How do you like to handle metadata?

[hknutsen]

Since dBpoweramp is such a powerful tool, and to some extent let's you customize the way it handles metadata, how do YOU like to handle it?

What databases do you use, what tags do you let the program write, and what tags do you stay away from?

I personally use freedb as my only database, as it only grabs the most necessary tags imo. (artist, album artist, album, track titles, genre, year).

I then double check the tags by looking at the album on iTunes and Last.fm.

I get my album art from iTunes as well (600x600).

I'm just really curious how other people do it

[garym]

Re: How do you like to handle metadata?

Rip to FLAC. I let dbpa use the PerfectMeta approach (looks at *all* the sources of metadata in its several databases, looks for the best matches, and uses that info). (You seem to be missing the power of the PerfectMeta approach of auto comparing multilple databases to try to find most correct/consistent data.) I typically use dbpa artwork source, and prefer 1000x1000 for my flac files (saved as "cover.jpg" in the same folder as album -- i.e., not embedded). For tags, I use the standard tags that you mention plus compilation tag, composer tag, when data available, sometimes albumartist (under certain circumstances). I add ReplayGain album and track tags for use in my players (which can use these tags). I don't use sort tags. I have almost no classical, so I'm not a user of works, performers, orchestra, etc. type tags.

I also create an mp3 mirror of my flac files with same metadata, except I use embedded art (300x300), automatically created from the 1000x1000 cover.jpg with the FLAC files.

[BrodyBoy]

Re: How do you like to handle metadata?

What databases do you use, what tags do you let the program write, and what tags do you stay away from?

I'm not biased or loyal to any one database....they all have flaws and I don't trust any of them to be 100% accurate. Like garym, I find the PerfectMeta feature to be the best approach, and I always open the metadata page to review before ripping. I have learned that it pays to be as thorough as possible with tags, adding any and everything I may potentially need, either at rip or immediately afterward.

A few examples: I include both ALBUMARTIST and ALBUM ARTIST, I add all the various sort tags (even though many players don't even see them), I am particularly attentive to ALBUMARTISTSORT, which I construct various ways depending on the type of album, I make multi-level year tags (because some players don't know what to do with the same ARTIST, ALBUMARTIST, and YEAR tag on different albums, and because it's needed for that ALBUMARTISTSORT I use). It took years of experience....having to go back and add/edit tags every time I used a new players, etc....to develop the overall tagging scheme that I use now.
(As an aside, this is a key reason that persistently I rail against dBp's archaic failure to accommodate a way to save & move custom user settings.)

To get all this just right and to stay consistent, which I feel is the key to a well-organized, easy-to-navigate music library, I don't rely on just dBp. I use its profiles during ripping to set all the basic tags for different types of albums, but then I finish the job in mp3tag. As a dedicated tag editor, it allows for much finer tuning than dBp. I've built mp3tag macros that automate most of the work, but I still manually review the tags (mp3tag makes this very easy) before that album gets moved into the music library on my home server.

The objective is to never have to go back and edit or "fix" tags after the album goes into my library, no matter what playback devices I'm using now or in the future.

I then double check the tags by looking at the album on iTunes and Last.fm.

I find that review to be easier in mp3tag, as it allows multiple ways to view the tags and it's easier to make specific, conditional, and global edits.

I get my album art from iTunes as well (600x600).

I add the album art in dBp whenever possible. If I can't find an acceptable option there, I use the album art feature in mp3tag. (As a last resort, I'll scan it myself.) The problem with iTunes, for me, is that it doesn't allow you to select from options and sizes, and it also has a weird way of saving all album art in a separate cache folder. I prefer to have it both embedded in every file and saved as folder.jpg in every album folder.

[garym]

Re: How do you like to handle metadata?

Like BrodyBoy, I too use mp3tag for fine tuning my tags where needed. Note that it handles more than just mp3 files. And I agree that immediate tag cleanup/modification should be made just before or just after the rip while things are in front of you. I'm typically ripping a number of CDs at once, so while one is ripping I'm doing any finetuning on the last rip as needed (sometimes a lot, sometimes none). I do all this *before* I move the files into my main music library.

[hknutsen]

Re: How do you like to handle metadata?

I add the album art in dBp whenever possible. If I can't find an acceptable option there, I use the album art feature in mp3tag. (As a last resort, I'll scan it myself.) The problem with iTunes, for me, is that it doesn't allow you to select from options and sizes, and it also has a weird way of saving all album art in a separate cache folder. I prefer to have it both embedded in every file and saved as folder.jpg in every album folder.

I actually get my album art from the iTunes website, not the application. You can play around with the album art's link and get album art up to a resolution of 1200x1200.

As an example, I used this method to get a 1200x1200 cover for the album "City Of Evil" by Avenged Sevenfold. I went to the iTunes page and right clicked the cover art, and copied the image address.

It should look something like this:

http://a5.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Music/v4/d4/d2/27/d4d227c1-c307-6d83-e34d-47cb18c98961/cover170x170.jpeg

The default resolution is 170x170, but you can change it to 100x100, 600x600 or 1200x1200.

If you want 1200x1200, it should look something like this:

http://a5.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Music/v4/d4/d2/27/d4d227c1-c307-6d83-e34d-47cb18c98961/cover1200x1200.jpeg

And that's how I get my cover art

[BrodyBoy]

Re: How do you like to handle metadata?

I actually get my album art from the iTunes website, not the application. You can play around with the album art's link and get album art up to a resolution of 1200x1200.

As an example, I used this method to get a 1200x1200 cover for the album "City Of Evil" by Avenged Sevenfold. I went to the iTunes page and right clicked the cover art, and copied the image address.

It should look something like this:

http://a5.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Music/v4/d4/d2/27/d4d227c1-c307-6d83-e34d-47cb18c98961/cover170x170.jpeg

The default resolution is 170x170, but you can change it to 100x100, 600x600 or 1200x1200.

If you want 1200x1200, it should look something like this:

http://a5.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Music/v4/d4/d2/27/d4d227c1-c307-6d83-e34d-47cb18c98961/cover1200x1200.jpeg

And that's how I get my cover art

Why go to all that trouble post-rip? The dBp artwork search feature is very thorough and typically finds the same files you'd get with a google search (or in iTunes), and eliminates a post-rip step. You usually have quite a variety, including many sizes, to choose from.

While dBp will find those higher-resolution and large files as well, if you want them, I try to shoot for about 500x500, and around 250Kb or less. As the artwork gets bigger, it takes longer to load over some network streaming devices. That doesn't really impact playback or anything important, but I just find it annoying to ever see placeholders displayed while the artwork loads. Combined with the fact that playback devices have to scale down hi-res images anyway, I've never found any benefit to larger images than my "target" size. But of course, YMMV....


(Added note: You can usually drag and drop image files, rather than having to copy links.)