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[hit_ny]

I re-ripped some albums that i had imported into MC. AFAIK MC uses the filename to refer to a file in it's database. The new files will have the same file names and the only difference is a better quality file.

What i wanted to confirm was if i just replaced the old mp3s with new using win explorer, whether i could keep all the MC meta-data, ie playcounts, audio analysis etc. In other words MC would be none the wiser that a switch took place behind the scenes

[marko]

yup, that will work.

After replacing the files, fire up MC, find the album(s) then do an "update tags from library" on them, followed by an update library from tags. Be sure to use the two tools in that order else you run a high risk of losing the data you want to keep.

[hit_ny]

Thx marko, but i was hoping not to write to those files at all, instead keeping all pertinent info in MC's dB only.

Assuming the library was backed up to a different drive and also on a external HD, would this alone not be sufficient.

[marko]

well, MC would still see the files, but some of the information it holds in the database for these files would be incorrect.

Fields like bitrate and filesize will not be correct.

I'd take a library backup then play around with one of the files. Perhaps MC will correct these things itself upon playback?
How about update tags from library, update library from tags followed by remove tags? or are you hoping to preserve the files md5 checksums?

Perhaps you could copy the files when replacing the old ones, do the tag/library updates to get MC up to speed with the new files, then replace the contaminated files with the original recently ripped files, if you follow me?

-marko.

[hit_ny]

I'd take a library backup then play around with one of the files. Perhaps MC will correct these things itself upon playback?

That's what i was thinking, i swapped the new ones in and all files are playable, a cursory look around AA & ratings show them to be retained.

How about update tags from library, update library from tags followed by remove tags? or are you hoping to preserve the files md5 checksums?

That's the idea.

Perhaps you could copy the files when replacing the old ones, do the tag/library updates to get MC up to speed with the new files, then replace the contaminated files with the original recently ripped files, if you follow me?

I get the impression that replacing the new ones with old is the same. This is still under observation, but i'm not seeing any problems with the approach so far. I saved an mpl of the album to its folder.

Assuming all MC really needs is a valid filename to be able to play, MC does not seem to care about any metadata it holds for the file and displays the associated tags during playback.

[hit_ny]

Did a test and the results appear to support my assumption that MC does not re-populate non-dynamic fields once its told what they contain.

- added an non-imported album to PN, saved its meta-data to mpl.
- substituted a cpl of tracks with other tracks that were smaller in length and at different bitrates but made sure their file names matched the ones i removed.
- restarted mC, to clear library cache.
- added mpl to PN, lo & behold it showed what was saved to the mpl for the switched tracks.

I noticed during playback that the track times, bitrate in PN were as they were saved. Only the display at the top showed a difference, duration & bitrate (these were the true values of the file being played).