Users of OrangeCD: Satisfied or not?? [Archive]

bigmutt

04-04-2009, 11:13 PM

Hello:
I'm new to this forum and found it in the course of trying to buy the OrangeCD Catalog program.

But when I read this forum I see large numbers of problems encountered by users; is this a "mature" software program or is it in it's development stages, with the accompanying growing pains?

What CD cataloging software would you recommend? there are lots and I'm not sure now where to put my $30-$60.

And how does the Racks and Tags software download work? does it work well even though it's basic? or what? (I haven't been able to download it to try it, because their registration system for new users is screwed up and won't log me in.) As far as I can see, it's free, right?

Thanks very much.

Rick

Balok

04-05-2009, 04:04 AM

I consider myself very satisfied with the program. However, I will still ask for features from time to time. I'm not sure if that's what you mean, perhaps you could cite some specific threads. I can't recall any time the program has crashed on me, which I regard as a deadly bug. I think once I managed to corrupt my database, I don't remember how because it has been a long time. I ultimately had to restore from a backup and lost a bit of work. But I've been using the program since 2004 or so without serious problems.

Jazz_North

04-05-2009, 12:23 PM

I have never had any problems with Orange that weren't my own fault. One of the reasons you see so many requests for new features is that Orange is a very expandable program and Andrei has responded positively to so many requests, users feel free to ask for almost anything (as I have). I occasionally check out other music cataloguing programs and have not found anything as rich as Orange. The ability to design my own display format is important to me and I am constantly finding new things I can do with it. I even find it works better with classical music cds than several programs claiming to be designed especially for classical music.

Of course, there are some tweaks to Orange I would like to see, but I have a much longer list with Excel and no one in Redmond, Washington, pays any attention to them.

dilute50

04-05-2009, 06:29 PM

I am not real happy with the track search, I have a lot of groups that have done the same song and for whatever reason Orangecd sometimes it will not find any of the tracks even if you have an artist open showing the track (This seems to happen if Orangecd has been running for a peroid of time) and sometimes it works perfect, so I have pretty much giving up on using it for track search (which was one of the important features to me) I don't know if there are any better programs out there but I wish that I would looked at other programs before I purchased this one, as far as Racks & Tags it works ok, but sometimes things don't match what you have in OrangeCd data base soI just perfer to back the Orangecd data base and album covers on a flash drive, That way I now that the Imformation and albums covers are the same,

gouletjo

05-24-2009, 05:20 AM

Simply the best software for that kind of thing. Believe me i've tried it all

ibndaud

05-24-2009, 01:32 PM

I also have tried countless other software. I havent found any other music archive software that would be even compareable to this one.

bigmutt

05-25-2009, 09:47 PM

please bump

And how does the Racks and Tags software download work? does it work well even though it's basic? or what? As far as I can see, it's free, right? (I haven't been able to download it to try it, because their registration system for new users is screwed up and won't log me in. their tech support also has not been very helpful, but .... oh well)

Thanks very much.

Rick

GoSlow2GoFast

05-28-2009, 11:40 AM

Very satisfied.

Paddy

05-29-2009, 07:37 AM

Very satisfied. The product is constantly being developed and the support is excellent.

Paddy

harleygirl

06-04-2009, 01:10 PM

I have used this software for about 4 or maybe even 5 years now and have encountered small insignificant problems exactly one time { fonts on a previous upgrade }.
Simply stated , this software is the best music collection software to have bar none.
Many of the " problems " you will see on the forum are usually regarding future changes to the software as far as what people would like to be able to do with it and creatimg web sites with it. The software itself is quite remarkable and well worth every penny I have paid for it.

I can not sing its praises enough.

Regarding Racks and Tags, yes its free, after adding music to your collection, simply create a racks and tags user name and upload your collection. You then have your own web page for your friends to view.

davidagbr

06-22-2009, 10:32 AM

I bought OrangeCD back in 2001, even after switching to Macs a few years ago, I'm still using OCD (via Parallels on my MacBookPro).

Although OCD is not perfect, and there are many features that could/should be implemented, I haven't found a suitable alternative that meets my needs as well as OCD.

