Folder comparison

[arjacey]

Can I get a report of where folders are duplicated without reference to files they contain?

For example, I have a folder of music , x:\AACMusic\Artist\Album.

The files in these folders are M4A conversions from MP3 files.

There is another folder, x:\MP3Music\Artist\Album which contains the original MP3 files.

I want to know where there is a folder in both x:\AACMusic and x:\MP3Music but I don't need to know what files are contained in each folder.

I can see how to do this by comparing 'similar' files or files without extension but its a massive list to sort through and I can only find a way to mark one file at a time.

Ideally, I would like to see that there is a folder x:\AACMusic\Britney Spears\Baby One More Time and also a folder x:\MP3Music\Britney Spears\Baby One More Time and be able to delete one of the folders without needing to delete each file. I do not need to know whether the files in each folder are duplicates or not,

I thought Duplicate Folders might do this but not so. I haven't read up on how these work yet so the solution may be there.

Actually, I'll probably delete both folders in this instance.

Thanks

[therube]

If the files are named the same, except for extension, & then if the directories are named the same, then yes, fairly easily.
Now, you will still have the files listed, but the search should be quick.

Regular Mode search
Ignore Content
Same File Name

Filter by Audio (mp3, m4a)

Set your two directories
If you have the Pro version, set the two directory trees to NOT Scan Against Self

F10, Options -> Scanning, Ignore extensions when comparing file names

Scan Now

If you have the Pro version, you also have the Duplicate Folders feature that may be useful.

Though in this situation, with two distinct directory trees, I would think using the Duplicate Files list would be easier, quicker, using the 'Mark all files found in this folder tree'.



Now this assumes that you know that corresponding like named files/directories are "duplicates".

IMO, if the mp3 are the originals & if your intended player can handle mp3, then it makes no sense to transcode to m4a as there will always be quality loss in doing so. (Now if you are transcoding because the player cannot handle mp3 or if you're looking to change [decrease] file size by doing so, or something like that, that's a different matter. But you can never increase "quality" by transcoding.)

[arjacey]

Thanks for that.

I'll have a go at following your instructions and see how I get on. Seems like I'm still going to get a big list of files (around 15k AAC files).

I do have Pro but haven't been able to reconcile what I see in the Duplicate Folders tab to what I would expect from what is in the folders. I have the PDF manual so I may FTFM sometime soon.

Regarding the OT issue on the advisability of converting files from MP3, I have MP3s from a variety of different sources gathered over a number of years. I have found that I cannot edit the tags for some of these (iTunes) so started converting to AAC to be able to do this and get some consistency in file and folder naming. I appreciate what you say about audio quality but as some of this is lost in an MP3 file anyway, it doesn't seem a big leap to go to AAC. It any case, the quality will be determined by the 'weakest link' anyway which, in my case for most listening (car, sound dock, AV amp) would probably not be the format. I've done a few listening tests and cannot really determine the difference but that may down to the effects of listening to a lot of Deep Purple when I was younger! Maybe I'll go FLAC with a Cyrus streamer when it becomes a bit more accessible.

Once again, thanks.