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Topic: Best tag editor (Read 6333 times) previous topic - next topic
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Best tag editor

Is there a tag editor that DOES NOT focus on offering a "simple-to-use" user interface and rather let's one easily and without problems edit all available frames and shift between, add and remove tag types? An application like that can't be THAT hard to cook up ...

Otherwise, what is, in your opinion, the best tagging software? I'm using Tag&Rename for the moment, but it pains me that I can't get it to show or edit all of the available frames. I can't even edit APE tags.

Suggestions?

Best tag editor

Reply #1 –
My two suggestions for this title are Mp3tag and foobar2000. I personally use foobar as it has a simplistic GUI which houses extremely powerful capabilities thanks to a "script language" (Title Formatting) which allows easy formatting of values, guessing values from filenames or path. While access to freedb is included, through components it can lookup tags from discogs and musicbrainz. It edits tags for all audio formats I know of (and many more) and lets you decide which tag format (ID3v2, ID3v1, APE) to use for MP3 files.

Best tag editor

Reply #2 –
In Foobar I see that the attribute known as "Album artist" in Tag&Rename shows up as "ensemble," "band," "albumartist," "albumartists" etc. in CAPITALS when accessing the files' properties in Foobar. Why are they different? What should I use? And since they are in capitals, weren't they there from the beginning?

And how do you batch process files with Foobar?

Best tag editor

Reply #3 –
See the following pages in the foobar2000 section of the HA wiki: ID3 Tag Mapping displays which FIELD NAMES are mapped to which ID3 frames. Title Formatting Reference also shows how several tags like %album artist% are displayed. "%album artist%" used itself checks for the following fields: ALBUM ARTIST (I think this is stored in the TPE2 frame, but I never cared to check), ARTIST (TPE1 frame), COMPOSER (TCOM frame), PERFORMER (maybe TPE3?).

What do you mean by batch process? When you want to automise the execution of several tagging actions, install the masstagger component which allows exactly this.

Best tag editor

Reply #4 –
Quote from: Overseer on
Is there a tag editor that DOES NOT focus on offering a "simple-to-use" user interface and rather let's one easily and without problems edit all available frames and shift between, add and remove tag types? An application like that can't be THAT hard to cook up ...

Otherwise, what is, in your opinion, the best tagging software? I'm using Tag&Rename for the moment, but it pains me that I can't get it to show or edit all of the available frames. I can't even edit APE tags.

Suggestions?

foobar2000 in reply to all your requests. Yet I actually think it's simple to use.
Can't wait for a HD-AAC encoder :P

Best tag editor

Reply #5 –
Quote
* the tag-fieldname used for declaring and describing albums/split-EPs or split-singles which contain various artists is "ALBUM ARTIST" (separated with space, not underscore)
    * tag should only exist if an album contains various artists. It should NOT be created when an album does not contain various artists.
    * the tag can contain the overall artist of an album (like e.g. "the foo-bar collective",) multiple artists (e.g. with split-EPs) or if an album does not have a clear overall artist (for example with compilations) just "Various Artists". Simply said: you're free to enter whatever you like as long as it describes the overall album-wide artist(s).
    * every track in a V.A.-album has to contain this tag with the same value
    * the track-specific artist should be entered into the ARTIST-tag
    * the TITLE-tag should only contain the track-title


This I found under "album artist" in the "encouraged tag standards" section of the Hydrogenaudio Knowledgebase. I am a bit confunded, however. If I have set a certain track's artist frame to, say, "Pendulum ft. Fresh, $pyda & Tenor Fly," should the album be regarded as containing "various artists," or...?

Best tag editor

Reply #6 –
+1 for Mp3Tag.
EAC>1)fb2k>LAME3.99 -V 0 --vbr-new>WMP12 2)MAC-Extra High

Best tag editor

Reply #7 –
Another problem ... Removing tag types with Foobar works excellently, but altering or removing frames causes some sort of crash in Tag&Rename, making multiple tag fields appear filled with random (even shifting) symbols, and, when editing, completely empty. Foobar displays everything correctly, though.

Best tag editor

Reply #8 –
EasyTAG is also a very good tag editor, I highly recommend trying it out. Unfortunately though it seems the development has ceased.

Best tag editor

Reply #10 –
Quote from: lazka on
  • Doesn't read id3 TXXX frames (also doesn't delete them)
  • All id3 tags get converted to v2.4.

So it can't "edit all available frames and shift between, add and remove tag types", as specified by the OP, and doesn't sound much like the "Best tag editor". Judging by the screenshot, most of what it does can already be done by foobar2000.

Best tag editor

Reply #11 –
No, I think I'm settling for Foobar, but first I'll have to solve this problem: How do I add more columns (like, say, 'performer' or any TXXX frame) to the playlist? If I can't see the tags I may want to edit then it's kind of difficult to utilise the full potential of the programme ...

Best tag editor

Reply #12 –
Right-click any column header in a playlist, then go to Columns and select the one you need. Custom columns can also be added after mapping the relevant tag. Finally, drag the column header to re-order.

Best tag editor

Reply #13 –
Quote
Custom columns can also be added after mapping the relevant tag.


I try pressing "more" when attempting to add an additional column, but all I get are two tables with the columns "name," "pattern" and "alignment." What's that supposed to mean? What am I supposed to enter? And what does "mapping the relevant tag" mean?

Best tag editor

Reply #14 –
Just guessing here…

Name: What you want the column to be called, e.g. "Disc number".
Pattern: Title formatting syntax for what will be displayed in that column, e.g. "%discnumber%".
Alignment: Whether you want the text to be aligned to the left, right, etc.

I Googled "foobar2000 name pattern alignment" and, while I doubt it's the best reference available, this image provides an example.

Best tag editor

Reply #15 –
OK, that seems to have done the trick. So I repeat my previous question: Removing tag types with Foobar works excellently, but altering or removing frames causes some sort of crash in Tag&Rename, making multiple tag fields appear filled with random (even shifting) symbols, and, when editing, completely empty. Foobar displays everything correctly, though.

This is a serious problem, since the larger part of my library consists of MP3's. What is the cause of this?

Best tag editor

Reply #16 –
Try setting foorbar2000's MP3 tagging to use "compatibility" mode, which uses de facto standard ID3v2.3 instead of forcing ID3v2.4 on you. Are those read correctly by your other products?

Best tag editor

Reply #17 –
grommet: According to its site, Tag&Rename supports "all kind of ID3v2.4 tags (ANSI, Unicode and UT8 encoded tags fully supported)".

Best tag editor

Reply #18 –
Well it's not only Tag&Rename, the Windows Shell can't read them either ... any of them
 

Best tag editor

Reply #19 –
Have you tried using compatibility mode as recommended by grommet above?