So, satisfied??? I guess so!! ;-P

Now a Mac OSX compatible version of OCD.... that WOULD be cool!

noyse

06-23-2009, 08:13 AM

i'm using three programs, because every program has its assets and limitations:

OCD - for fast overwiew and search and the integration with racks and tags
Tag & rename - for fast writing and changing id-tags
helium Music manager - for playing and managing my whole music collection, changing id-tags, and information about artists etc.

heliums strength is the possibility to use mysql or sql databases or access db, so its very flexible and if you use mysql you can take these db to your website if you want. But for a simple search its to slow, so i use ocd for that. imho theres is no faster databased program.

with helium you can also tag, but it takes time for writing changes. Its no problem if you change some files, but for a larger amount its not that comfortable. So i use for that work tag and rename. it is fast and high customizeable.

ps: for searching for covers i use album art downloader :) it searches in discogs, google, amazon and so on.

bigmutt

09-30-2009, 09:01 PM

well, I joined the Racks and Tags site in April but I have yet to log in: doesn't respond to my password or any of the passwords that have been sent to be by the password-reset system.
Can't get a reply to my inquiry about this from tech support, either.

I was wanting to purchase OrangeCD suite but thought I'd first check out the Racks and Tags offering of theirs, but so far I'm not too impressed.

anyone else have problems getting help from tech support to let you log in??

thanks.

Rick

Gagliem

09-30-2009, 11:09 PM

Well,
everyone has explained pros & cons of OCD, but actually no one explained well one of the most important features of OCD: the great support of JavaScript language to customize OCD the way you want.

My OCD main theme and Export theme (the feature to export in html format your collection in your web site, without using Racks & Tags) have JavaScript functions that often do what actually OCD doesn't, or simply what I think is useful for me that OCD has to do (and maybe te majority of users don't consider useful).

This means that OCD is a great software for common users who don't know anything of programming and want to easily organize their collection and customize it with OCD's standard features, but then OCD could reveal itself as an OUTSTANDING SOFTWARE if you like to "program" it the way you want....

...I don't know if there are other music catalog sw that could allow you to do this, but I'm very happy I found OCD!!!!

The majority of the requests on the forum aim often to increase the built-in features or to add something new in this software... ...if bugs are found (no sw is perfect...) I always noticed Andrei gave support as he usually does for features request...

Actually I have few things left to ask Andrei that I personally would like to have in OCD, but they're "extras".. ;-)

The_Mole

10-03-2009, 06:41 PM

Simply stated , this software is the best music collection software to have bar none.

I think harleygirl says it all.

BLOWERS

10-04-2009, 09:26 AM

I think harleygirl says it all.
And Jazz North! Above all, OCD is practical, effective and FUN! And it's great to be able to actually have an input into its development - thanks for all your efforts, Andrei - they are much appreciated.

granit

10-16-2009, 01:03 AM

I've been using OCD for close to 7 years. I can tell you that I've not yet found a Cataloging software where users are really the driving force behind its development, as it is in this case. I have a very small DB of +1000 CD's of mostly rare Cuban & Afro-Cuban music, and never had a a problem that I was not able to resolve.
Moreover, the forum support is excellent,and effective. So Satisfied? You bet I'm!!!! This software has mature over the years, mostly because of the input of thousands of people who believed in it. OCD is not a perfect software indeed, and I agree that you should not wait that long for Andrei to resolve this log in issues. But let's give Andrei a big thank you for his efforts to be open minded and receptive to all these enhancement requests. It is much appreciated. Hope you will have your issues resolved as soon as possible.

Cheers!!!

dugn

11-10-2009, 11:59 AM

I searched for years to find the best CD Cataloging program. And this is it. I'm pretty picky about every aspect of my collection - which is why I think the abbreviation "OCD" is so appropriate.

I love this program. It rocks!

jhonnie62

02-07-2010, 04:15 AM

Hi all

after long time work with Orange CD i like to give all a short report over my experience.

The Software on self is a great intervention on Customer based expectation. Its design for Beginners and Experts.
The handling is easy and together with other tools such as Auomatic tag re-searcher or Cover Down loader the best tool on the Market.

With few clicks you get your own catalog of you Collection and can provide to your Friends and/or Publish in the Web.

The Basic Expedience is enough to handling the HTML export. for experts and Html Programmers is it easy to learn and understand the Scripting for the Export.

