripped CD and test your theory.  If it works then I will suspect the current CD is the problem.  I very much appreciate your insights.  By the way, what do you think of the issues I am seeing with the n-Serve app on my laptop.  I deleted the app and downloaded it again but still having the same problem.  As I click between maintenance items the screen either is incomplete or has remnants of the previous screen.  Sometimes it shows my backup log and sometimes it doesn't and just keeps showing the previous screen.  Something corrupted??

As I said before, I suggest asking Naim support. I don't see how it could be a US fault and I think it's more likely to be an issue between n-serve and your Mac, since it's several years since Naim updated n-serve fir Mac and the OS has been updated several times (but having said that, I haven't heard of any issue before).

best

David

 David:  I was able to rip a CD which previously ripped correctly with all of the tags.  Then tried again to rip the problem CD and it couldn't be identified so I believe you are correct, it is a problem with this CD.  I understand that Gracenotes is not used by the Unitiserve but does it make sense that whatever is on the CD (I am ignorant of how exactly this works) is read by one database (Gracenotes) but not several others.  Are they that different?  Are CDs made to only be read by some databases and not others?

You would think that all CDs that you could buy from normal suppliers would be listed on all metadata sites, but that isn't the case in practice and with new release classical CDs I find maybe a half of them aren't listed on any of the metadata lookups used by the Core, even occasionally for a CD from a major publisher and which shows up when I search the same metadata provider using a web browser. AMG which the Unitiserve originally used was better than Rovi or MusicBrainZ used by the Core, but I'm not sure AMG still provide the lookup service now.

Anyway at least you know that you haven't got a fault on your unit or network.

best

David

you cant have it all ways  ,it happens with cheap box sets .  a recent Sutherland broths and quiver slipstream 1976 ,have it on vinyl butwanted it on cd it looked original but wasn't,no meta