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[MarkCoutinho]

Here and there I keep on reading that the tag-functionality in MC isn't quite as good as it should be.

I don't know that much about tagging, but as far as I can see, nothing's wrong with MC's tagging. I haven't missed any functionality, that is.

Can someone tell me what MC can't do that a specific tagging-program can?

[KingSparta]

one problem was comment tags, if you write a comment tag and then view it in another app you see what tool created the tags.

not sure if that was fixed.

as for the most part i see nothing wrong with the tags, and depending on the format (mp3 vrs ogg) one may have a problem the other does not.

[Cmagic]

Hi,

For mpc (mpegplus) format no problem. In fact MC9 is probably one of the better tagging program for this format. (APE tags)

For APE, well, I don't think you can find a better tagging program than MC, unless Matt has something else cooking !

For ogg it looks pretty good too but, well, maybe some "oggers" will tel you more on that.

All'n all, one of the problem I can see with MC's tagging (speaking from my MPC experience) is that it always prepend or expect the prefix "Media Jukebox" to custom tag name.  The thing is that when you have a custom tag written by another program that does not meet this standard, then the tag cannot be read by MC.
For example if you use mppenc (mpc) external encoder with a command line that such as --tag "my tag=my value" then the tag can't be read by MC you need to use the cmd line --tag "Media Jukebox my tag=my value".
That's what I see for now.

C.

[Bartabedian]

In my experience, the tagging is slow. From what I can tell, this is caused by the way MC does it's tagging, generally re-writing the file when data in the tag changes. This is most obvious when changing a tag in MC that was originally written by another tag program.

I really like the tagging setup in MC, but it's working process is just very undesirable to me. When using Tag&Rename, I can tag my files nearly 4X faster. And time is precious.

Other than that , I would have no complaints.

[DocLotus]

Cover art is a mess with WMA files.

* If you previously had tagged cover art to WMA files with MJ8 there is no way to remove the cover art tag in MC9.

* I loose about half of my cover art tags every time I have to re-import all the music files because...
MJ8 could store the cover art in the WMA files but MC9 will not.

To me cover art will continue to be a problem with WMA until JRiver provides a clean way to remove selected tag items such as cover art.

[rocketsauce]

In my experience, the tagging is slow. From what I can tell, this is caused by the way MC does it's tagging, generally re-writing the file when data in the tag changes.

In my experience, tagging is only slow for MP3 and Vorbis files. Updating tags on MPC and APE happens almost instantaneously.

The slowness of tagging is generally related to how different formats store the tag info. MP3 (with id3v2 tags) and OGG (vorbiscomments) store the tag info at the beginning of the file, so when you make changes to the tags, the whole file has to be re-written. The reason Tag&Rename can be faster is that the first time you use it to add/update a tag, it adds a "padding" to the beginning of the file that allows the tag info to be written without having to rewrite the file. However, I've found that T&R can also be slow the first time it is used to write tags because most files don't initially have the padding.

Awhile back, this issue was brought up and, IIRC, MJ/MC should also add a padding to files. Maybe Matt can clarify this for us.

Rob

[zevele10]

Part of the tag process ,even if not part of the main part of tag

What is the use of this F.... Bios ?

[Bartabedian]

The slowness of tagging is generally related to how different formats store the tag info. MP3 (with id3v2 tags) and OGG (vorbiscomments) store the tag info at the beginning of the file, so when you make changes to the tags, the whole file has to be re-written. The reason Tag&Rename can be faster is that the first time you use it to add/update a tag, it adds a "padding" to the beginning of the file that allows the tag info to be written without having to rewrite the file. However, I've found that T&R can also be slow the first time it is used to write tags because most files don't initially have the padding.

Rob

I see, interesting.

I guess that boils down to compression ratios then, as MPC and APE are lossless, therefore able to write a tag without much need for the processor.

If the padding is truly the secret to T&R, then I would definitely (re)start a campaign for this to be added to MC.

Thanks RS,

WP

[LisaRCT]

Tagging large libraries of MP3's (over 1000 files) brings MC9 to a grinding halt, even with 2GB precessor and over 1GB RAM (this is especially true with 'copy tag to another field).
I make it through the first few hundred fairly well, then the difficulty becomes obvious.
Although Windows TaskManager shows only 40-60% processor use, the rest of the file list crawled at what seems to be a slower pace by the minute.
I think I may try Tag&Rename

[rocketsauce]

I guess that boils down to compression ratios then, as MPC and APE are lossless...

Actually, MPC is a lossy compressor just like MP3, Vorbis, WMA.

I don't think the speed of the tagging is really related to the level of compression of the file. It has to do with how the different tagging systems work. MPC and APE use Ape Tags which, I believe, can be stored either at the beginning or end of the file. MP3 uses ID3v1 (stored at the end) and/or ID3v2 (stored at the beginning). Ogg Vorbis uses Vorbiscomment (which is stored at the beginning).

I'm really not an expert on all the technical aspects of tagging, but I think what it comes down to is that some tagging formats are just better and more versatile (Ape Tags) than others (ID3v2).

I think I may try Tag&Rename

The new versions of T&R now include support for OGG, FLAC, WMA files. Now, if we could just get it to support MPC with Ape Tags instead of ID3, as it currently does. Oh, and support for APE files would be great too.

Rob

[Bartabedian]

Actually, MPC is a lossy compressor just like MP3, Vorbis, WMA.

I don't think the speed of the tagging is really related to the level of compression of the file. It has to do with how the different tagging systems work. MPC and APE use Ape Tags which, I believe, can be stored either at the beginning or end of the file. MP3 uses ID3v1 (stored at the end) and/or ID3v2 (stored at the beginning). Ogg Vorbis uses Vorbiscomment (which is stored at the beginning).

I'm really not an expert on all the technical aspects of tagging, but I think what it comes down to is that some tagging formats are just better and more versatile (Ape Tags) than others (ID3v2).

Rob

Ok, Ok, we've established that I know not of which I speak. My bad.

But this much I know:

My entire library is MP3, I love T&R, and I wish MC could come close to being that efficient. Even when writing to a "virgin" file, T&R is hands down the winner in speed. Plain and simple, T&R is 4 times faster and more reliable in large updates. MC needs to improve in this area to be considered a truly powerful tagger.

[rocketsauce]

I guess I don't really use MC as my main tagging app either, so I've never really noticed that much of a difference in speed between it and other programs. Pretty much any files that are going to be added to my library are fully tagged before import and I use MC more for "fine tuning" the tags. I use other apps, like T&R, to tag files that aren't going to be imported, like when I make MP3s for friends.

Rob