But nothing is Perfect as anybody know.

positives:
- easy User interface
- simple handling of Import
- simple modify of Details
- useful Query Search
- creation of Box-sets
- Artist and track Details free configurable
- Notes / Biography /Artist-photo can be add
- Html and other export Format's can be use

some Problems found:
- if Tag's is saved as UTF-8 Code (Unicode) lost Lyrics
( is Fix by Andrej in the next Update )
- Track Year is not Import correct
( only if all tracks has same Date )
- some time in large Database is the Cover not import in the correct Size
(easy to maintain)
- Database becomes unstable if a large selection of Entry's is to modify
( sample: 100 Enrty's modify the Category)
- missing " search and replace" command
- no import of XLS (Excel) sheet's

wishes:
- better help file for the temp-let creator
- with samples for the script's
- more explainable "how to do"
- in Scanning of Mp3 better tag recognizing (more Fields import)

Jhonnie / Malaysia
http://myi-ath.cx

deadone

03-24-2010, 02:23 PM

well im using the trial, i have to say that im liking its functions.
a few more themes for export would be nice but thats no real big issue.

what i dont like is the lack of support. i ask a ?? and no 1 even makes a reply, more so the creator. im guessing your not that interested in getting new members to purchase your software.

jhonnie62

04-13-2010, 05:40 AM

Exprot and modify themes is real a questions for users without any experience. its more easy to get it done with more temples .
but still you can do on you alone with small experimental status on your self.

I use the CMI sample as my base and have modify with play around what is possible.

http://myi.ath.cx

but still you can do more

Tony

06-27-2010, 03:13 PM

Sjlamb

07-21-2010, 06:12 PM

No! It's stopped working and no support!

andrei_c

07-29-2010, 06:03 PM

No! It's stopped working and no support!

Hi Sjlamb,

I'm sorry for your experience. Please check my response in the original thread: http://www.firetongue.com/boards/showthread.php?t=7561

ronaldg

07-29-2010, 07:33 PM

I have used this software for several years and I'm very pleased with it. It has to be the best software program I have ever purchased. It never gets old and is constantly being improved. I highly recommend it.

-Tony (long time OCD user)

I agree this is a great tool for cataloging your CD's. I too have used it for years and haven't seen anything I liked better.

Ron

phibon

08-12-2010, 06:44 AM

I’m currently using Music Collector and I’m not so happy with it (for quite a while). I’m not going into the details about it because that’s not the intend of this thread. I have been looking at alternatives and have tested Orange CD over a year ago. Of all the apps I have tried I liked Orange CD the most for its simplicity. Finally an application that does what it’s supposed to do whiteout a ton of unnecessary features and fields. It’s slim and fast.
So why haven’t I still bought it?
Well two main reasons actually:
1. I want an iPhone / iPod Touch application. I know there’s probably a work around for it today but none that I like. The iPhone application of Collectors is quite ok. The iPhone app is currently the only reason why I still use Music Collector.
2. I fear that Orange CD is a bit a “one man show”. It is not perse a bad thing but I have seen some posts that don’t get answered or things that get promised but not delivered (such as the iPhone app).

Katzz

12-17-2010, 10:20 PM

Orangecd is an absolutely awesome program, and the more I learn the better it gets. Unfortunately the biggest problem is the lack of support... I think you are right about the "one man show". The time and effort Andre puts in to this is probably an amazing amount... but when there is an issue it takes too long to resolve sometimes. I wonder if it would be worth paying more for more support?

m8150n

01-14-2011, 08:56 PM

For many years I experimented with other similar software and nothing provided the features that OrangeCD has. With that level of satisfaction it was a no brainier choice to purchase OrangeCD. It just keeps getting better and better :)

justw

02-20-2011, 04:38 PM

I have used OCD for many years and for what it does there is no equal.
My one and only current disappointment is I can not export all fields for an import into another database program running under Linux. Understandable though since this might potentially reduce it's uniqueness.

kurt74

02-21-2011, 05:15 PM

I'm very satisfied expecially for Discogs integration and Racksandtags.
It need only small change in BoxSet creation and in Discogs integration
thanks.

