Totaltracks in FLAC

[garym]

Re: Totaltracks in FLAC

Thanks for the suggestion. I have tried it and many others, but I always feel more restricted by the gui's than helped by them. Plus they all do stuff automatically / in the background that you don't realise. I prefer to do it the basic way with command-line programs and maybe a frontend.

I've used mp3tag for many years and I've never seen it do anything automatically or in the background. It only does what I tell it to do or setup in its "actions". But I understand your point about control; that is important.

[evasv]

Re: Totaltracks in FLAC

I also strongly encourage the use of mp3tag if one uses any tagging program outside of dbpa.
http://www.mp3tag.de/en/download.html

Thanks for the suggestion. I have tried it and many others, but I always feel more restricted by the gui's than helped by them. Plus they all do stuff automatically / in the background that you don't realise. I prefer to do it the basic way with command-line programs and maybe a frontend.

[evasv]

Re: Totaltracks in FLAC

Thank you very much for giving your perspective. I have the the same folder structure as you at the moment, but I want to have multi-cd's in the same folder instead.

I don't use PerfectTunes, but doesn't it look in the metadata or the logs for rechecks? I'm guessing the subfolders wouldn't matter, but as I said, I don't use that program. Maybe you need to have corresponding paths in the logs and on the harddisk.

My intent is to tag my whole collection from scratch once and for all, so I want everything to be right. I know I am not boxed in, as you say, but I'm hoping (at least) to do this for the last time. Everything is checked with accuraterip and I have also put checksums for every flac file in the album folders just in case I'll have harddisk problems in the future (.st5 checksums are great since they don't care about the metadata).

So I just have to decide between the discnumber tags vs the 101/201 method plus I have to nail my custom tags and the I can start tagging...

By the way you have an excellent taste in music...!

[garym]

Re: Totaltracks in FLAC

There is still a tiny, tiny possibility that I will go this route (101, 102, 201, 202, etc). Since you have been discussing this, what is your opinion on the outcome of this method?

I like my multidisk CDs to be ripped with discnumber and importantly, with each disc's worth of tracks to be in a subfolder (Disc 1, Disc 2, etc.) under the top album folder. for example,

Jethro Tull/Aqualung 40th Anniversary Edition/Disc 1/01 - Acqualung.flac
.................................................. ........../Disc 2/01 Lick Your Fingers Clean.flac
etc.

I think, but I'm not positive, that if I ever want to recheck that these discs match back to the AccurateRip database using PerfectTunes, the disc tracks need to be in separate subfolders.
But otherwise, it really doesn't matter. It just matters how you like to use/organize things. And between dbpa options and mp3tag, I could easily convert all my separate disc file organization, naming, and tags from one approach to the other in a batch manner with a couple of mouse clicks and let it run all night. You're not boxed in.

[evasv]

Re: Totaltracks in FLAC

I have in the past provided assistance on how one would do sequential track numbering (101, 102, 201, 202, etc.) to posters who were seeking help on how to obtain that outcome.

There is still a tiny, tiny possibility that I will go this route (101, 102, 201, 202, etc). Since you have been discussing this, what is your opinion on the outcome of this method?

[garym]

Re: Totaltracks in FLAC

I also strongly encourage the use of mp3tag if one uses any tagging program outside of dbpa.

http://www.mp3tag.de/en/download.html

[garym]

Re: Totaltracks in FLAC

That's interesting. I'm curious to know if there is a reason for this? Have you ever noticed any problems in software playing your multi-cd albums having Discnumber but not Disctotal?

no particular reason. If starting over I probably would use disctotal too. Never had any issues. I use foobar2000, LMS (Squeezeboxes), and Roon, and itunes/iphone for my mp3 copies of FLAC files.

[garym]

Re: Totaltracks in FLAC

I am probably wrong here, but I vaguely recall a thread (maybe it was a long time ago) where you said that you didn't use discnumber tags at all but for multi-cd's used the sequential track numbering method instead. Maybe it wasn't you or maybe you were just listing alternatives for someone else.

But if - against all odds - I recall this correctly, you seem to have you abandoned that method?

Even though my decision to use discnumber tags is 97% firm, it's interesting to hear what other people do and why.

