Slashes to Backslash

[TLBradbury]

I'm sorry if this has been covered before, but I am new to dBpoweramp, and I am still learning some of the finer points.

One of the items that has been frustrating me is how dBpoweramp always 'flips' my slashes (/) to backslashes (\). It is my understanding that the ID3 standard (from id3.org) uses slashes to delimit multiple pieces of information in the same tag (as in TCOM composer frame - 'John Lennon/Paul McCartney'), or to extend additional information (as in the TMED Media Type frame 'CD/DD' for DDD discs). The notable exception to this being the ISO formatting of datetimes

This is not a minor issue, as it also impacts sorting ("/" is ASCII 47, which falls before 'A', and "\" is ASCII 92 which falls after 'Z').

I have tried very hard to ensure that my tags all comply with the id3 standards, so that as more media players properly support more tags, they will all function as designed (don't even get me started on how TPE2 was hijacked to become 'Album Artist'!).

Is there a setting that I am missing that can change this behavior? Do I need to put it on some kind of wish list?

[Spoon]

Re: Slashes to Backslash

'/' is the deliminator in id3v2 and cannot be used for normal tagging.

[TLBradbury]

Re: Slashes to Backslash

But that is exactly my point. The proper delimiter for multiple pieces of information is to use the slash '/' character, which I am using, but after my files are ripped, the resulting tags are flipped to backslashes '\' which makes no sense to me.

I understand fully why both of these characters cannot be used in filenames (reserved by the file system), but I have never had a problem using them in tags as stated. Isn't it actually going against the standards to change the characters this way?

Even outside of the world of id3 tags, the backslash has always been the accepted delimiter -

Song Medleys:
- Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In
Composers:
- John Lennon/Paul McCartney
Conductor & Orchestra:
- John Williams/London Symphony Orchestra

Again, I apologize for being so insistent about this point, but I strongly object to having my tagging arbitrarily modified (especially when I am trying to adhere to published standards) and now I am forced to find a way to correct all my tags. iTunes has no problem with it, and neither does my tagging tool of choice, Helium Music Manager.

Don't get me wrong - I think dBpoweramp is superior in almost every way to other solutions (I would not have spent the money if I were not convinced of it), but I think in this matter, we may have the exception to the rule.

[Spoon]

Re: Slashes to Backslash

If you wish to tell dBpoweramp to store multiple artists you type:

artist1; artist2

then dBpoweramp will store as artist1/artist2. The tag editor is format neutral.

[TLBradbury]

Re: Slashes to Backslash

That seems like an acceptable work-around. I understand how embedding a character that is often used as the start of an escape sequence can cause trouble, especially if being sent to a command-line process in the background.

Does this work in all fields? Artist - Title - Composer?

Please forgive me if this is covered elsewhere in the help. I did try to look for it, but could not find detailed information on the finer points of the tagging mechanism.

Thanks for your patience!

[Spoon]

Re: Slashes to Backslash

Yes all fields which are designated as multi-item aware.

[blurfl]

Re: Slashes to Backslash

'/' is the deliminator in id3v2 and cannot be used for normal tagging.

But it's not the delimiter in VorbisComments (which don't need a delimiter, of course) or iTunes AAC tags (which don't specify a delimiter, although Apple separates multiple artists with commas and ampersands).

When I convert my FLAC AC/DC tracks to AAC, dbPoweramp converts the slashes to backslashes. AC/DC is the correct name of the band. AC\DC is not. dbPoweramp is rendering the artist name incorrect.

I understand that you may think it appropriate to use the slash as a de facto delimiter in iTunes tags, and that's a perfectly reasonable position - but given that in the iTunes AAC world there is no presumption that / represents a delimiter between multiple items, the behaviour should at the very least be optional.

[blurfl]

Re: Slashes to Backslash

I just realised I posted this to the wrong forum, as I'm talking about dbPoweramp Music Convertor rather than the CD ripper. Apologies.

[Spoon]

Re: Slashes to Backslash

We have to delimit on something in .m4a, even if Apple do not (because they do not support multiples), because .m4a is too big a format to limit to single artists.

[blurfl]

Re: Slashes to Backslash

We have to delimit on something in .m4a, even if Apple do not (because they do not support multiples), because .m4a is too big a format to limit to single artists.

If I've got multiple artists in VorbisComments then obviously you've got to put some delimiter in between then when converting to AAC. All I'm asking is to have the behaviour be configurable. Let me say "leave slashes as slashes and I'll accept the consequences", or let me specify an alternate delimiter character for non-ID3 tag formats. Since ID3v2 explicitly defines a delimiter, you're clearly being technically incorrect if you use that delimiter for another purpose.This is not the case with AAC, where there is no standard - only individual behaviour/preference.

It really powerfully bugs me having dbPoweramp basically corrupt the artist name, turning something correct into something incorrect. The type of person (e.g., me) who buys dbPoweramp is the type of person who's going to be obsessive about carefully and accurately tagging his music, and that's also the type of person who's going to be very annoyed every time he sees "AC\DC". Or maybe it's just me.

[blurfl]

Re: Slashes to Backslash

Also: is there a list of which fields are designated as multi-item aware? Is album artist one of them?

[Spoon]

Re: Slashes to Backslash

Album Artist is one yes, Genre, Composer.

[eaglescout1998]

Re: Slashes to Backslash

I got a little annoyed with the converter inverting slashes when converting my FLACs to AAC.

I switched to MP3 and the problem went away.

Edit: Well, I guess I spoke too soon. I switched back to MP3 because I got tired having having the genre "Rock/Pop" turn into "Rock\Pop" when converting to AAC. Using MP3 got rid of that problem, but it seems as though the artist field still has the slashes inverted.