marciod

02-28-2011, 03:09 PM

I've been using it for several years and never had any issues. The developer is very accessible and always replied fairly quickly every question I ever asked him about the program.

bsvends1

05-06-2011, 03:58 PM

Partly satisfied for now. However it's been six months since the last update and there are still things that doesn't work as intended + some bugs. If nothing is done in the near future I will move on to a different application!

rcarljohnson

05-15-2011, 02:04 PM

I have been using Orange CD Catalog since its infancy. I have made suggestions to Andrei and he has always responded. I have not found any other software out there that really does all that Orange does. I also love the ability to easily upload all of my information to Racks and Tags. I think that while there are some things that could be improved overall, I do realize that Andrei is just one man who is the brains behind the entire program. I'm sure he does find it overwhelming at times and that may lead to longer than desired times between new releases, but I am totally fine with that.

All in all, I feel that Orange is a high quality program with many amazing high end features. My kudos to Andrei for his great work!

vinylmaster

05-16-2011, 02:05 AM

Despite a few minor changes I'd like to implement (and...really... who doesn't have some of those on occasion LOL), for the most part, this software works like a charm, and it does what I need it to do...which is catalogue my media...and of course, as the mediums always change, there's always a need to add new formats (I nominate player piano rolls, 8-tracks, DVD's, Blu-Ray discs, 78's, laserdiscs, cereal box records, flexi-discs, reel to reel discs, Beta tapes, and Edison cylinders-didn't see those listed-but then again, I'm picky, I guess...). It's odd that they haven't been able to go above and beyond the MP3's, and that more people are returning to vinyl again, but I digress...

In any case, as long as there are new items to add (and I need not worry about running out), I am absolutely positive that I'll be using Orange CD well into the future!!!

Good work, Andrei!!!

Katzz

06-06-2011, 05:37 AM

OCD (Orange CD) is the perfect music organizer, even for those of us who have OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)http://www.firetongue.com/boards/images/icons/icon12.gif

Jazz_North

06-06-2011, 12:47 PM

No need to wait for Andrei to add new format names - as long they fit into the disc & track model. Format type names can be easily added by going to View -> Preferences -> Database
Highlight Format, click on Edit and add whatever you wish

Of course there's no guarantee OCD or any program will read some of these formats directly - so manual addition might be required

Despite a few minor changes I'd like to implement (and...really... who doesn't have some of those on occasion LOL), for the most part, this software works like a charm, and it does what I need it to do...which is catalogue my media...and of course, as the mediums always change, there's always a need to add new formats (I nominate player piano rolls, 8-tracks, DVD's, Blu-Ray discs, 78's, laserdiscs, cereal box records, flexi-discs, reel to reel discs, Beta tapes, and Edison cylinders-didn't see those listed-but then again, I'm picky, I guess...). It's odd that they haven't been able to go above and beyond the MP3's, and that more people are returning to vinyl again, but I digress...

In any case, as long as there are new items to add (and I need not worry about running out), I am absolutely positive that I'll be using Orange CD well into the future!!!

Good work, Andrei!!!

Wurzel

12-01-2011, 11:14 PM

I love Orange CD. it has revolutionised my CD collecting, as well as allowing me to combine my music DVD collection as well. I have spent many happy hours cataloguing my collection, adding group website details, buying info etc. It is a never ending job, but one I really enjoy doing. If I could have one feature added it would be a "to play" tag, where you can flag up albums for future play. Of course this may already be possible and I just haven't found it, if so let me know! Anyway a great program, and one that has improved my enjoyment of my music collection. Thank you.:)

davidagbr

12-28-2011, 02:08 AM

I have previously posted very positive reviews of this software. However, over the last 12 months or so, I feel that the developer become less and less interested in the development of this software.

We have recently had announcements about the un-useability of new functionality being announced by junior members of this forum, RATHER than the software developer himself!

We are getting fewer and fewer updates.

AND, the developers responses to customer queries in these forums have become less and less frequent (almost as if, "I have nothing to say about your needs/feedback, but now I have something to say"... which is a pretty poOr model for customer service).

So, "Users of OrangeCD: Satisfied or not??", well, some of us are become increasingly dissatisfied, although judging from recent feedback, this is likely to be of less interest to the developers than should be the case!

