flac 2 MP3 Tag Issue

[markr-n-austin]

Please pardon my ignorance.

I just recently ripped my entire cd collection(350+) to flac. I was planning on then converting all the flacs to MP3 and dropping them out to my web server. There, I am running andromeda to serve them up web-wise.

I noticed that previous mp3s I ripped using audiograbber all appear with bitrate and length (guesstimates) on the site. However, the dbPowerAmp stuff doesn't. I spoke to the author of andromeda and he said that he samples several frames after the header to guess the bitrate. He says, "The problem (most likely) is the presense of a header that throws off Andromeda's ability to sync into the MP3 data."

So, I started running a few tests to make some sense out of it. I downloaded a couple of tag editors to examine the tags and look for any obvious differences. The only issue I noticed is that a rip to flac stores the year in a date field. When I convert the flac to mp3, the year doesn't appear since, of course, it's in a date field.

Any assistance is GREATLY appreciated.

p.s. GREAT PRODUCT!

[Spoon]

Flacs and Oggs really have messed up dates, there is no standard...

Anyhow it will be the id3v2 tag that is causing problems, run dMC config and set to 'Never V2'

[markr-n-austin]

Well, last night, I had a little time so...

I created mp3s from all possible combinations:
variable 1 - rip v. transcode from flac
variable 2 - 1 & 2 tags, only 1, only 2

So, I got six output files, but I couldnt get any to work. Quite honestly, I suspect the software calculating the bitrate not your very fine tools.

Also, you mention using the v1 tag not v2. Why is that? Isn't the v1 at the end of the file?

Thanks for everything, mark

[Spoon]

Yes v1 are at the end of the file. For variable bit rate everything is handled by the encoder, I have noticed that the newer lame inserts a few blank frames at the beginning, perhaps chappie can increase the number of frames he looks through.

[markr-n-austin]

ahhh!

That's an interesting point. In fact, he looks at up to 50 and upon finding 5 that are the same size, calls it quits.

I'll try some experiments.

thanks, you are quite the MAN

regards, mark