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Topic: Need help batch converting FLAC to mp3 'with' tags (Read 7846 times) previous topic - next topic
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Need help batch converting FLAC to mp3 'with' tags

So, I'm trying to convert my FLAC archive to mp3 for normal use in my desktop/laptop/mp3 player, with all of the tags intact. I'm using the converter tool in foobar2000 v1.0, with LAME v3.98 to batch convert them using combined ID3v1/ID3v2.3 tags. Viewing the tags of each of the mp3 files in Mp3tag shows that all of the tags are moving over to the mp3 files correctly, except for the Track and Total Tracks tags, as well as the embedded Artwork. Instead, all of the Track tags have the total track # appended to the individual track number (ex: 2/13 instead of 2), which I'm not too fond of, and the Total Tracks tag and artwork don't exist in the files at all. It would also be nice if the stuff in the Lyrics tag were recognized properly in Songbird and iTunes; as of now, they show up in Mp3tag properly, but not in those two media players.

I'm assuming moving the artwork over is a lost cause (though if you know a way to do it, I'd greatly appreciate it), but looking through the LAME documentation for ID3, I see these "--tn" and "--tv" switches to access the Track tag and user-chosen tag (Total Tracks for me) respectively, and I tried adding them to the command line parameters in foobar like this:

[blockquote]-S -h --tn "track" --tv TOTALTRACKS="total" --noreplaygain - %d[/blockquote]

But the files that I convert with that option don't correct the Track and Total Tracks outputs.

Things I want to do:
  • Disable the option to append the total track # to each track tag listing.
  • Enable the writing of the Total Tracks (<TOTALTRACKS>) tag in all output mp3 files
  • Transfer the embedded artwork to all output mp3 files, if conveniently possible
  • Make data from the Lyrics tag show up in Songbird and iTunes


Any help you can give on any of the things would be awesome. Thanks!

Need help batch converting FLAC to mp3 'with' tags

Reply #1 –
dbPoweramp keeps the existing tags very well and consistent, translating them to the target system (vorbis -> ID3v2) where necessary, including the preservation of album art. Don't know if the free version suffices, I am using the 'reference' edition.

I can't comment on Foobar because I don't know this tool well enough.

Need help batch converting FLAC to mp3 'with' tags

Reply #2 –
+1 on dbpoweramp (including album art)

Need help batch converting FLAC to mp3 'with' tags

Reply #3 –
FLAC stores tags as arbitrary attribute/value pairs (i.e. you could have a field called "JONES" with a value of "sponge" if you wanted, etc.) whereas in ID3v2 the track number is stored in one tag, and the total appended as you have observed. According to the ID3v2.3 standard:
Quote
4.2.1  TRCK    [#TRCK Track number/Position in set]

In other words, I think you may just have to live with it; at the very least, adding a custom TOTALTRACKS field is redundant.

Need help batch converting FLAC to mp3 'with' tags

Reply #4 –
Quote from: garym on
+1 on dbpoweramp (including album art)


+2 on that  You can even get it to copy across the folder.jpgs as well.

Need help batch converting FLAC to mp3 'with' tags

Reply #5 –
Quote from: starrydude on
  • Disable the option to append the total track # to each track tag listing.
  • Enable the writing of the Total Tracks (<TOTALTRACKS>) tag in all output mp3 files

You easily may solve this using the Masstagger component in foobar2000:
Context menu > Tagging > Manage Scripts, now add Guess values form other fields... with %tracknumber% as source format and %tracknumber%/%totaltracks% as guessing pattern and run it.

It should fix this point at least. (Also you may save this tagging setup for later usage.)


If you could post a (copyleft) track with proper displayed lyrics data and one where it isn't working, we could try to figure out how it is embedded and whether it could be fixed just like the track numbers.

Need help batch converting FLAC to mp3 'with' tags

Reply #6 –
Quote from: victorzie on
If you could post a (copyleft) track with proper displayed lyrics data and one where it isn't working, we could try to figure out how it is embedded and whether it could be fixed just like the track numbers.
Requested tracks are located [a href='index.php?showtopic=78979']here[/a]. 

So after looking at the mp3 file tags in foobar2000, the Track and Total Tracks tags appear separately (just as they are supposed to) for some reason, but in Mp3tag the Track tag appears in (Track #)/(Total Track #) format, with The Total Track tag blank. Also, in Songbird and iTunes only the Track tag has info (along with extraneous Disc numbers that I never specified...weird). The Album Art is vacant on all four programs, while the lyrics show up in foobar/Mp3tag, but not Songbird/iTunes.

Quote from: victorzie on
You easily may solve this using the Masstagger component in foobar2000:
Context menu > Tagging > Manage Scripts, now add Guess values form other fields... with %tracknumber% as source format and %tracknumber%/%totaltracks% as guessing pattern and run it.

It should fix this point at least. (Also you may save this tagging setup for later usage.)
Trying this out seems to only change the Track tag to add leading zeros to track #s under 10. As an aside, substituting %totaltracks% for %tracknumber% in the source format has the effect of changing the Track tags of every file in an album (except the last one) to the Total Track # for that album.

Extra task:
I also have a Rating tag in my files that I would like to be imported by Songbird/iTunes if at all possible.

Need help batch converting FLAC to mp3 'with' tags

Reply #7 –
Quote
So after looking at the mp3 file tags in foobar2000, the Track and Total Tracks tags appear separately (just as they are supposed to) for some reason, but in Mp3tag the Track tag appears in (Track #)/(Total Track #) format, with The Total Track tag blank.

As specified in my earlier post, in ID3v2.3 the TRCK frame is 'physically' formatted as as "track number/total tracks". Some programs display it in this literal form, while as far as I know foobar2000 maps the second half to TOTALTRACKS when writing/displaying tags, hence this behaviour.

I still think a custom total tracks is redundant, and you should just follow the standard, but I'm not sure about the other issues in your latest post.


Edit: Added missing first letter of quote

Need help batch converting FLAC to mp3 'with' tags

Reply #8 –
yeah. dbpoweramp is all you will need to transcode your flac files to mp3, it will keep all the tags and album art intact.

Need help batch converting FLAC to mp3 'with' tags

Reply #9 –
Quote from: starrydude on
It would also be nice if the stuff in the Lyrics tag were recognized properly in Songbird and iTunes; as of now, they show up in Mp3tag properly, but not in those two media players.


"LYRICS" is not a standard ID3 field, so it is being stored in a TXXX user defined frame. Mp3tag and foobar2000 will display such a custom tag, but not all software can be expected to interpret it. I believe iTunes (and probably Songbird, I suppose it depends on the lyrics plugin) expects the standard ID3 field "UNSYNCEDLYRICS" (the USLT frame).

If you use foobar to convert, I believe the title formatting you will want to use is %unsynced lyrics%.