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Thread: FLAC/ALAC ID-Tag corruption on edit/conversion

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Sep 2020
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    Exclamation FLAC/ALAC ID-Tag corruption on edit/conversion

    I've encountered a strange issue where ID-Tags get corrupted in ALAC files on any edit/conversion operation and bloew is a test case that illustrates it:
    - fresh install dMC-R17.1-Ref-Trial with all the default settings
    - download ALAC sample file, e.g. http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/au...he%20organ.M4A

    1) Corruption on edit
    - open the file properties
    - edit e.g. "Robert White, Stephen Hough" artist name in the ID-Tag tab of the file properties by adding "1" at the end
    - close the file properties
    - open them again and see that most of the tags are gone (artist/title/album etc), while some of the useless ones remain (e.g. copyright )
    (the same thing happens when I edit tags in Batch Converter)
    2) Corruption on conversion
    - launch Music Converter
    - select Apple Lossless as encoder (so I'm basically converting ALAC to ALAC, but the issue remains when using other encoders)
    - convert
    - check ID-tags either in the file properties or in MP3tag to see that they're also gone in the same way as in *1

    However, the data is still in the files, it's just the headers(?) got corrupted or something: when I was viewing the files in the MediaInfo debug window, I've noticed the following differences in a couple of fields:
    original:
    • Header name ©ART (I guess this strange name for the artist is a limitation of the MI debug info or something)
    • Data - Performer (43 bytes)
    • Value: Sullivan: Robert White, Stephen Hough

    edited/converted file:
    • Header name �A (looks like some kind of encoding error?)
    • Data - A (44 bytes)
    • Value: Robert White, Stephen Hough1 [1 is the additional symbol I've put in step 1 above]

    It looked the same for a few of the other "lost" ID-tags &*8212; header name was corrupted, Data name was missing (replaced by a single letter) while the data itself was intact.

    P.S. FLAC had the same issue as I originally discovered it trying to convert a few FLAC files to AAC
    OS: Windows 10 2004

  2. #2
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    Re: FLAC/ALAC ID-Tag corruption on edit/conversion

    I get none of the corruption issues you have, even when following your step by step.

    This must tie in with your other corruption issue, where are the files saved? I think what ever dBpoweramp writes is not being written, because of something on your system (perhaps virus checker and later Windows update conflicting).

  3. #3
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    Re: FLAC/ALAC ID-Tag corruption on edit/conversion

    As a test download foobar2000 and edit the id tag the same, what happens?

  4. #4

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    Re: FLAC/ALAC ID-Tag corruption on edit/conversion

    Quote Originally Posted by Spoon View Post
    This must tie in with your other corruption issue, where are the files saved? I think what ever dBpoweramp writes is not being written, because of something on your system (perhaps virus checker and later Windows update conflicting).
    In multiple locations, specifically two different folders on two drives and also in a Windows Sandbox (was thinking it might help avoid some interference). Also, it is being written (see the extra 1 in the name as well as all other (copyright) tags being written just fine), it's just that the tag headers/names are not being written correctly.
    I've also tried to disable the antivirus during the edit operation and it affects nothing :(

    Quote Originally Posted by Spoon View Post
    As a test download foobar2000 and edit the id tag the same, what happens?
    foobar2000 works just fine with both editing and conversion. So is fre:ac (with conversion)

  5. #5
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    Re: FLAC/ALAC ID-Tag corruption on edit/conversion

    Perhaps it is because I am using R17.2 which releases tomorrow, please try that as soon as out.

  6. #6

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    Re: FLAC/ALAC ID-Tag corruption on edit/conversion

    Quote Originally Posted by Spoon View Post
    Perhaps it is because I am using R17.2 which releases tomorrow, please try that as soon as out.
    I've tested this version as well and the issue remains. I've also tested R17.1 on a different Windows machine and there it worked fine without any corruption issues, though it doesn't help me in any way as I have no clue what the difference between them that causes such corruption

  7. #7
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    Re: FLAC/ALAC ID-Tag corruption on edit/conversion

    It is something to do with your system, start by updating system drivers, looking as the hard drive controller.

  8. #8

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    Re: FLAC/ALAC ID-Tag corruption on edit/conversion

    Quote Originally Posted by Spoon View Post
    It is something to do with your system, start by updating system drivers, looking as the hard drive controller.
    Well, there is nothing to update since everything is already up-to-date

  9. #9
    dBpoweramp Guru
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    Re: FLAC/ALAC ID-Tag corruption on edit/conversion

    Which security software do you use? Can you uninstall it for a test?

    Dat Ei

  10. #10

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    Re: FLAC/ALAC ID-Tag corruption on edit/conversion

    Quote Originally Posted by Dat Ei View Post
    Which security software do you use? Can you uninstall it for a test?

    Dat Ei
    It's Norton Security and I've already completely disabled it for a test earlier and it didn't work, and also it'd be strange if it did &*8212; after all, this issue is unique to a specific file format (FLAC/ALAC) for a specific application (I can change FLAC tags in other apps and I can change MP3 tags in dMC)
    P.S. Also, isn't Windows Sandbox (which has the same issue) a "clean" virtual machine with none of that potential antivirus interference?
    Last edited by esv; 10-06-2020 at 05:00 PM.

  11. #11
    dBpoweramp Guru
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    Re: FLAC/ALAC ID-Tag corruption on edit/conversion

    Disabling is not the same as uninstalling. I would uninstall Norton, reinstall dBpa and then retest. That the problem only exists for one format, can be caused by different dynamic libs which are involved during the process.

    Do you store on a HDD or a SSD or what kind of storage?

    Dat Ei

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