[tman1]

  Look at PowerAmp, link to features below. There's a section on folders and a screenshot. See if this is ok for you.
http://powerampapp.com/features/

 
I'll probably eventually try it since so many people use it but it gets mixed reviews on sound quality.
 
In addition to Rockbox I found an app called "Beam Player" whose main purpose is to play from folders so I may try that as well, although I have no idea about how it sounds. There is also one called "Folder Player" but recent reviews mention a problem with the latest update. (Has anyone tried either of these?)
 
"Poweramp can play songs from pre-selected Folders or from own Library":  What I now think is happening is that what some players call "Folder" support means just that they can play from a folder (which is necessary for me) as opposed to playlist or some other way, NOT necessarily that it also ignores the tags on the songs INSIDE the folder, which I also need. I know Rockbox does this (at least on my old Clip Zip which disappeared) so I will see if the interface works on my phone. Again, really wish Neutron did this since it sounds so good. I may just end up getting another Clip Zip and SD card for my other pocket and save my phone battery.

 

[StanD]

   
I'll probably eventually try it since so many people use it but it gets mixed reviews on sound quality.
 
In addition to Rockbox I found an app called "Beam Player" whose main purpose is to play from folders so I may try that as well, although I have no idea about how it sounds. There is also one called "Folder Player" but recent reviews mention a problem with the latest update. (Has anyone tried either of these?)
 
"Poweramp can play songs from pre-selected Folders or from own Library":  What I now think is happening is that what some players call "Folder" support means just that they can play from a folder (which is necessary for me) as opposed to playlist or some other way, NOT necessarily that it ignores the tags on the songs INSIDE the folder, which I also need. I know Rockbox does this (at least on my old Clip Zip which disappeared) so I will see if the interface works on my phone. Again, really wish Neutron did this since it sounds so good. I may just end up getting another Clip Zip and SD card for my other pocket and save my phone battery.

I think that PowerAmp has a fully functional trial. It's not incredibly expensive. By the way it does sound good.

 

[Ari33]

 
Thanks for the help but it's not working for me. When I press the folder icon that comes up after pressing the lower left icon on the home screen while playing a song from a compilation, it takes me to one of the same messed up "folders" I get when going through the Folders icon (the one in your screenshot). And on the now playing screen, when the folder icon is chosen it is not showing the folder path - it shows the original album name the song is from (not my compilation folder name), so it is obviously still using tags.
 
That "Folders" link is a complete mess*, with many folders and subfolders that make no sense at all. Is it my setup?? When I first downloaded the player I clicked "automatic" setup. Is that not recommended? I downloaded the free "Eval" edition. Is it possible this is different from the paid version? Wouldn't make sense but you never know.

 
 I made the same mistake as you with my first install by choosing automatic music search, it found every single audio file on my phone including all game audio files, all my satnav voice audio files for every spoken instruction in every single language.. what a mess. Re-install Neutron but omit the automatic set up part this time, that should tidy your folders up somewhat. 

 

[StanD]

   
 I made the same mistake as you with my first install by choosing automatic music search, it found every single audio file on my phone including all game audio files, all my satnav voice audio files for every spoken instruction in every single language.. what a mess. Re-install Neutron but omit the automatic set up part this time, that should tidy your folders up somewhat. 

You can change the folders that it scans and rescan. No need to uninstall and then reinstall. Been there.

 

[tman1]

In the Media Library settings section in Neutron there are toggles for "Ignore Wav Metadata" and "Split Album by Path" which I would think would help do what I need but turning them on separately or together did not help.
 
EDIT: FOUND IT! From the Neutron forums:
 
---
Re: How can I get Neutron to list songs by file name?
 
Postby dmitrykos » Sat Feb 04, 2012 1:10 pm
Just wanted to confirm that showing filename in place of music title features is implemented since 1.47. To have it working you need to go to needed group (Folder, Artist, Album...), long-press on desired group entry, press SETUP button which invokes new window with sort options along with SHOW FILENAME.
---
 
The only problem is that it looks like you have to do each album separately. Now, if there was a way to have this apply to all subfolders in a folder (so I could just do it to the Music folder and have all folders inside the Music folder have their contents sorted that way), that would be great, but guess I'll do it individually for now.
 
I am relieved and also annoyed that it took this long to figure this out.
 
Did not know you could long press on icons in the player.
 
Still can't figure out how to change the folder that Folder points to so maybe I will just reinstall.

 

[StanD]

  In the Media Library settings section in Neutron there are toggles for "Ignore Wav Metadata" and "Split Album by Path" which I would think would help do what I need but turning them on separately or together did not help.

Start with the sources, excerpts below

 

Q: I created Source to some directory with music after Neutron's installation. Can I create more Sources to link some other directories with music?

A: Yes. Go to Playlist screen, scroll to Sources group, enter to it. In the bottom press the NEW button to invoke directory selection mode.

 

Q: I copied new music to the directory referenced by one of the Source entries but music does not appear in Neutron automatically.