While I don't expect any positive response to these comments, I do hope that Andrei will be able to derive something positive from these words.

pmckeealaska

10-19-2012, 02:29 AM

Since I only got about 6 months worth of use out of it before it crapped out on me AND due to the fact that its been 100% impossible to get it to work on my computer again, I'd say I'm VERY disappointed in the program. In terms of cost/benefit, its one of the single worst investments I've ever made, at least as it stands now. I loved it when it was working but a program that doesnt work isnt much worth singing the praises about, is it?

bigmutt

10-19-2012, 06:05 PM

gurnemanz

10-20-2012, 11:02 AM

Well .... it looks as though this program is winding down to the end of its useful life, eh?
I suspect it's because there are so many freeware programs out there that do as good a job or better than this OrangeCD program.

Or .... the developer has just lost interest or gone on to more lucrative endeavours.

It's too bad; it had a good following for a number of years, and even with it's temperamental nature it did a decent job.

Well .... it looks as though this program is winding down to the end of its useful life, eh?
[I still find it very useful, indispensable in fact, on a daily basis]

I suspect it's because there are so many freeware programs out there that do as good a job or better than this OrangeCD program.
[Which are the ones that do the same job as OCD and can I transfer my database across without re-entering everything?]

Or .... the developer has just lost interest or gone on to more lucrative endeavours.
[Maybe. Obviously, there is scope for future tweaking of the programme but it works well enough for me as it is]

It's too bad; it had a good following for a number of years, and even with it's temperamental nature it did a decent job.
[Maybe I've been lucky but I haven't experienced this temperamental nature. With 3675 CDs in my collection, life would be too short for me to start again.

Gagliem

10-20-2012, 01:16 PM

I agree with gurnemanz...

I can only partially complain about teh fact that Andrei told us about a new version he's working on and could be nice to have some news...

... But about the actual OCD,
I've never found a freeware/registered program which can be easily costomizable like this one, allowing user's javascript functions or making it referencing external dll's or plugins to do what we want, starting frome being a novice programmer to an advanced one, you can do a lot of things.

If you find a freeware that coud do what I mentioned above, just tell us and we'll check it... a good competition always make programs evolve better...
but without names... actually OCD, as-is, is great...

nostromo53

10-25-2012, 07:30 PM

And, I'd like to chime in and agree with everything expressed in the last couple of posts. I love this software! I first began using OCD at the end of April, and recently completed cataloging the LPs. 45s, & CDs (6208 records!) - I still need to put in my music DVDs, but that won't take much time at all. Complaints? Very few, mostly nit-picky stuff. Creating box sets is a bit clumsy, but to be honest, I can't think of a better way. Most of my problems have been with typos and dumb mistakes I made when first using the software and not knowing any better. When I discovered the facility for generating/running/saving queries, that really took me up another notch!

Andrei - I can't thank you enough for developing this software. I completely understand if you've currently moved on to other places in your life, and you're not able to devote as much time to OCD as you once did.

BTW, my collection can be viewed on the racks and tags site under the name: bryceharlow

Cheers,

-mm

Jazz_North

10-26-2012, 03:29 PM

I have been a user of OCD since the version numbers started with a 5 (and I believe I am not the only one who can claim that). The earliest e-mail correspondence with Andrei that I can find is now over 6 years old. I have used nothing but OCD to manage reasonably extensive jazz and classical collections in that time, though I have looked at others. There are additional functions I would like to see in OCD, of course, but my wish list is a lot smaller than it was 7 years ago. What's more I still find new things - often from messages on this forum - that I can do with it. I am far from a full-fledged programmer (though you should see what I can do in Fortran), but I have been able to modify the dax files to create a version of OCD that meets my needs and my sense of design. So what would I like - it's a pretty short list?

1) Greater freedom with images (as many others have noted). Media Monkey, for example, allows up to three images for each track - and allows each track in an album to have a different image - though it will only display one at a time.

2) Allow a track on a hard drive to be associated with more than one album. This would permit me to associate a track that is in a compilation both with an entry for the compilation and to an entry for the original release.

3) One of the important advances Andrei made was to allow track grouping. This was very important for my classical collection (and has been used surprisingly often in the jazz discography). But the grouping does not show up on racksandtags, reducing its (and r&t's) usefulness. And I would like to be able to play all the tracks in a group by clicking on the group title. It would also be nice to have the group title be independently editable and have it be available as a column in table displays.

