TuneFusion conversion from FLAC to M4A does not support Gapless ITUNSMPB tag

[dmcritchie]

Hi,

I switched from Batch Converter to TuneFusion at your recommendation for my workflow last June:

https://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthread.php?43688-BUG-Report-Problems-with-Conditional-Encoding-DSP-Effect&p=192103*post192103

However, I have now noticed that TuneFusion's "m4a FDK (AAC)" encoder does not support the ability to configure Gapless Signaling as does Batch Converter/Music Converter. The latter has an Advanced Settings button that allows you to pick the encoder Profile and the Gapless Signaling option (iTuneSMPB). When selected, the post-conversion M4A file contains an ITUNSMPB tag that supports gapless playback.

Is there a way to enable the generation of the ITUNSMPB tag when using TuneFusion to convert my FLAC files to M4A?

Thanks,
Dennis

[Spoon]

Re: TuneFusion conversion from FLAC to M4A does not support Gapless ITUNSMPB tag

On TuneFUSIONs configuration page, the encoder settings are exactly the same as for Music Converter, it is the same codec, there is an advanced button which allows access to the Gapless setting.

[dmcritchie]

Re: TuneFusion conversion from FLAC to M4A does not support Gapless ITUNSMPB tag

On TuneFUSIONs configuration page, the encoder settings are exactly the same as for Music Converter, it is the same codec, there is an advanced button which allows access to the Gapless setting.

Thanks for the prompt reply, but I see a different encoder settings page for TuneFusion 1.2 than for Music Converter. Please see attached images for both. There is no Advanced button on the TuneFusion page.

Is there a different TuneFusion configuration page I should be looking at?

Thanks,
Dennis

[Spoon]

Re: TuneFusion conversion from FLAC to M4A does not support Gapless ITUNSMPB tag

See:

https://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthread.php?44582-TuneFUSION-R1-3

[dmcritchie]

Re: TuneFusion conversion from FLAC to M4A does not support Gapless ITUNSMPB tag

See:

https://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthr...uneFUSION-R1-3

Thanks Spoon. But I am unable to install it. I started by installing it over v1.2 as recommended, but each time I do, I get the dialog box in the attached message. I have rebooted twice now, and then I try the 1.3 install again. But I get the same dialog box each time.

Running Windows 10 on latest updates.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Dennis

[dmcritchie]

Re: TuneFusion conversion from FLAC to M4A does not support Gapless ITUNSMPB tag

See:

https://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthr...uneFUSION-R1-3

Thanks Spoon. But I'm unable to install v1.3 beta over 1.2 (as recommended). When I try, I get the dialog box shown in the attached image. I have rebooted 3 times, but still get the same message.

So I reinstalled 1.2 and tried to then install 1.3 beta again; but I still just keep getting that same dialog box even after rebooting.

I am running Windows 10 with the latest updates.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Dennis

[dmcritchie]

Re: TuneFusion conversion from FLAC to M4A does not support Gapless ITUNSMPB tag

Related question: TuneFusion 1.2 is configured to do a 1:1 copy of my existing M4A files from the source to the destination directory. The M4A files do appear to be copied (rather than re-encoded) because the process is instantaneous. But the ITUNSMDB tag that is present in the source directory copy is removed by TuneFusion and is no longer present in the destination dir.

Two questions:
1) Is this fixed in 1.3 beta?
2) What is it that TuneFusion changes during the 1:1 copy of M4A or MP3 files?

Thanks,
Dennis

[Spoon]

Re: TuneFusion conversion from FLAC to M4A does not support Gapless ITUNSMPB tag

It was fixed yes, in 1:1 copies the tags are re-written. I will have to check if itunsmpb is preserved.

We will start work on TuneFUSION again soon and release a new beta update.

[dmcritchie]

Re: TuneFusion conversion from FLAC to M4A does not support Gapless ITUNSMPB tag

It was fixed yes, in 1:1 copies the tags are re-written. I will have to check if itunsmpb is preserved.

Music Converter adds the ITUNSMPB tag when encoding from FLAC to M4A, and also preserves ITUNSMPB when doing a 1:1 copy of M4A files. It's essential for my collection to have gapless playback supported. So I do hope both the encoding and 1:1 copy have been fixed in TuneFusion 1.3.

We will start work on TuneFUSION again soon and release a new beta update.

