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Topic: Help with MP3 encoder information (Foobar vs. iTunes) (Read 5399 times) previous topic - next topic
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Help with MP3 encoder information (Foobar vs. iTunes)

First post hello everyone.  Getting my feet wet with the digital music scene.  Much to learn I still have (i'm no jedi master), but I need a little help with something I have searched for to no avail.

Currently fixing my music library and there are discrepancies between what iTunes tells me and what Foobar2000 tells me.  I am talking about encoder information.

Foobar2000: Managed to create custom columns in Foobar to show $info(tool) that displays encoder info.  Also found many of my files have a property called "ENCODED BY".  This appears to be a largely irrelevant field that is used to advertise the program used to encode the MP3 or for the person who encoded it to give a name or website.  Useful just for sorting purposes to weed out bad/iffy files.

iTunes: iTunes displays an "Encoded with" field in the Get info tab.  Thought this was the same metadata being used by Foobar for my $info(tool) column.  That would be too simple.  It seemed to be the case.  HOWEVER, I have run into several files which show Encoded with info in iTunes (giving a LAME distribution) but no such information being displayed in Foobar.

Can anyone explain to me why this would be the case?  Where are the two programs getting their respective information, if not from the same place?  How can I create a custom column in Foobar to display the same information that iTunes is giving me?

Relevant forum post that might sort of answer my question but I do not understand: determining ENCODER used and Tag question

Would appreciate ANY help 

Help with MP3 encoder information (Foobar vs. iTunes)

Reply #1 –
you can display ENCODED BY in foobar simply by creating a custom column.

Code: [Select]
%encoded by%


it looks like itunes can display this and if it's missing, it checks inside the header and can display the LAME info. this LAME info is only accessible in foobar by using $info(tool) (or %__tool%)

you can make foobar check for and display encoded by and display what's in the header if it's missing.

Code: [Select]
$if2(%encoded by%,[%__tool%])


or you may prefer to do it in reverse. this would only display ENCODED BY if there was no header info.

Code: [Select]
$if2(%__tool%,[%encoded by%])


you can even do something a little more fancy

Code: [Select]
$if3(%encoded by%,%__tool%,SOME TEXT TO DISPLAY IF BOTH ARE MISSING)


documentation for the various $if functions can be found here... http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?ti...8cond.2Cthen.29

Help with MP3 encoder information (Foobar vs. iTunes)

Reply #2 –
thanks marc2003.

Good information but doesn't quite answer my question.  However I will definitely be using those "if" statements down the road.

VERY CLOSE to figuring this out... someone please lead me to glory.

Using TagScanner I have found that for those tracks which display "encoded  with" information (ex: LAME 3.92) in iTunes, BUT DO NOT DISPLAY THE SAME ENCODER INFO [$info(tool)] IN FOOBAR, this info appears in TagScanner as the "Codec".

Using Foobar to display the codec either shows MP3/CBR (codec+codec_profile) or simply MP3 (codec).  Foobar does not display specific encoder information for these SPECIFIC FILES.

Note: the majority of my music contains $info(tool) information, but a small minority will not display SPECIFIC encoder info in Foobar and I must find a way to sort these files.

I am guessing iTunes gets Encoded with information from the codec (not from $info(tool)) since TagScanner is displaying this information as codec.  How can I make Foobar be more specific and not just say "MP3"?

Help with MP3 encoder information (Foobar vs. iTunes)

Reply #3 –
if you can't see it on the properties or metadata tab in the foobar properties dialog, foobar won't be able to display it.

i'm not familiar with tagscanner at all so hopefully someone else can chime in on that.
 

Help with MP3 encoder information (Foobar vs. iTunes)

Reply #4 –
Quote from: marc2003 on
if you can't see it on the properties or metadata tab in the foobar properties dialog, foobar won't be able to display it.

i'm not familiar with tagscanner at all so hopefully someone else can chime in on that.

Good to know.

TagScanner comes highly recommended by many sites as a masstagger.  Seems like a good program.

Do you think iTunes/TagScanner could be guessing the encoder information? 

It is mentioned here that Foobar possibly guesses the $info(tool) information.  A user here on HA mentions guessing in the first reply to this post, which i linked to earlier.

Any ideas?  Anyone know if iTunes/TagScanner sometimes guess their encoder/codec information?