BLOWERS

10-26-2012, 05:43 PM

Basilmusic

01-29-2013, 10:07 AM

I guess I must be one of the longest-standing users now! Obviously disappointed that not much is (apparently) happening, but delighted with OCD. It would be so good if Andrei could find a few moments simply to keep us up to date with his thoughts, even if nothing was in the immediate pipeline... After all, we are quite a loyal bunch!

I have only been with Orange for 3 years, but have always been helped out when needed. I think it is a great programme but if only someone would do a good downloadable and printable user guide! It would be so useful and surely would cut down on the number of times members have to come on to ask for help. The scanty notes with orange do put people off. Having said all this I am waiting patiently for some help -i accidentally removed my Orange programme at the weekend. Help! Help!

02-03-2013, 08:46 PM

I have a database of over 12,000 albums, without this program would be impossible to find songs or singers, soundtracks or old albums. I use this program since 2004 and I have met only a couple of problems, not very important. Yes, I am very satisfied. I'm not a person who buys programs, but for this I made an exception.

justw

08-10-2013, 03:53 PM

It is a mature product that needs no improvement. Just keep it compatible with modern operating systems.
I would like to be able to export the entire database, including all fields, to a csv file. Or maybe an additional utillity to do that or extract it in a useable form from the xml base.

Jefki

11-03-2013, 01:18 AM

It seems that the orangecd program has been definitely abandoned. No updates in almost a year, no news and from what I saw, no announcement of future plans. it looks like it's time to find a replacement. Does anyone has any suggestions for some recent program, reliable, and have effective maintenance? I Dont feel confortable adding more and more cds in a outdated program wich database could be incompatible ou inacessible in some future windows version.

ronaldg

11-03-2013, 10:55 AM

BLOWERS

11-03-2013, 03:57 PM

Jazz_North

11-04-2013, 01:20 PM

I'm pretty much on ronaldg's side on this, though I recognize the concern expressed by Jefki for future releases of Windows - but then I worry about that for every program I use. For me one of the pluses of OCD is the ability to modify the display by creating and editing the dax files, though I recognize that not everyone is interested in doing that - but OCD is more user modifiable than most programs - even for non-programmers - through the preferences. In particular, I have been able to designed quite different displays for classical music and for jazz.

I still use programs that haven't been modified in a decade or more (though without DOSBox, Windows 7 would have done in some of them).

There are still a few glitches in OCD - primarily in displays - but I have trouble identifying anything really substantive that needs attention.

Gagliem

11-04-2013, 10:00 PM

That's like saying your not going to use a hammer anymore because there isn't any new design coming. OCD is like a hammer ......it just works. Go ahead try to find something better.

Agree 100% with ronaldg...

I still didn't find anything better.. and honestly I don't have the need to...
the fact that OCD is higly costomizable (from beginners to advanced users) make this program living on its own...

imcp

12-09-2013, 01:41 PM

Frankly speaking, I need multiplatform OCD. I Use Windows 7, MacOS and iOS. There are applications which do work on all this platforms but they are very weak. Anything about such an application?

BLOWERS

03-13-2016, 08:07 PM

Not going to ditch OCD, but am impressed with Music Collectorz v 16 and the capability to direct upload to i-devices apps. Frankly I want that! Not that bothered re cloud storage, as your database entries need to match theirs to show all your own personalised info. But it's pretty good - unlimited user-created fields, and being able to re-name all default fields is a big plus. Andrei? x

imcp

09-12-2016, 03:10 PM

am impressed with Music Collectorz v 16 and the capability to direct upload to i-devices apps x

But how to import data from OCD to MC? Nothing happens with OCD and I thought to move to MC but moving 2k CDs manually is pointless.

Jazz_North

09-13-2016, 12:38 PM

But how to import data from OCD to MC? Nothing happens with OCD and I thought to move to MC but moving 2k CDs manually is pointless.

Back in February, tearaway posted that he was working on a tool to do this and gave this URL:

https://github.com/tgschulte/OrangeCdToCollectorz

Comments there indicate that he succeeded in doing so. If it works for you, it would be good to hear about it.