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Helium Music Manager 8 Beta

This section contains the detailed release notes explaining the new features and changes in Helium Music Manager 8 Beta version.

Overview

The major new feature for this version has been to implement full multi-user support in the Network Edition (this feature is NOT available in the Free or Premium Editions). This allows multiple users to work with the same database and music files while retaining their own individual ratings, favourites, playlists and more.

Other features include an enhanced Artist Information download, new Duplicate Finder tool, Podcast support, sharing and Helium Streamer for iOS support.

A number of Helium Music Manager's options (Tools > Options...) have changed and are described in detail here.

Multi-User Support (Network Edition only)

Helium Music Manager 8 Network Edition supports multiple users. This enables each user of Helium Music Manager to have individual song ratings, favourites and playlists etc.

Multi-user support applies to Helium Music Manager€™s Library and individual music track tags, allowing each user to record their own values.

The Helium Music Manager Library Multi-user support enables individual user values for the following library based tags:

• Song ratings
• Favourites (Artists, Albums and Tracks)
• Playlists
• Smart playlists
• Podcasts
• Playing history
• User categories

In addition the individual user song rating is also saved to the rating tag in the music file. The music file formats that support multiple rating values in one file are:

• APE (APEv2)
• FLAC (Vorbis)
• MP3 (ID3v2)
• M4A
• OGG (Vorbis)

The following music file type only supports a single rating (and therefore only the last user to update a file will have their rating value recorded):

• WMA
• WV (WavPack)
• WAV (Wave format)

While the Library will record and remember any ratings that a user defines for a music track, in the case of these filetypes there are special considerations. If the music track is removed from the library any per-user ratings will be lost as only one rating can be saved in music files with these filetypes. We recommend that these filetypes aren't used if you want to support ratings from multiple users.

User Management

As initially installed, Helium Music Manager 8 Network Edition is set-up with a default user and needs no special action to be taken to work as normal.

If you want to use Helium Music Manager in a multi-user environment then you have to define these users and their role to Helium Music Manager. A user can either be a normal user or an administrator. Only administrators can access the main menu items Advanced > Library and Advanced > User Management. The Default user is automatically defined as an administrator.

To set-up Helium Music Manager for multi-user operation, proceed as follows:

First User

1. Select main menu item Advanced > Manage Users...
2. If this is the first time this dialogue has been entered you will see that one user is defined called Default.
3. Select user Default and click Edit User
4. In the User Data tab, enter the following fields:
   1. User Name - this will be used for the log-in
   2. Password - this field is not required but if it is, it has to be entered twice and will then be used for log-in authentication.
   3. Tag name - this is the tag name associated with the user. It will be saved in the music file to identify the user song rating. This name needs to be unique for each user.
   4. Avatar picture - Move the mouse over the avatar picture and two controls appear:
      • Load Picture - click to navigate to an image to use as an avatar for the user
      • Remove Picture - click to remove a previously loaded avatar
5. In the Groups tab, the main (default) user is confirmed as being in the Administrator group. This can€™t be modified for the default user.
6. The Mappings tab is used to map imported song rating tags to a user where the song rating may have been tagged with a different Tag Name. This will be explained in more detail in the Mappings section here.
7. Click OK to save the amended user details.

At this point the initial default user has been modified and saved.

Additional User(s)

You can now click New User to add an additional user. Follow the steps previously outlined to set-up the first user. Note that in the Groups tab you can now choose to allow this user to be an administrator by ticking the Administrator check box. When you have finished, click OK to save the new user.

Repeat the previous steps for each new additional user you want to set-up.

Remove User

You can remove a user by selecting a user and clicking Remove User.

Click Close to exit User Management.

Logging In to Helium Music Manager

If you have set up a password for the Default user or have created one or more additional users you will be presented with a login panel when you start up Helium Muisic Manager. On this panel, select the user you wish to login as (from the User Name pull-down) and enter the password (the password field is only shown if it is required). If you wish to avoid the login screen next time you start Helium Music Manager, then tick the Remember me check box.

Note: To cancel the €˜Remember me€™ settings, go to main menu item Tools > Options... and on the General > General tab, un-tick the Automatic Login check box.

