Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[SBass]

Hi,

I'm using Windows MC trial version to preview its capabilities before buying. Installed it in mid September as most recent version. However after importing some folders containing mostly Bluray and DVD content discovered that folders containing FLAC files have been modified. So now I'm trying to figure out how to revert the changes made.

I managed to establish that all FLAC files have been modified, they are bigger in size, have embedded cover and increased number of tags. And it all happened against declaration of the creators that jriver doesn't change any files being imported.

I didn't want any touch on the files I allowed to import but ended up with this problem now. The files are not the same anymore with further implications. Instead of enjoying the content, now I have to spend much time repairing it.

Can I get advice what I should do now to revert the changes and if there's a solution how to prevent it from recurring in the future if I decide to use it. It's a great application but I had to stop it completely to avoid more damage.

[JimH]

Flac can have embedded cover art and tags.  It's optional.

You can remove the cover art if you wish.  Right click on the file(s) and choose Cover Art ...

But why would you want to do that?

[SBass]

So I understand that I can only revert embedded covers but all other changes will stay there?
I don't want any modifications to my files. Instead I would prefer a cover to be displayed in MC if missing in original folder but without modifying my files. Modifications to the tags without user consent are also unacceptable.
There are a few reasons for that among which is increased disk space usage (a minor issue) and checksum test failure in file sharing networks where even minor changes to the files are reported as corrupted and require redownload.

[Awesome Donkey]

When you say it's making changes to the files, do you know what's being changed/added/removed? Is it changing existing metadata fields (e.g. Artist, Album, Track #, Genre, Date, etc.) or is it adding new metadata fields (e.g. Total Discs, Total Tracks, etc.) or is it adding things like embedded album art or lyrics or anything like that?

If you have audio analysis enabled in the auto-import options it will write metadata like R128 data for volume leveling and data for the waveform seekbar to the actual files.

[JimH]

... and checksum test failure in file sharing networks where even minor changes to the files are reported as corrupted and require redownload.

Hmmm...

[SBass]

If you have audio analysis enabled in the auto-import options it will write metadata like R128 data for volume leveling and data for the waveform seekbar to the actual files.

Yes, I had that option enabled at first, later disabled due to long analysis time. It was my suspicion too. Need to do in depth comparison about the changes made and elaborate here later. However a quick comparison revealed what I mentioned earlier: added embedded album cover, added additional tags like audio CRC, volume data and others. Noticed changed tags order as well. I will reiterate myself I appreciate additional data jriver provides but it should not modify original files, instead could store such data in dedicated database outside music folders.

[HPBEME]

I will reiterate myself I appreciate additional data jriver provides but it should not modify original files, instead could store such data in dedicated database outside music folders.

That is actually what MC does… Stores all the metadata in a dedicated database.  Anytime you see someone mention "MC Library", that is what they are referencing - the database.  Unless you manually pointed to a unique location during install, you should be able to find all the library fields here (for Windows anyway):
C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\J River\Media Center 33\Library

It is also possible to prevent library fields from being written to tags (including embedding of cover art) per the steps in the picture below.  Unfortunately, in the last step you have to uncheck the box one library field at a time, so that part is a bit tedious.  I am pretty sure some tags get written no matter what that you may not be happy with, but others more knowledgeable/qualified than me can elaborate further about that I'm sure.

[SBass]

The following tags existed in original file:
Album
Albumartist
Artist
Comment
Composer
Disctotal
Genre
Performer
Title
Track
Tracktotal
Year

These have been added:
Album artist
Audio CRC
BPM
Dynamic range (DR)
Dynamic range (R128)
Peak level (R128)
Peak level (sample)
Replaygain_track_gain
Replaygain_track_peak
Tool name
Tool version
Track transition duration
Volume level (r128)
Volume level (replaygain)
Waveform

I removed embedded cover art, all additional tags with mp3tag app and file size has not changed to original size. Then I used winmerge to find and remove differences between original and modified files. There was just one modified line found, reported as line 7. After removing the excessive data from the line, files report the same now.