A: It is intended behavior. Neutron does not scan anything on your device by itself automatically and it does not do anything in background with goal to save the battery lifetime and CPU power of your device. If you modified contents of the music directory, simply go to the Database View screen (Playlists, Artists, Albums,...), scroll the list to the Sources group, inside Sources, on each source entry switch off/on the [Refresh] button on the Source #N entry and wait until Neutron completes scanning ([REFRESH DB] message in Display area will be blinking during scanning). [Refresh] will only trigger quick scanning of missing/added music and album art files, for complete database rescanning you need to use [RESCAN] from the properties of the source entry.

 

 

[tman1]

Thanks!

 

[alpha421]

Props to Dmitry. That 1.77.1/2 update made Neutron crash on my SGS1 /w Voodoo.  In less than 24 hours after I notified him,  he not only provided a temporary, older release to work with (I gotta have my tunes), but found the cause of the crash and will incorporate the fix in the subsequent release.  That's what I call stellar customer service and support. I fully expected a response like, "your device is too old and no longer supported.." or something on that line. He truly goes the extra mile and our correspondence indicates a high level or professionalism and passion.
 
Yes, Neutron may not be the most user friendly, but once you're able to figure out what each feature does, it's amazing how he crammed all those features into an app that, IMO, should cost much more than $4.99. This app and Voodoo on my SGS1 are the two reasons, I don't carry a portable amp and I've gone through plenty.

 

[tman1]

Does turning on the 64 bit toggle help with any type of file? Not sure what that does and just wondering if I'm getting placebo syndrome. I mostly use MP3s.
 
Also does it work with phones? Maybe this description from the website is out of date??
 

"32/64-bit HD Rendering

Uses 32/64-bit software audio rendering that provides exceptional audio quality on most platforms where SIMD CPU extensions are available. On low-end and mobile platforms it utilizes 32-bit processing."

 

[Solrighal]

Yet another question I don't know the answer to. For the record though, I have it turned on. Likewise dither.

 

[tman1]

That is confusing since I thought Neutron was made specifically for Android mobile devices. I'm guessing that is a typo and the "and" should be removed. Just spent some time on the Neutron site and it does appear that 64 bit should be superior, at least with mp3 files which was all I was concerned with. Pretty sure I heard a difference. I didn't hear a difference with dither and have it off just for battery purposes but will probably turn it on now that I have regular charging access.
 
Still not sure whether I prefer crossfeed or not. I know it is 'supposed' to be used with headphones but it puts the sound more inside your head, which I'm not sure I prefer. I'd be curious to hear whether others use crossfeed or not.
 
I am also not sure how replay gain works. For "track only" does it compress the peaks WITHIN each track (thus reducing dynamics)? Or does it just mean all tracks that are played have the same peak level? I have Track Only and Album If Whole Album checked, which I HOPE means that if I am playing random tracks it will keep them all close to the same volume, but will keep the volume differences if I am playing a whole album. On that note, how does it know when I am playing a whole album? Any time it is not on random??

 

[Solrighal]

I'm pretty sure I hear an improvement with dither on and I always use crossfeed, it just sounds so much more natural. I never use Replaygain. I'll decide the volume I listen at. I suppose it may have uses for compilations but I'm a traditionalist, I only want to flip the record once

 

[StanD]

I'm pretty sure I hear an improvement with dither on and I always use crossfeed, it just sounds so much more natural. I never use Replaygain. I'll decide the volume I listen at. I suppose it may have uses for compilations but I'm a traditionalist, I only want to flip the record once

You might want to get rid of crossfeed, its purpose is for some old recordings where instruments were sometimes placed entirely in one channel, left or right exclusively. Since it blends some of one channel into the other you will reduce the soundstage of your headphones.

 

[tman1]

  You might want to get rid of crossfeed, its purpose is for some old recordings where instruments were sometimes placed entirely in one channel, left or right exclusively. Since it blends some of one channel into the other you will reduce the soundstage of your headphones.

Not entirely.  From the Neutron site:

 

Q: What does Crossfeeding feature do?

A: Crossfeeding is the special technique which mixes some frequencies of Left and Right channels of stereo music together. Crossfeeding must be used with headphones only and its goal is to simulate stereo perception of external speakers. Explanation: All music is composed with condition that it will be listened through external speakers thus composer takes into account that some frequencies of Left and Right channels will be mixed in the air before arriving to the listener. If listener is using headphones then no such mixing in the air happens and thus desired perception of the music composition is not achieved. Crossfeeding technique simulates such mixing and thus listener is able to feel music as if it is heard from the external speakers, e.g. in the same way as music composer planned it to be heard. Neutron provides several presets with different degree of mixing. Choose whatever preset you like or adjust to your own taste.
 
But yes the soundstage issue is why I am not sure I like it. I think a lot of people like the wide soundstage headphones give, even if the separation between channels is more than intended/when listening to external speakers.

 

[tman1]

Does Replay Gain only work if you Normalize the files first? Otherwise it doesn't have the info it needs, correct?