Mappings

When you import or add music that may have been previously rated outside of Helium Music Manager 8, you can associate the previous ratings to a user by adding the Tag Name used in the music file as a user Mapping in User Management.

You can also decide that any unmatched user tag name will have its rating value applied to the default user. To do this, tick the Apply unmatched user rating to Default user in Tools > Options... > Tags > General.

To specifically map a user name, proceed as follows:

1. Select main menu item Advanced > Manage Users...
2. Select the user you wish to map to and click Edit User
3. Select the Mappings tab
4. Enter the Tag Name to be mapped into the free form area. If you want to add more than one tag Name then enter each one on a separate line
5. When you have finished, click OK and then click Close

Artist Information Download

This has been enhanced to enable the use of MusicBrainz PUID data to obtain artist information from multiple sources. In the Artist View, select an artist in the Left Side Bar and press F2. This will open the Edit Artist/Group Information dialogue. Click the Download button in the bottom toolbar and click Download using MusicBrainz information. Artist information will then be downloaded.

Duplicate Finder

The Duplicate Finder has been completely rewritten for Helium music Manager 8 and is accessible from Tools > Duplicate Finder...

It replaces the Duplicates node in the Music Explorer that was available in previous versions of Helium Music Manager.

To use the Duplicate Finder, launch it from Tools > Duplicate Finder... and then click Check for Duplicates to list out all potential duplicate music files in Helium Music Manager's Library.

The list of files can now be browsed and reviewed.

The selection Tick boxes are only used when selecting files to be deleted. so to delete selected music files from disk and therefore also remove them from the Library, tick the check box of the file or files you want to remove and then click the Remove button in the toolbar. Confirm with Yes to remove the files or No to cancel the removal.

To view the properties of a music file, select the file (by clicking the line the file is in - not the selection box) and click the properties button in the toolbar.

You can compare the MusicBrainz PUIDs of two or more music files by selecting the files (by clicking the lines the files are in - not the selection box) and click the Compare by PUID button in the toolbar. A list of files that are equal and not equal is shown.

Podcast Support

A podcast (or non-streamed webcast) is a series of digital media files (either audio or video) that are released episodically which can be downloaded and replayed with Helium Music Manager. Common usage of Podcasts is for radio shows and similar events.

Helium Music Manager 8 integrates Podcast support as its own node in the Playlists view.

Podcasts can be placed in folders to allow better grouping/overview possibilities. In Helium Music Manager Network Edition, Podcasts are unique per user and can be shared between different users. To add a new folder, right mouse click over the Podcast node or an existing Podcast folder node (except the Shared folder node), click New Folder... and enter the new folder name and click OK. Folders can be renamed and deleted in a similar manner using the Rename Folder... and Delete Folder options.

To add a Podcast, follow the following steps:

1. Identify a Podcast source, for example http://podcasts.flaix.fr/corstenscountdown
2. In the Playlists View, right mouse click on the Podcasts node and click Add Podcast...
3. Enter the Podcast Link identified in step 1 (above) and click the Load button to load the metadata exposed by the source. Data such as title, description and image will be automatically loaded. You can modify the Title and Description if required.
4. In the Network Edition you can tick the Shared box to share the Podcast with other users of Helium Music Manager (see here).
5. Click OK to save the Podcast

An added Podcast is shown as its own node under the Podcasts node.

Select a Podcast entry to view the available and downloaded episodes.

The most recent episode will be downloaded automatically (if the option Automatically download new Podcast episodes is ticked).

You can download multiple available episodes by selecting them in the Podcasts episodes available list and then right mouse click and select Download from the context menu. Downloaded items will be automatically added to the Library. While a Podcast download is in progress, it will be shown as downloading in the status bar. You can click Cancel in the status bar to cancel the download.

A Podcast entry which has been downloaded and is available on your computer will be listed in the Track Details and all available tools can be used on it.