No, I've always used discnumber for multidisk CDs rather than sequential track numbering. I have in the past provided assistance on how one would do sequential track numbering (101, 102, 201, 202, etc.) to posters who were seeking help on how to obtain that outcome.

[evasv]

Re: Totaltracks in FLAC

Tag is an old program, so I wouldn't trust its recommendations about tag names if there were any. Since you also recommend Discnumber and Disctotal I think they are the ones to use, so I will stick with them.

my decision to use discnumber tags is 97% firm

Maybe 98% now, I will think this through again to be sure.

[mville]

Re: Totaltracks in FLAC

So, what I want to know is the actual metadata to be written by the command-line programs. Discnumber is now 100% clear to me. Disctotal is 99% clear - can you confirm that this is the right and only tag or should I complement with the older Totaldiscs or any other variant.

Are the disc/track tag names not shown in the tag.exe help/documentation? If not, I would try discnumber and disctotal.

[mville]

Re: Totaltracks in FLAC

I understand that perspective and it's a valid precaution. I can also see it from another angle where certain software use your tags to do unwanted things. One example is adding the discnumber to the presentation of the album name. Another one I've seen is kidnapping the Composer tag and mixing it with the Artist tag.

So you can see it both ways - to have all common tags so they won't ever be missed or to avoid some tags that aren't mandatory.

Yes, software that appends the disc no. to an album name produces undesirable results e.g. a single album listed 10 times for a 10 disc CD set. I would stay well away from any such software.

[evasv]

Re: Totaltracks in FLAC

It's not possible to predict how other software will handle the 4 disc/track tags. In my experience, certain software expects certain tags to be populated, so, for this reason and to avoid any issues in the future, I populate all 4 disc/track tags.

I understand that perspective and it's a valid precaution. I can also see it from another angle where certain software use your tags to do unwanted things. One example is adding the discnumber to the presentation of the album name. Another one I've seen is kidnapping the Composer tag and mixing it with the Artist tag.

So you can see it both ways - to have all common tags so they won't ever be missed or to avoid some tags that aren't mandatory.

[evasv]

Re: Totaltracks in FLAC

This display issue is compounded (and gets complicated) by tag mapping.

This is one of the reasons that I don't tag with flashy GUI's that tries to do to much. Another reason is that I don't really need the visual presentation for tagging. I prefer to keep it simple with command-line programs like tag or metaflac, and a "light" frontend like Tag Frontend. The latter is getting a bit old though and I haven't found a frontend to metaflac (if anyone have seen one, please let me know). Using command-line and making batchfiles is easy though when you get the grip of it, so you don't really need a frontend. I sometimes use Foobar for testing purposes, but I don't tag with it.

When playing music on the computer, on the other hand, I use more visually appealing programs, mostly Foobar and Asset Control. I really, no I REALLY wish Asset Control would still be maintained, I think it's a beautiful GUI.

So, what I want to know is the actual metadata to be written by the command-line programs. Discnumber is now 100% clear to me. Disctotal is 99% clear - can you confirm that this is the right and only tag or should I complement with the older Totaldiscs or any other variant.

[mville]

Re: Totaltracks in FLAC

Even though my decision to use discnumber tags is 97% firm, it's interesting to hear what other people do and why.

It's not possible to predict how other software will handle the 4 disc/track tags. In my experience, certain software expects certain tags to be populated, so, for this reason and to avoid any issues in the future, I populate all 4 disc/track tags.

[mville]

Re: Totaltracks in FLAC

File format is FLAC. For tagging I use tag.exe at the moment, but this could change. But does it matter? Or do you mean the software I use to play the files?

No, it does not matter, you just need to know the flac tag names you use in tag.exe are correct, so that the disc tags (number and total) and track tags (number and total) are correctly displayed in any other software you use e.g. foobar2000.

This display issue is compounded (and gets complicated) by tag mapping. You need to be aware of any vorbis comment mappings made in dBpoweramp (and if you use them, in MP3Tag and foobar2000):



Finally, for this sort of bulk editing, I find MP3Tag an excellent tool, as you can create actions for many tasks, that you can re-use later.