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[Matt]

We recently received a report that FLAC file tagging performance inside Media Center 14 wasn't as fast as Tag & Rename.

We setup a little test to try to reproduce the issue:

We put 300 FLAC files on a local hard drive.  Then, we used each program to change the comment on all 300 files.

Media Center 14: ~2 seconds (tagging happens in background so program can be used during tagging)
Tag & Rename 3.5: ~1.5 seconds (tagging blocks so program can not be used until it finishes)

It seems like about a draw.

One explanation for the report we received might be that the same files were tagged first in Tag & Rename and _then_ in Media Center.  In this case, the files would be in system cache so the second program would always win.

It's also possible there's some other variable we're not considering, which is the main reason for the post.  

Does anyone have any experience or insight about FLAC tagging performance issues?

Thanks for any help.

[JimH]

A hard disk spinning up could affect this.  So could a network card.  Also a virus checker that exempts one program but not another.

[Vocalpoint]

Does anyone have any experience or insight about FLAC tagging performance issues?

Not so much performance issues when tagging - but I have experienced a boatload of crap when tagging specific fields (Label, Catalog number to name two) in T&R and then have Media Center be unable to import them. There are no errors - the import dialog simply said - Failed to import x files.

To be fair - this was a huge issue for me a few months back in v13 but since my switch to v14 - I have restricted my T&R activities to ensure only those tag fields that are specifically part of "official" FLAC tagging framework get populated. So far - with a huge tagging project that I am currently working on - if I stick to the basics and ONLY tag the standard fields - MC v14 has been graciously accepting everything.

Still would like to know just what MC finds wrong with a FLAC file upon import. Also - a guideline to what exactly you read (and need) for the FLAC format would help immensely. I don't mind NOT adding a bunch or esoteric obscure tags to my FLAC files but I would like to know exactly what fields are fair game for an external tagging app.

Look forward to an update on this.

Cheers!

VP

[Link]

The one area where I noticed that FLACs were much slower in tagging was in the addition of cover art.... But I have not compared MC with any other programs in this regard.

[Amadan]

The one area where I noticed that FLACs were much slower in tagging was in the addition of cover art.... But I have not compared MC with any other programs in this regard.

Yes, i second that. Normal tags are no problems but adding cover art is really slow.

[marko]

Isn't that because adding cover art could require the entire file to be re-written in order to accomodate the image?

[morrison]

no problem with 1,5 TB of flacs tagging
also use mp3tag - this have similar performance

[HiFiTubes]

No issues here. I have been wondering about using an SSD. Should I put my library on my Sata drive instead as the library is being written to quite often (IIRC reading isn't a problem on SSDs).

[tunetyme]

With 19,000 flac files I haven't noticed any problem.  It it feasible to have a full tag editor within MC?  I would like to be able to add custom fields to flac tags that may require writing the info to another field name that I don't use.  It would also be nice to be able to write/read a specific field in the tags.

Tunetyme