Great. But just to set my expectations, by "soon", are you thinking weeks or months?

Thanks,
Dennis

[Spoon]

Re: TuneFusion conversion from FLAC to M4A does not support Gapless ITUNSMPB tag

Could be weeks as there have been other mods made to TF which need posting to beta.

[dmcritchie]

Re: TuneFusion conversion from FLAC to M4A does not support Gapless ITUNSMPB tag

Hi Spoon,

I saw that you had release a new 1.3 BETA for TuneFusion on 5/19 and that it was supposed to have a fix for preserving the ITUNSMPB tag: "iTunes gapless preserved on m4a (aac) when doing a 1:1 copy".

However, I installed the new beta today, and it still does not copy the ITUNSMPB tag when doing a 1:1 copy of M4A files. Furthermore, it also does not add an ITUNSMPB tag when converting from FLAC to M4A.

As I had mentioned earlier, Music Converter does both these things.

So I am not sure if I have the right beta. I downloaded it from the link at the start of the "TuneFUSION R1.3" thread": http://www.dbpoweramp.com/beta/TuneFUSION.exe
Is this the right link to use?

If so, is there anything I can do to help identify the problem?

Thanks,
Dennis

[Spoon]

Re: TuneFusion conversion from FLAC to M4A does not support Gapless ITUNSMPB tag

I just took the existing TuneFUSION install and manually cleared out all the files and subfolders in C:\Program Files\TuneFUSION

then installed the beta. Setup a sync where 1 m4a file would be 1:1 copied and one lossless file encoded to m4a, both resulting files had the iTUNSMB tag.

[dmcritchie]

Re: TuneFusion conversion from FLAC to M4A does not support Gapless ITUNSMPB tag

I just took the existing TuneFUSION install and manually cleared out all the files and subfolders in C:\Program Files\TuneFUSION

then installed the beta. Setup a sync where 1 m4a file would be 1:1 copied and one lossless file encoded to m4a, both resulting files had the iTUNSMB tag.

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I had to deal with other matters, but am now back on this project.

I tried what you said above. I uninstalled the previous 1.3beta install; deleted any remaining files in the C:\Program Files\TuneFUSION folder; rebooted; installed the new released 1.3.

And the problem is only partially resolved:
What works: 1:1 copies of m4a files preserve the ITUNSMPB tag; 1:1 copies of mp3 files preserve the Xing header info.
What doesn't work: encoding FLAC files to m4a does not generate the ITUNSMPB tag. (Music Converter continues to perform this conversion correctly.)

NOTE: I do have the Gapless Signaling set to iTunSMPB in the "m4a FDK (AAC)" encoder's Advanced tab.
And I did not define any DSP effects.

One question is whether I have the correct m4a encoder installed. Last year when I started with dbPowerAmp, I also installed "dbPowerAmp m4a FDK (AAC) encoder release 7 (FDK 2.0.0)". I don't know if TuneFUSION is using this encoder installation, but if it is, is this the right version to use? I am no longer able to find it on your website. Is this still needed?

In any event, I am still unable to get gapless to work when converting flac files to m4a with the released 1.3. Do you have any other suggestions?

Thanks,
Dennis

[dmcritchie]

Re: TuneFusion conversion from FLAC to M4A does not support Gapless ITUNSMPB tag

I just upgraded to TuneFusion 1.4, and the same problem that I reported with 1.3 in July still exists: encoding FLAC files to m4a does not generate the ITUNSMPB tag. (Music Converter continues to perform this conversion correctly.)

When I upgraded from 1.3 to 1.4, the installer uninstalled 1.3, asked me to reboot, which I did, and then I installed 1.4. This time, I did not clean out the C:\Program Files\TuneFUSION folder (as you had had me do before) since it had not helped the last time I did it.

Also as I mentioned before, I have the Gapless Signaling set to "iTunSMPB" in the "m4a FDK (AAC)" encoder's Advanced tab. There is also a "iTunSMPB & ISO" option. Does it matter which of the two I set Gapless Signaling to?

I really need this feature to work if TuneFusion is to be of any use to me.

Can you help?

Thanks,
Dennis

[Spoon]

Re: TuneFusion conversion from FLAC to M4A does not support Gapless ITUNSMPB tag

You have right clicked on the resulting m4a file >> edit id tags

and the tag is missing?