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Author Topic: m4a (ALAC) questions  (Read 24241 times)

nickharambee

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m4a (ALAC) questions
« on: September 19, 2009, 05:06:25 am »
Hi

I am trying to get my Apple Lossless (ALAC) files working right in MC14.  I have succesfully got them all to play (I had to reencode some to get them to work) using the DC-Bass Source filter.  However there are a few features that I need to know about before I can proceed with syncing to an iPod:

1.  From a browse in this forum it would seem that MC14 can't write any tags to ALAC.  Is this correct?  Is there any plugin that could get this working?  If not, where are the tags stored, in the library?  It is not crucial for me that MC writes to tags as I can do the tagging elsewhere, e.g. in iTunes.

2.  Most of the ALAC tracks have soundcheck data in them from iTunes.  Is there any way for MC to recognise this info and use instead of replaygain, or will I have to re-analyse all tracks with replaygain to get normalised volume control on iPod?

3.  At the moment MC seems to be reading all tags in the ALAC files except lyrics.  I would really like the lyrics to sync to the iPod, so is there any way of getting this working?  I have confirmed that lyrics are in my ALAC files with Tag&Rename. 

4. Finally I have my cover art embedded in the ALAC files, and MC isn't adding it to the library when I use 'quick find in file/cover art directory'.  is this a limitation with ALAC files?  this isn't crucial as I can extract a folder.jpg for each album folder.

Thanks

Nick
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nickharambee

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Re: m4a (ALAC) questions
« Reply #1 on: September 21, 2009, 11:30:27 am »
sorry to bump but hoping to get on with a mass conversion!

the main issue is the reading of lyrics tags in m4a (ALAC) files, which i can't get to work in MC14.  Seems strange that all other m4a tags are read fine, but not lyrics.  i am wondering if there is anything i can do to get this working, such as by installing a plugin, embedding lyrics in a different way???

any help with this issue in particular, but any of the other questions also would be much appreciated.

i am one step away from my masterplan!

thanks

nick
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nickharambee

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Re: m4a (ALAC) questions
« Reply #2 on: September 28, 2009, 11:10:25 am »
i am now wondering about the reading of lyrics tags generally in MC14 as i can't get MC to read lyrics tags on MP3 files either.  The lyrics tags show up fine in Tag&Rename for both MP3 and m4a.  Does the lyrics tag in MC only work with lyrics added using MC, i.e. manually or using a plugin?
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Yaobing

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Re: m4a (ALAC) questions
« Reply #3 on: September 28, 2009, 01:21:10 pm »
Quote from: nick_harambee on September 19, 2009, 05:06:25 am
1.  From a browse in this forum it would seem that MC14 can't write any tags to ALAC.  Is this correct?  Is there any plugin that could get this working?  If not, where are the tags stored, in the library?  It is not crucial for me that MC writes to tags as I can do the tagging elsewhere, e.g. in iTunes.

Correct.  MC does not write tags to mp4/m4a.

Quote
3.  At the moment MC seems to be reading all tags in the ALAC files except lyrics.  I would really like the lyrics to sync to the iPod, so is there any way of getting this working?  I have confirmed that lyrics are in my ALAC files with Tag&Rename. 

4. Finally I have my cover art embedded in the ALAC files, and MC isn't adding it to the library when I use 'quick find in file/cover art directory'.  is this a limitation with ALAC files?  this isn't crucial as I can extract a folder.jpg for each album folder.

MC does not read lyrics and cover art from these files.
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rick.ca

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Re: m4a (ALAC) questions
« Reply #4 on: September 28, 2009, 01:43:54 pm »
Quote
i am now wondering about the reading of lyrics tags generally in MC14 as i can't get MC to read lyrics tags on MP3 files either...

It's a different context, but this might help explain what's going on with lyrics tags...

