CDpedia for Mac

User Reviews

• CDpedia is very good with limitations.

  frpoulNovember 14, 2010

  Pros

  CD pedia is excelent in archiving and finding items, sometimes completing data about CD, also searching for cover pictures.

  Cons

  CDpedia can not read CD text burned through other media (f.e.Roxio Toast Titanium). If I record my own music, burn it on CD and let CDpedia scan, it shows (through iTunes) "Track 1". It could be a challenge, to be in some respect better than iTunes!

  Summary

  Nevertheless, I prefer it.

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• Finally works with MacBook Pro iSight

  Anthony LamApril 19, 2008

  Pros

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  Summary

  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />The title says it all. (It may have started to work for sometime but I just haven't tried it ever since the last time.) So now it deserves my compliment and recommendation. All in all, it's a piece of intelligent and user-friendly software.

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• This thing is corrupting my database!

  johnsibelSeptember 29, 2007

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  Cons

  Summary

  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />Using system 10.4.10 and version 4.0.1 cdpedia - various cd albums are appearing and disappearing in the database (102) albums -- especially the track info! Dangerous -- Dangerous! This needs to be fixed before use! (It could be because they are using another form of databasing.)

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• Alas, still no good for MacBook Pro iSight

  Anthony LamSeptember 25, 2007

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  Summary

  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />The title says it all. I downloaded both CD- and DVDpedias to try out; so double disappointment. True, barcode scanners nowadays are very affordable, but who doesn't want to avoid yet another piece of hardware if there's one already built in? And the iSight image is still in black and white. Oh, well ... ...

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• Alas, still no good for MacBook Pro iSight

  Anthony LamSeptember 25, 2007

  Pros

  Cons

  Summary

  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />The title says it all. I downloaded both CD- and DVDpedias to try out; so double disappointment. True, barcode scanners nowadays are very affordable, but who doesn't want to avoid yet another piece of hardware if there's one already built in? And the iSight image is still in black and white. Oh, well ... ...

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• Not for Dedicated Collectors

  Alex_6December 31, 2006

  Pros

  Cons

  Summary

  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />Data management, performance, stability: Not tested, due to the 10 CD limit of the unregistered version. (CDpedia might behave very differently when the database contains 1,000 CDs instead of 10.) Interface: Clean, well-designed, integrates well with Mac OS X. Main view is customisable, and visible data can be edited, but editing full CD info requires a separate window. Database design: Geared towards Western pop music collections. Adequate for this job, but inadequate for anything else. Two major flaws: no track "Composer" fields, and no provision for titles made up by more than one CD. Data export: Fairly extensive export to plain text files, including HTML, CSV and tab-separated. Most export templates are HTML, but custom text-based templates can be added. Data import: Import from CSV and tab-separated text (not tested), but not from tagged text. Direct import for some applications; direct import from iTunes database is limited (only playlists can be imported, not dismounted CDs). No import from CD Info.cidb, no custom templates for tagged/structured text. (Cover art import not tested.) Data input (manual): Through CDpedia's form; well designed, but not customisable; limited copy/paste capabilities. Data input (automatic): From on-line databases; info from on-line sources can also be added to existing data. General limitations are those of the databases: music other than Western pop is more often than not unavailable or incorrectly listed, classical music data is painfully mangled, etc. However, there are significant CDpedia-specific issues: no custom templates to access other sites; no spell checking; scanning mounted CDs is hit-and-miss; and others. Scripting: No AppleScript support, so repetitive tasks can't be automated (huge flaw). Conclusion: If stability and performance with large collections are good, then it's a useful tool for an average user with a collection of mostly Western pop music. The dedicated music lover, who wants his database to hold more data is going to be disappointed. CDpedia is equally unsuitable for classical music and for non-Western CDs. It doesn't handle well Macs with more than one CD/DVD drive, and its capabilities can't be extended by scripting.

