CD-Ripper 16.6 Finds Metadata (Sometimes) and then (sometimes) discards it.

[d2b]

We have 5 0r 6 HP enterprise-grade workstations running either Windows 10 Pro, 64-bit or Windows 7 Pro, 64-bit. All have at least 16GB of RAM. The machine I am using now is an HP xw8600 workstation with an 8-core, 3.4GHz SSD and 32GB of RAM. Our Internet connections are fast and reliable.

It is quite common to load a CD and have metadata appear...and then suddenly disappear, leaving no metadata whatsoever except for track numbers. On new CDs, when this happens, we can usually find correct metadata to refill the screen by manually choosing Retrieve Metadata From ... > CD-Text (and CD-ISRC). On older CDs, we may or may not encounter this problem.

Do you have any recommendations on how to configure Active Providers to maximize effectiveness? Are there other settings that could cause retrieval followed by a disappearing act like this?

I hesitate to recommend dBpoweramp to our clients and co-workers because of this issue. What's going on? Version 16.6 is not "done."

d2b, aka "Dennis"

[garym]

Re: CD-Ripper 16.6 Finds Metadata (Sometimes) and then (sometimes) discards it.

I have been noticing the exact same problem, including using a 2nd step to acquire from cd text on newer CDs. I have ripped thousands of CDs, and only had this problem in the last year. Perhaps this relates to newest version, but cannot recall.

[d2b]

Re: CD-Ripper 16.6 Finds Metadata (Sometimes) and then (sometimes) discards it.

It's definitely a problem that we have not encountered before. Not sure, though, where it started in the v. 16.x series of "upgrades."

I wonder if it has anything to do with Illustrate's "beta" 1.3.3 FLAC codec. Since we only rip to FLAC, I can't say that this has anything to do with introducing the problem...and I'm not even sure how it could play a role.

d2b ... aks "Dennis"

[garym]

Re: CD-Ripper 16.6 Finds Metadata (Sometimes) and then (sometimes) discards it.

It's definitely a problem that we have not encountered before. Not sure, though, where it started in the v. 16.x series of "upgrades."

I wonder if it has anything to do with Illustrate's "beta" 1.3.3 FLAC codec. Since we only rip to FLAC, I can't say that this has anything to do with introducing the problem...and I'm not even sure how it could play a role.

d2b ... aks "Dennis"

Hard to see how related, but I rip only to FLAC as well. The odd thing is that for a split second the metadata flashes up, but then disappears.

[Dat Ei]

Re: CD-Ripper 16.6 Finds Metadata (Sometimes) and then (sometimes) discards it.

Hey Dennis,

I don't know this effect and I rip to flac too. I can't even imagine why this effect can have anything to do with an encoder.

Do you have enabled CD Text as source for meta data by default? CD Text is disabled as meta data source in my configuration.


Dat Ei

[Dat Ei]

Re: CD-Ripper 16.6 Finds Metadata (Sometimes) and then (sometimes) discards it.

@Spoon

Just a thought and question: if CD Text is available, what happens if the four online databases have no match for a new CD and respond very slow? Could the late response overwrite / clear the metadata coming of the CD Text?


Dat Ei

[d2b]

Re: CD-Ripper 16.6 Finds Metadata (Sometimes) and then (sometimes) discards it.

The late response idea sounds like a possibility. I agree that it's difficult to see how the FLAC codec could be involved, especially since all of this happens before one clicks the "Rip" button. On the other hand, the CD-Text and CD-ISRC data is read BEFORE the actual ripping process begins. So it's not clear when the codec first gets involved. After all, the metadata needs to be encoded in the FLAC files at some point in time.

I wonder why Spoon hasn't (yet) jumped in on this thread...at least not yet.

d2b ... aka "Dennis"

[Dat Ei]

Re: CD-Ripper 16.6 Finds Metadata (Sometimes) and then (sometimes) discards it.

Hey Dennis,

On the other hand, the CD-Text and CD-ISRC data is read BEFORE the actual ripping process begins.

CD Ripper has to read the TOC of the CD before it can query the meatdata from the databases. The TOC (table of content) contains the number of tracks, their track length etc. Based on the information of the TOC the program calculates a checksum, which is mostly unique and which is the key to query the databases. AFAIK the CD Text data is stored in the Lead-In block of a CD, which is an around 5kB sized data block. Maybe CD Ripper reads not only the TOC but the Lead-In too, after you've insert the CD.


Dat Ei

[Spoon]

Re: CD-Ripper 16.6 Finds Metadata (Sometimes) and then (sometimes) discards it.

I work on R17 now, this has been fixed (CD Text takes preference over all other sources)