Quote from: rick.ca on August 15, 2009, 07:28:44 pm
As others have noted, MiniLyrics will find, download and tag MP3 files (I don't know about other types) with unsynchronized lyrics, but they are not displayed in MC's lyrics field. I don't understand much about file tags, so I'll just describe what I've found. Using MP3Tag, I can see the lyrics are saved in an extended tag called UNSYNCEDLYRICS. (I'm sure it's saving a synchronized tag as well, but I can't see it in MP3Tag.) There is a difference in how different programs are saving this tag:

  • MC – ||[lyrics] (the "||" is not displayed in MC)
  • MP3Tag – eng||[lyrics] (the lyrics are properly displayed in MC)
  • MiniLyrics – eng|Lyrics was Saved by MiniLyrics.|[lyrics]

I suppose the "||" is meant to separate the tag into different sections for different languages, and MiniLyrics breaks this. This can be fixed by deleting "Lyrics was Saved by MiniLyrics."—or, more specifically, what's making it unreadable by MC are the single "|". Deleting both of them, or leaving "||" or "eng||" at the beginning of the first line allows the lyrics to be displayed.

Editing the tag saved by MiniLyrics with a tag editor is obviously not a viable solution. The tag must be readable by other applications, so maybe this is something J River will see fit to make MC able to do as well.

There's been no comment my suggestion that maybe MC could be made to handle these situations. Maybe someone who understands tagging can better explain what's going on, and the role of the MC lyrics tag.
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Peter_T

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Re: m4a (ALAC) questions
« Reply #5 on: April 08, 2010, 08:31:25 pm »
just wondering... is ALAC support coming in the future?  I'm guessing no... but I'd love for someone to tell me I'm wrong.

Thanks!
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Yaobing

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Re: m4a (ALAC) questions
« Reply #6 on: April 09, 2010, 12:22:21 pm »
Download DC-Bass Source filter.  MC plays ALAC m4a when this filter is installed.  Read wiki on Mp4 and m4a for more details.

Tag writing to mp4 will come in the future.
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Yaobing Deng, JRiver Media Center

Ingo

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Re: m4a (ALAC) questions
« Reply #7 on: April 09, 2010, 05:09:28 pm »
Quote from: Yaobing on April 09, 2010, 12:22:21 pm
Tag writing to mp4 will come in the future.

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

(hoping for it in the near future)

Ingo
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dcpoppy

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Re: m4a (ALAC) questions
« Reply #8 on: April 21, 2010, 11:35:18 pm »
Quote from: Yaobing on April 09, 2010, 12:22:21 pm
Tag writing to mp4 will come in the future.

How far into the future are we talking about?

Because I have an iPhone and a lossless library (FLAC), I've had to live with the cobbled solution that others use - MC to transcode to MP3 and iTunes to load media on the iPhone.  Now that iTunes finally supports transcoding high bitrate files on the fly to AAC (http://forums.applenova.com/showthread.php?t=34339), I'm ready to ditch my MP3 shadow library and allow iTunes to see the lossless files in my main library.  Of course, iTunes doesn't support FLAC so I would need to switch to ALAC, but MC doesn't support ALAC.  I could just use iTunes for everything, but I really prefer MC for my library management.

Also, with tag writing will we get embeded artwork and lyric support?  Please?
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dcpoppy

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Re: m4a (ALAC) questions
« Reply #9 on: May 02, 2010, 10:17:58 am »
Perhaps this would get a reply in the MC 15 forum since dev is complete in 14?
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Yaobing

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Re: m4a (ALAC) questions
« Reply #10 on: May 05, 2010, 09:04:35 am »
My goal is to get it out in MC15.
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Yaobing Deng, JRiver Media Center

dcpoppy

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Re: m4a (ALAC) questions
« Reply #11 on: May 27, 2010, 10:19:29 pm »
Thanks Yaobing - great news!  I'm watching the version 15 thread intently.  Will embedded artwork make it in with that tag editing support?  I can compromise on the lyrics, but the art is a must have.
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