Aurender A10 setup - loading from CDs

fsonicsmith, How does XLD handle an albums cover art?   Where does XLD store the cover art and what is it named?  

The Aurender requires the album cover art to be stored with the music files and named folder.jpg.   This album cover art naming will enable the cover art to be displayed on the Aurender iPad app.

Any software program can be used for ripping CD's (ITunes, XLD, JRIVER, etc) but please remember that the Aurender music server REQUIRES the album cover art to be stored with the music files and the cover art named folder.jpg.  Some ripping software provides options for supporting the above requirements.  

XLD makes it easy. When you burn the disc a window pops up with a tab up top for "Obtain Metadata". 95% of the time it recovers the cover art and stores it with the music (each song presumably) such that the iPad app shows the cover art. Aurender warns you that if you go the NAS route for storage you lose the metadata.

I feel your pain.  I was in your shoes few months ago after getting my A10.  I have an iMac and wanted to set it up to do the ripping and then import the files to the Aurender directly WITHOUT using the usb stick.

Luckily my "dealer" provided me with a contact to help over the phone.  As you describe, when we got to the point when the passwords were required, he had me type in "aurender' and "aurender".  That was all that was necessary to establish the link to the Aurender's "music 1" path.  From that point he guided me thru the process of establishing aliases for each of the Aurender main folders (pop, jazz, local, classic, etc.).  These alias files now reside on my desktop and when I rip a cd I just "drag and drop"the file in the appropriate folder.  In about 30 seconds after importing the new file, your Aurender will update on the iPad's conductor app!

I would strongly advise buying and using "db power amp" to do the ripping.  There are a lot of really neat features for adding cover art, recognizing HDCD tracks, editing the track and artist info for "mixed" cd's that do not register in the data base etc.

Finally, if you still have problems, have your dealer get you the contact info for Jean-Paul Lizars, Director of Sales and Marketing for Aurender North America.  He is wonderful to talk to and can get you a direct connection to the support team if you need phone or email help. 

This process sounds totally counter-intuitive. I mean, we use iTunes or Apples because they are so easy -- but the Aurender does not seem compatible. Are there any other servers like this that are easier to use with iTunes? 

@rinpoche, The album cover art transfer problem is NOT with your Aurender.  The REAL problem is with iTunes since it stores the album's cover art in an encrypted, hidden file.   The Aurender transfer process assumes, INCORRECTLY, that ALL the information is stored with the album content and, unfortunately, it is NOT.  I believe, but not 100% sure, there are other album management systems that maintains all the album information in one single file.  An example of this was mentioned above such as db power amp (I think).  I assume (??) several other software programs do the same.

As I explained above,  if you are using iTunes, you have to download the Extract to Folder.jpg Script from Doug Scripts (cost is $1.99). The Script run process is vey easy but it takes time depending on the number of albums (Do not copy all your files at one time.  Do it in small batches).  This script is required since it stores the album cover art image in the CORRECT location and includes the CORRECT name (Folder.jpg) for handling by the Aurender.  Please check the Script for any updates. This very simple, to use script copies the encrypted, hidden album cover art to the correct location for an easy copy over to your Aurender.  The process is fairly easy once you know what to do.   

In summary, iTunes does NOT STORE the album cover art within the album folder but "HIDES" it in another encrypted and hidden folder. This means the Aurender setup coming from iTunes requires you to run Doug Scripts to extract the album cover art in your transfer process.

NOTE:  Please remember that the Aurender requires the album cover art to be stored with the music files and named folder.jpg.   The correct album cover art file naming will enable the cover art to be displayed on the Aurender iPad app.   I am going to repeat this since the first time I ran Doug's Scripts, I selected the wrong program (whoops, my error).  You have to SELECT the "Extract to Folder.jpg Script" from Doug Scripts (cost is $1.99). This naming enable the Aurender to display the album's cover art on the iPad.  The scrip stored the Folder.jpg file in the correct location (included in the album).

I hope the above helps.  It took me 2+ weeks of total frustration until I discovered the above steps.  If needed, an email to support@aurender.com should get you some assistance.