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Author Topic: Official ID3 & FLAC "Disc" tag format  (Read 1508 times)

varian93

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Official ID3 & FLAC "Disc" tag format
« on: February 21, 2018, 08:14:54 am »

I have a multiple disc set where the individual discs have names rather than numbers.

Does the actual ID3 & FLAC "Disc" tags support alphabetical characters as well as numerical values for the tag? I noticed that MC will only allow me to edit it to a numerical value. I was curious as to if this is a MC limitation or a limitation of the actual tag standard.

If this is a MC limitation it be great to see it removed.
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RoderickGI

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Re: Official ID3 & FLAC "Disc" tag format
« Reply #1 on: February 21, 2018, 04:13:16 pm »

No, it would not be great to see it removed. It would be very, very bad.

The [Disc #] tag in MC stands for "Disc Number", and logically it is expected to contain a numeric value. There doesn't seem to be an easy way to check the ID3 standard to see what it should be, as "Disc #" or variants are not listed as possible tags. Annoying.

What you are trying to do is manage a "Boxed Set" of discs. Audio discs by the sound of it. MC doesn't have a built-in way to manage Boxed Sets with names for individual discs. But this requirement has been discussed many times, and different people choose different ways to handle them. Search the forum for "Boxed Set" and start reading. You will also find many ideas with a Google search, although many of them use folder structures, which isn't required by MC, although it can also do that.

You might also want to check how Boxed Sets are handled in some of the online databases, such as Freedb, CDDB, MusicBrainz, etc. I don't know if the JRiver YADB CD database stores disc name information, but you may try to find out.


Note that MC only knows about files. It doesn't know about Albums, or Discs within an Album, within which music tracks exist. So each file needs to have recorded against it the Album, Disc #, Track #, etc that it belongs to. MC then just uses that data to sort all the files it knows about into groupings that make sense to you.

The simplest solution for adding a Disc Name to a file is to add a tag to the MC Library to store the individual disc names, while still retaining the same Album name for all files in the release. You could call this new tag [DiscName] or whatever you like, and then populate that tag with the name of the individual discs. Then just add [DiscName] to the Views where you want to use it, or to all Views. Your choice. Leave the [Disc #] tag as it was, and sort by [Album] then [Disc #] but display [DiscName].

Easy.
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What specific version of MC you are running:MC27.0.27 @ Oct 27, 2020 and updating regularly Jim!                        MC Release Notes: https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Release_Notes
What OS(s) and Version you are running:     Windows 10 Pro 64bit Version 2004 (OS Build 19041.572).
The JRMark score of the PC with an issue:    JRMark (version 26.0.52 64 bit): 3419
Important relevant info about your environment:     
  Using the HTPC as a MC Server & a Workstation as a MC Client plus some DLNA clients.
  Running JRiver for Android, JRemote2, Gizmo, & MO 4Media on a Sony Xperia XZ Premium Android 9.
  Playing video out to a Sony 65" TV connected via HDMI, playing digital audio out via motherboard sound card, PCIe TV tuner
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