MusicIP Mixer Help - Cache Overview

MusicIP Mixer stores information about your tracks in a file called a cache file. This includes information about which tracks are in your collection, the associated metadata, acoustic analysis, custom tags, ratings, and so forth.

The default cache file is called default.m3lib, and lives in the following location.

• Windows: Depends on version
  • Current: c:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\MusicIP\product
  • Legacy: The application installation folder
• Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/MusicMagic
• Linux: ~/.MusicMagic

You may want to back up this file from time to time, in case of hard disk failure or other problems.

If you want to use a different location for the file, simply pass the name of the file on the command line when you start MusicIP Mixer. On Windows, you can double-click on any .m3lib file to start MusicIP Mixer using that cache file - if the file is not called "default.m3lib", then the name of the cache file (without the extension) will be listed in the Filters & Playlists window.

Note that on Windows, the Application Data folder may reside in a system dependent location - generally the location above will be correct unless you have manually changed it.

Using Multiple Cache Files

If you want to use multiple cache files (for instance, maybe you want to have different people in the same house with their own collections, or you have some types of music which you don't want to mix in the same cache), then you can do so easily.

Simply create a .m3lib file for each instance you want (you can use a text editor to create an empty file), and start the app with the new cache file as described above. All changes will relate only to the current cache file.

Sharing Cache Files

If you are using the same set of music from different computers, you might want to share your cache file between multiple machines. There are several ways you can do this.

Method One: Simple Sharing - If your machines are all using the same paths to locate your music, then you can simply use the same cache file from different machines. Either copy the file from one machine to another, or make sure each machine has access to the same cache file. If they are using the same file, you will need to be careful that you don't modify cache files on two different machines at the same time - if you do, one set of changes will get lost (and in rare cases, you might cause the cache file to become corrupt).

Note that on Windows, you might be able to use network paths to make sure your music files have the same path. These look like //this/example/path. That way there is no dependency on how the disk has been mapped to a drive letter. On Mac and Linux, you can create aliases to make the paths appear the same.

Method Two: Autoload Cache - This method will only work with a registration key, and it uses the disk-based devices feature. In this method, create a file called "autoload.m3lib" and store it in the root folder of your music directory. (If you have multiple music folders, you will need to repeat the process for each one). Then, inside MusicIP Mixer, choose File/Add Device and select the root folder where the music is stored. Next, add the associated music. This cache will show up as a separate entry in the Filters & Playlists view. Any machine which mounts the folder as a disk device will share the autoload cache. The paths will be handled correctly even if shared between Windows, Linux, and Mac versions of the app.

Other Notes

If you want to move ratings between caches, you can use the Import/Export Ratings Power Tool. This will let you save ratings from one cache, and import them into another cache.

Although the acoustical information created by MusicIP Mixer (fingerprints and analysis) is stored primarly in the cache, you can also save this information into your music files directly as custom tags. This will make things easier if your songs frequently change location, or move from machine to machine. To do this, right-click on one or more songs and choose Archive Analysis. This will write two extra tags to each file, in a format appropriate for that file (for example, ID3 tags for MP3 files). The next time MusicIP Mixer loads one of those files, it will be recognized immediately.

If you have devices, each device will also have it's own cache file, as hinted at above in the section describing autoload files. These caches will live either in a autoload.m3lib file in the root of the device, or in the devices subfolder where the default cache file is located.