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• Good Not Great

  movieguy43May 23, 2006

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  Summary

  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />I've got about 2000 CD's I've cataloged in CDPedia and I've grown to like it, but definitely not love it. It relies on Amazon for it's info and while finding the right CD is usually easy and fast enough, the track and track length info associated with the CD is often wrong or incomplete...In particular, multiple CD sets almost always only include track info for only the first CD - which leaves me with HUNDREDS of individual track titles I have to type in by hand for the database to be complete. Past programs I've used which utilize CDDB for their info are much more complete and accurate. In addition, one of my main reasons for cataloging the collection was to be able to quickly print a report of what I've got (i.e. Artist, CD Title, Media, and # of Discs). While there are lots of HTML templates available within the program and more on Bruji's website, none are appropriate for printing...I have to export the file to another app and spend an hour or more reformatting to get the simple results I desire - and that's just for one printout - I have to go through the whole thing again after adding new CD's and want an up-to-date report. And there are no options for printing CD covers or inserts. As for the interface, the table view is fine to view the entire collection, but all the templates for the info view for individual CD info are clunky and "un-mac-like". Another small complaint...when I sort by artist, why are the CD's by that artist listed in haphazzard order? No matter how many times I rebuild the database "Bob Dylan Greatest Hits Vol 1" is never listed before "Bob Dylan Greatest Hits Vol 2". Sounds like I'm trashing the program but I'm not. It's a great value for $18 and is probably perfect for collections of under 500 CD's. If you're comfortable with iTunes interface, you'll be right at home with this program. The developer is active in providing upgrades and improving the app, and the "Full Screen" view mode is a pretty cool "show off to your friends" feature. Also, there are 4 custom categories which are great...most similar apps only have one or two. Bottom Line - if you're a two platform household get "CDTrustee" - an amazing program and the only good thing I gave up when I switched to the Mac (maybe the developer of CDPedia could take a look at it and get some ideas for future upgrades). Also, there's a new program called "Music Collector" that looks promising - it has a cleaner, more professional look, but is more than twice the price and seems to have the same printing limitations as CDPedia - not worth it for me to switch, but it's probably worth downloading both demos to decide for yourself.

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• Playing the Fields

  MacGuffinFebruary 12, 2006

  Pros

  Cons

  Summary

  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />While I like this app overall and think the price is great (in particular if purchased bundled with the rest of the ~pedias), I often find the search feature an exercise in futility. I enter an exact title...and am blessed with either nothing or a gazillion possibilities, which in total yield zip. Same situation with keywords (isn't the point of keywords the elimination of the need for full titles?); a particular "favorite" involved the keywords "Tintner" and "Bruckner"--the first of several hundred results was Lotte Lenya singing "Mack the Knife." Huh?! Another classical search yielded, as first choice, a recording by PiL! This is particularly frustrating when there's an Amazon US listing as big as life--why does "cascade" often immediately jump to "Amazon CA," bypassing Amazon US (and its listing), and search the other databases from there? Subsequent restriction of the search to Amazon US yields nothing. IT'S IN AMAZON'S DATABASE--WHY CAN'T CDPEDIA FIND IT?! I don't want to enter items manually if Amazon listings are available, my collection is too big. CDpedia is, at this point in time, too often downright obtuse to earn a full five stars, at least for my purposes. I have every reason to believe, however, that things will improve; the developers seem very serious about improving their products.

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• Super

  galinton3125January 20, 2006

  Pros

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  Summary

  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />After years of searching for a program that soley handled my cd collection, I discovered CDpedia. It did a wonderful job of importing my collection from excel and is easy to enter new cds. Customer Service is great too. They responed to my e-mails immediately.

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• very nice

  marikemacMarch 26, 2005

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  Summary

  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />cd's recognized by the databases CDpedia is searching in are added very fast. Less common CD's have more change they aren't going to be found, but try letting CDpedia scan the drive more times, it sometimes succeeds. Adding 'not found cd's' takes more time, but not more than adding it manually to any other database. This program works very well, like it a lot, have added 250 cd's since the day before yesterday! Worth the price!

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