VBRFix new version: Corrects Stream Length bug

2008-11-07 10:18:43

I recently had the need to »VBR fix« some files and noted that apparently Will’s »WAP Vbrfix« hasn’t been worked on for some time and still »fixes« the Xing Header incorrectly – it writes the total file length instead of the actual audio stream length into the header. You can verify that by »VBR fixing« any MP3 with it, then run MP3val (or another tool) and it will show you »Wrong number of MPEG data bytes specified in Xing Header«.

Also, Will has a Windows binary download of version »1(beta) G« on his page, while the sources are at »1(beta) H«.

Since I didn’t want to use a chain of tools instead of only one, I took the liberty to fix up the error in Will’s sources, recompile the tool, and add a Windows installer to it. I sent the changes I made to the original author, so I hope he might include them in his software.

For the time being, anyone who needs the fixed Windows version (I called it »1(beta) H+Moonbase«) can download the Windows installable VBRFix package from my page (changed Vbrfix sources available, only I hadn’t yet time to pack it nicely). It will do a standard Windows install, set up default settings in the registry, and set up a start menu entry for the GUI version (the commandline version is also included and updated). Also, it will allow a »clean« uninstall (completely removing files and registry entries).

Please check »Settings« in the GUI and do some testing on copied files before you run it on your 40,000 file collection!

It appears that there is some routine in the Qt (GUI) version that requires a recent MSVCRT.DLL (7.x or above), otherwise renaming and copying back to the original will fail. One tells me that should be fixed on SP2 Win/XP and Win/Vista systems. I could reproduce the problem on a Win2000 system, though. In this case, just copy a more recent MSVCRT.DLL (I used 7.0.2600.2180) into the program directory (usually »C:\Program Files\VBRFix«) and all will be well.

Feedback welcome – thank you.

VBRFix new version: Corrects Stream Length bug

Reply #1 – 2008-11-07 13:28:35

Thank you for updating this.  The old "VB" version is smaller and has a different UI.  Would you consider updating/recreating that version?

VBRFix new version: Corrects Stream Length bug

Reply #2 – 2008-11-07 16:52:08

You’re welcome. Unfortunately, I’m a strong disbeliever in »VB« programming, so I won’t touch the older (and more buggy) stuff.

VBRFix new version: Corrects Stream Length bug

Reply #3 – 2008-11-11 17:38:44

I updated VBRFix again. I got some positive user feedback and decided to improve the GUI still a bit more, so working with this tool just became even easier:

• The new version is called »Version 1(beta)H+Moonbase-1«.
• The (Windows) installer can be downloaded from above Link and the new version installed over the existing one. Please check your »Settings« afterwards!
• Re-fixing of already fixed MP3s is not needed – the improvements are all in the GUI part, nothing has changed in the underlying engine.
• By clicking the column headers in the upper list (the »Fix List«), you can now sort on every column. This makes it much easier to find the »problem files« after fixing larger collections, i.e. by sorting on »% Understood« or »Status«. One click on a column header sorts ascending, clicking again sorts descending.
• For convenience, standard sorting when adding new files is set to »File«. Initially sorting the list by drive, folder path, and file name helps a lot to keep a good overview.
• There is now a menu entry »File/Exit«, so you don’t always have to use the close button at the upper right.

Enjoy.

VBRFix new version: Corrects Stream Length bug

Reply #4 – 2008-11-13 11:37:25

Off topic, but why the obsession with "»«"?

VBRFix new version: Corrects Stream Length bug

Reply #5 – 2008-11-13 17:34:09

Because Moonbase is from Germany. And he's using German quotation mark. Maybe the only one available on the german keyboard.

Edit: see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quotation_mar...n-English_usage

VBRFix new version: Corrects Stream Length bug

Reply #6 – 2008-11-13 19:28:47

Really? it is the first time i see them used instead of ".

VBRFix new version: Corrects Stream Length bug

Reply #7 – 2008-11-13 20:27:58

German quotation marks look like this " ", so kwanbis is right.

VBRFix new version: Corrects Stream Length bug

Reply #8 – 2008-11-22 22:41:05

[offtopic]
Lol, got me :-)

Actually, I’m an old newpaper and books guy, so I usually prefer the »book-type« quotation marks instead of „the German quotation marks“ (which are mis-represented in many fonts like this one—they should look like a small subscript 99 and small superscript 66).

Just a personal preference. And these are actually not on the German keyboard—I wrote a special keyboard driver to let me have whatever I need for better typography and most European languages. (Image link. Available upon request, free of charge. Will have a nice installer package real soon now …)
[/offtopic]

VBRFix new version: Corrects Stream Length bug

Reply #9 – 2010-10-22 20:59:49

hi...

does this software work for CBR files?

i am trying to find an automatic scanner that will scan my files and find those that have bad headers or whatnot and fix them.  bad headers make scanners take longer i think, and can even cause failures if the file is messed up enough.  any ideas?

VBRFix new version: Corrects Stream Length bug

Reply #10 – 2010-10-23 07:23:25

^^
MP3val

VBRFix new version: Corrects Stream Length bug

Reply #11 – 2010-10-23 07:29:36

yes, i am using that now actually, it seems to work pretty well on VBRs and CBRs, although most of my stuff is CBR.

however, one albumwrap file it said it had a problem with and fixed, still won't play in winamp, but DOES play in WMP.  so i guess i need VBRfix for that?

but i don't understand if that app is just for VBR files or not, or what moonbase did to it.

what does VBRfix do that mp3val can't?