The context menu (Right mouse click) for a podcast in the Podcast node gives you the options:

1. Add Podcast... to add a new podcast as already described.
2. Edit Podcast... to edit an existing Podcast. A similar dialogue to Add Podcast is shown, make your required changes and click OK.
3. Rescan to scan the podcast for new episodes.
4. Remove Podcast to remove the podcast. A dialogue is shown where you can choose to either Remove Podcast only and let files remain in Library and on disc or Remove Podcast, Library and disc items. Click OK to confirm deletion.
5. Enqueue and Play, Enqueue Next or Enqueue Last operate as normal.

Sharing

The Network Edition of Helium Music Manager supports user to user sharing of Playlists, Smart Playlists and Podcasts.

When you create a new Smart Playlist, create a new Playlist or add a new Podcast, you get the opportunity to mark it as Shared. You can also edit an existing Smart Playlist, Playlist or Podcast and mark it as shared or not.

Once a Smart Playlist, Playlist or Podcast has been marked as shared it will appear in the shared folder (which is under each of the Smart Playlists, Playlists and Podcasts nodes) of other users defined to Helium Music Manager.

When you share a Smart Playlist, you are sharing the definition of the Smart Playlist NOT the content. So, for example, if User 'A' shared a Smart Playlist of ''Favourites - 4 or more stars' and User 'B' had only songs rated 3 stars or less then no songs would be listed for User 'B' as the Smart Playlist wouldn't find any 4 star songs belonging to User 'B'.

To share content of Smart Playlists: Select the Smart Playlist and then all the tracks in the Track Details pane. Use the Track details context menu Playlists > Add to Playlist > Add to New Playlist... to create a new playlist (with the contents derived from the Smart Playlist) that you can then share.

Helium Streamer for iOS support

Please note: Helium Streamer for iOS Version 2 is not yet released to the App Store.

Helium Music Manager 8 provides support for version 2.0+ of Helium Streamer for iOS by way of specific commands to make synchronizing music to your iPhone / iPod Touch / iPad easier.

Under the tools menu, there is a new tool Helium Streamer for iOS Synchronization...

This works in a similar way to Synchronize Device in that you define a list of music that you wish to synchronize to the iPhone / iPod Touch / iPad device. It differs from Synchronize Device in that once you have defined the list of music to synchronize; you start the actual synchronization from the device itself rather than Helium Music Manager. Details of how to do this will be available in the Helium Streamer for iOS help documentation.

The Send To Helium Streamer for iOS context menu item is also available. Selected tracks will be added to synchronization list.

Options

The following options (Tools > Options...) have been added or changed:

• General
  • General
    • Automatic Login
      If €˜remember me€™ was selected on Login, this option is enabled. Deselecting this option will make Helium Music Manager forget the automatic login details.
    • Replace files in move operations
      If this option is ticked, if a file is moved to a destination where the file already exists, it will be replaced. Not having this set can cause inconsistencies in the Library as a result of move operations not completing correctly.
• Views
  • Playlists
    • Place Podcasts in this folder
      Defines the folder where downloaded podcasts will be saved.
    • Automatically update Podcasts
      If this option is ticked, Helium Music Manager will perform a background update of all Podcasts (every 4 hours).
    • Automatically download new Podcast episodes
      If this option is ticked, when a Podcast is selected, it will be checked (in a background thread) for new episodes. If one is found it will be downloaded.
  • Search
    • Search in the following fields
      Provides extended and configurable search support that enables you to select which fields will be queried when searching the database using the search type of ALL.
• Tools
  • Add Files
    • Apply unmatched user rating to Default user
      If this option is ticked any unmatched user tag name will have its rating value applied to the default user. See Mappings for more detail.
• Advanced
  • General
    • Avoid scanning the following drives (separate by comma)
      Set this option to exclude handling of drives in certain situations such as when scanning for drive icons (e.g. Music Explorer trees). Some drives such as memory card drives are extremely slow to access if no media is available, and therefore by excluding them a quicker start-up time is achieved.
  • Vorbis
    • Active Mappings
      This shows how vorbis tags are mapped to Helium Music Manager tag fields. The priority is top-bottom order. This means that if two vorbis tags are present in a music file that map to the same Helium Music Manager tag, the first listed vorbis tag will take priority and subsequent vorbis tags mapped to the same Helium Music Manager tag will be ignored. Vorbis mapping is only performed when a music file is read.