It was just 1 file investigation so far and I'll try to find out if the same exact amount of data can be adjusted to the rest of the files in the folder. If yes then would be able to repair the files manually in one folder.

[JimH]

I'm going to end this discussion if you're downloading files from the Internet.  I also can't find a license for you.  I'm jimh at jriver if you'd like to explain.

[Awesome Donkey]

These have been added:
Album artist
Audio CRC
BPM
Dynamic range (DR)
Dynamic range (R128)
Peak level (R128)
Peak level (sample)
Replaygain_track_gain
Replaygain_track_peak
Tool name
Tool version
Track transition duration
Volume level (r128)
Volume level (replaygain)
Waveform

Nearly all of these tags and the data for each are added when the audio analysis feature is enabled. Tool name and version are from the option in MC's Options > Audio > Advanced section. Well, Album Artist may be a special case though since, as far as I know, there's two different tags for that. Regardless, the Media Center app is actually functioning as intended for the majority of use cases since the majority of users in these cases prefer the metadata to be written directly to the files themselves (as opposed to the prospect of losing a database without backup could cause a loss of all this data and require it to be ran again which can be very time consuming). I'm afraid you're in a minority here with a special use case where you don't want the information to be written to the files (which is not recommended but to each their own).

Easiest way to prevent this would be to disable the audio analysis feature.

[SBass]

Thanks for your suggestions on the topic.

I want to repeat that the files although altered are sonically intact and still perfectly usable.

IMHO content importing guides should reflect the fact that files are actually appended to avoid frustration in some cases. Being in minority doesn't change the fact that files although enhanced in some way are actually manipulated. If one downloads purchased music from services like qobuz or tidal may at some point be surprised that his files have been modified.

Finding a pattern based on 2 files comparison and applying to the rest of the files won't work probably. So the changes made are irreversible unfortunately.
So the easiest solution is to recreate the original file from the source to say it safely. And the final conclusion: don't download files from the internet or at least don't admit it anywhere.

[Awesome Donkey]

I want to repeat that the files although altered are sonically intact and still perfectly usable.

Well, yeah. The audio data itself is never altered, just the metadata. And honestly most people except those in specific circumstances (like yourself) are never going to care about that part of it because the audio data is not altered.

If one downloads purchased music from services like qobuz or tidal may at some point be surprised that his files have been modified.

Again, wording here is important as you make it sound like it's altering the audio itself when audio data is not altered in any way, just the metadata.

Believe it or not, I'm actually in a similar situation as you. I use Beyond Compare to sync my music library between my main library, my backup library and my NAS library and because of how large it is (over 150,000+ FLAC and DSF files) I can't add any new metadata fields to it without creating a massive headache. Fortunately when I started building this library the majority of the audio analysis tags were added so it wasn't a problem. What eventually became a problem was the additional metadata audio analysis added like waveform, HDCD and more recently the audio CRC field which thankfully I can disable writing of those tags to files in MC (and then I simply clear them from the library).

To avoid this in your case;

1) Restore all affected files from your backup/secondary.

2) Turn off the audio analysis feature to avoid writing of metadata to those files. Also disable the Analyze waveform and Analyze for HDCD settings.

3) Turn off the Write tool name in version setting.

4) In the Configure Auto-Import's dialog, disable the last option to Write file tags when analyzing audio, getting cover art, and applying folder-based tags

That should help avoid this if you really want to, though I have to say having the audio analysis data can be quite handy, especially for volume leveling and displaying dynamic range.

[SBass]

Appreciate your helpful response Awesome Donkey and all others with their inputs. I'll go the path you suggested to avoid writing additional metadata to files.
Cheers

[JimH]

I also can't find a license for you.  I'm jimh at jriver if you'd like to explain.

Please contact me with details.

[thecrow]

If you do not want any modifications to your files, you should mark them as read-only in the O/S.
This will stop any application changing them.