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Topic: Metadata in FLAC with embedded cue sheet (Read 4585 times) previous topic - next topic
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Metadata in FLAC with embedded cue sheet

Hi! I'm ripping each of my CDs to single FLAC files with embedded cue sheets, and am quite puzzled by the way Foobar adds metadata to these files. Before loading one into Foobar, there are no vorbis tags, only the (partial) cue sheet data in the CUESHEET block. After adding metadata in Foobar, the vorbis tags are a mess. Only some of the metadata ends up in nice vorbis tags called cue_trackXX_tagname, the rest is mixed up with a textual duplicate of the CUESHEET block in a gigantic vorbis tag simply called cuesheet.

Disregarding the theoretical issue of what happens if duplicate data doesn't match, isn't this overly cumbersome and complicated? If a third-party application wants to know the artist of track 3, it can't just look up cue_track03_artist, but has to include an entire cue sheet text file parser and read the cuesheet tag.

Is there a good reason for Foobar to write metadata this way, or have I missed an option to use cue_trackXX_tagname for everything instead of duplicating the cue sheet data? If there is no such option, wouldn't it be quite easy to implement? Foobar already reads tags like cue_track03_artist if they're added manually and no cuesheet tag exists, so it seems like only writing is the problem.

Metadata in FLAC with embedded cue sheet

Reply #1 –
Quote from: absence on
Foobar already reads tags like cue_track03_artist if they're added manually and no cuesheet tag exists, so it seems like only writing is the problem.

Except for track replaygain, so there could be others that aren't read as well.

Metadata in FLAC with embedded cue sheet

Reply #2 –
Hi, cue_trackXX_tagname is used when there is no possibility to store tag in the CUESHEET tag. There was no convention on how to tag files with embedded cuesheets, but there was demand, so they developed their own way to store tags.

Metadata in FLAC with embedded cue sheet

Reply #3 –
Quote from: Egor on
Hi, cue_trackXX_tagname is used when there is no possibility to store tag in the CUESHEET tag. There was no convention on how to tag files with embedded cuesheets, but there was demand, so they developed their own way to store tags.

What I don't understand is why they use the cuesheet tag at all. Exporting the metadata to an external cue sheet file is useful, but maintaining one inside the metadata is a lot more awkward than just sticking with the custom cue_trackXX_tagnames. Do feature requests belong in the general forum?

Metadata in FLAC with embedded cue sheet

Reply #4 –
Quote from: absence on
What I don't understand is why they use the cuesheet tag at all. Exporting the metadata to an external cue sheet file is useful, but maintaining one inside the metadata is a lot more awkward than just sticking with the custom cue_trackXX_tagnames.

Cuesheet also contains cue points (where does a track start, indexes).

Metadata in FLAC with embedded cue sheet

Reply #5 –
Quote from: Egor on
Cuesheet also contains cue points (where does a track start, indexes).

The cue points are already stored in binary format in the FLAC file, which is why I can't understand why an additional set of cue points in text format inside a tag is necessary. This is what I meant by duplicated data in my first post. Either way it doesn't explain why metadata like track titles has to be embedded in the superfluous cuesheet tag rather than put into individual cue_trackXX_title tags.

Metadata in FLAC with embedded cue sheet

Reply #6 –
cue_trackXX_title are also awkward if you ask me. Some software simply uses numbered fields to achieve the same effect, like TITLE[3], which I like much better.

Metadata in FLAC with embedded cue sheet

Reply #7 –
Quote from: skamp on
cue_trackXX_title are also awkward if you ask me. Some software simply uses numbered fields to achieve the same effect, like TITLE[3], which I like much better.

Any naming scheme is fine by me, as long as metadata ends up in individual tags. Out of curiosity, which software uses this alternative scheme?