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[Pluvio]

I have a large collection of wav files tagged with MediaMonkey. Now I want to move from Mediamonkey o JRiver since I think that the sound quality is better. However when I import the wav files I do not get the tags (e.g. Rating, Track #, Genre, Date).

This will be for me the deciding factor to move or not to JRiver since the track # is indispensable if you listen to Classical music and the Rating is also very important for me.

I know that this issue of wav tags has been discussed in this forum but I did not found an answer to this issue.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[JimH]

The tags are probably not stored in the WAV files in MediaMonkey.  You might be able to convert them to FLAC in MediaMonkey, and get them stored in the file.  You could try a few.

[Arindelle]

I found this over at media monkey which lists metadata which are written to the file which might help http://www.mediamonkey.com/sw/webhelp/frame/index.html?abouttrackproperties.htm

Seems like you might have to remap a field or two, check it out with 10 cds or so and compare ID3 tag conventions with Wav's. (Try multiple disc cds too. I know that wav does not support disc numbering in the meta data)  I used to have a link but can't find it right now.

But I'd seriously recommend going to flac, especially since this information seems important to you. Whether you move to MC or not. Basic information can of course be retrieved (like track number) directly from the file names, but as for the rest ....

Hope this helps and Welcome to the forum

[Pluvio]

JimH and Arindelle, thanks for your quick reply.

Yes, the tags are stored in the wav files. In MM there is an option to synchronize tags which actually “writes” in the wav file the tags that are stored in the library. You can delete the track from the library, import it again and the tags are there.

In fact I have tagged the very same wav file with different values in MM and MC (e.g Rating=1 in MM and =4 in MC) and the file stores both. You delete the file from both libraries, import it again and the tag content stays as 1 when imported in MM and 4 when imported in MC. So it seems that the two programs store the tag information in the wav files in different places or formats.

Arindelle do you know how I could remap these fields, as you suggested?

Moving to FLAC is not a good option for me. I use my wav files in other devices that do not accept the FLAC format (my car hard disk reader, iPod, etc.)

With a library of more than 20.000 tagged files I would no migrate from MM to MC unless I can import the tags easily. And I would be very sorry if cannot do that, since I like the sound of MC much more than the one of MM.

I will be very pleased if you or someone else could help. Thank you.

Pluvio

[Vocalpoint]

I know that this issue of wav tags has been discussed in this forum but I did not found an answer to this issue.

The answer is simple - once you made that decision to commit to WAV as a default audio format and then decided to write your valuable metadata tags to those files with a specific app - you are pretty much committed to staying with that application - forever or your tags are in dire trouble. Hence this situation here.

No disrespect but this is the classic example that is brought up every time someone here (or in other forums) decides that WAV is the way to go. They always say "no problem" until it comes time to move from App A to App B.

Even as a dedicated Media Center user for years now - I would never write metadata to any WAV file - whether in MC or any other app for that matter. That data is simply too valuable.

I agree with Arindelle - FLAC is the only option to salvage anything useful out of this since there is no way that I know of to "map" metadata fields from a WAV header in one file to another WAV header in another (presumably a copy) of another file.

Or the other option - which is to stay put with MM...

VP

[Vincent Kars]

Looks like MM and JRiver use the same trick to circumnavigate the limitations of the WAV tagging standard; writing ID3 style tags in a info chunk
As this is not a standard method, they can't exchange the tags.

An option is to convert to FLAC using MM.
If the FLAC contains the tags, you can load them in JRiver and has all the information.
As you need a different format for your car and iPod you have two options.
1 - In JRiver convert all the FLAC's back to WAV
2 You might wonder if you really need a lossless format in the car or on the iPod. In general the sound quality is not that superb and storage a bit limited.
You might also wonder if you are ever going to transfer your entire library to any of these devices.
In this scenario you leave the audio in FLAC and use the sync option of JRiver. You simply choose the format you like for each device (including WAV )
http://thewelltemperedcomputer.com/SW/Players/MC14/MC_sync.htm

[Pluvio]

Thanks a lot for your comments.

I have installed Audioshell, a freeware Windows Explorer shell extension which allows you to view ID3 meta-data tags. For wav files it reads ID3v2.3 tag in the 'id3 ' RIFF chunk and LIST INFO chunk.

When I use this shell and click on a wav file it finds the tag content that MC has written on the file, but not those that MM has (for Artist, Title and Album the content is the same, but for other tags, like Rating, Audioshell do not find the tag information that MM has put in the file. However it reads the one that MC wrote (e.g. Rating = 4).

Therefore it seems that MC stores the tag information in the 'id3 ' RIFF chunk of the wav file using the ID3v2.3 format. But the MM stores the information in a different way.

I will try to see if I can find the way in which MM stores the tag info, but I do not know whether this will really help me at the end. In the meantime I will try your suggestion of the wav – flac conversion in MM to see how it goes, but I am not sure whether this would be a viable solution for a large library.

I will let you know of the outcome. If anyone has any further idea that will be appreciated.

Pluvio

[ferday]

that's not that bad of a library, with MC's amazing tagging features you'll have it done right in no time.  MM writes the tags in RIFF data chunks, not ID3 format chunks like MC.  the tag data from MM will not work in really any other programs, but the tag data from MC will work in at least some other programs.

FLAC isn't the only option, you have ALAC and even AIFF which are better tag supported than .wav.  and waaaaay less room on disc.  i've never heard of a player (USB, ipod, whatever) that doesn't support at least some version of lossless file.  heck, you'd still be saving space (and having excellent tag support) if you converted your library to FLAC/ALAC and then to 320 mp3 for your portable needs.

[JimH]

MC can copy data from one tag to another.  It can also add tags to the display IF you use the exact name of the tag.