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Support => Questions => Topic started by: NailJ on February 21, 2020, 07:07:46 AM

Title: Wrong time on songs
Post by: NailJ on February 21, 2020, 07:07:46 AM
Hi guys,

I just added an album but the duration for all the songs are all wrong.
When I do "Auto-Tag by Album" the correct time for all the songs come up but somehow it doesn't stick when I hit "apply".
Any way to change this on a song-by-song basis in MB?
I've tried deleting the album and importing it again but that doesn't help. The correct time shows up in Windows.

Any help appreciated!


(https://i.imgur.com/sqtrk7T.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/iFrnNsT.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/JpyBJnh.jpg)
Title: Re: Wrong time on songs
Post by: Zak on February 21, 2020, 09:50:00 AM
This can happen on VBR files with incorrect details.
Try running them through mp3val and see what it reports.

http://mp3val.sourceforge.net/
Title: Re: Wrong time on songs
Post by: NailJ on February 21, 2020, 10:41:42 AM
Thanks for the suggestion Zak,

I ran mp3val but it says that everything is ok  :-\

(https://i.imgur.com/A56ETWH.jpg)

Title: Re: Wrong time on songs
Post by: hiccup on February 21, 2020, 10:51:56 AM
It may have fixed the issue; did you perform a rescan on the files in MusicBee?
Title: Re: Wrong time on songs
Post by: NailJ on February 21, 2020, 11:50:20 AM
Thanks hiccup, tried that now but didn't help.
I wish I didnt care about stuff like this, the songs play just fine after all...lol

Title: Re: Wrong time on songs
Post by: hiccup on February 21, 2020, 12:34:20 PM
Another tool you could try is MP3Diags.
It gives much more information and has a large amount of settings.

If the error is not in the time frame of the files, perhaps there are (embedded) cue sheets involved here?
Title: Re: Wrong time on songs
Post by: NailJ on February 21, 2020, 02:15:46 PM
Thanks again,
I'm not sure what to look for with MP3diags or what to do

(I just installed a portable version of Foobar to check the album on a different player, the time/duration was displayed correctly)

(https://i.imgur.com/is6LVUd.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/cOnPfaS.jpg)
Title: Re: Wrong time on songs
Post by: hiccup on February 21, 2020, 04:01:26 PM
I'm not sure what to look for with MP3diags or what to do

Looking at the screenshot, what probably is the problem:
The Xing header says the track is at 48000bps, but the MPEG audio stream actually seems to be 256000bps.
That is a factor 5.33 difference, which is the same as the difference in time between what MusicBee reports and what it should be.

What you could try: create a copy of the file(s), run them through MP3diags using the 'hammer 4' icon at the top.
(the higher the number, the more it will try to fix)
And then see if the bps numbers match for both the Xing header and the mpeg stream?
Title: Re: Wrong time on songs
Post by: frankz on February 21, 2020, 04:13:58 PM
Good eye.

I believe that Foobar's "Utilities -> Fix VBR MP3 Header" (mine's in the right-click menu) will also correct this.  Despite the name, I've read that it rewrites headers for CBR files too.
Title: Re: Wrong time on songs
Post by: hiccup on February 21, 2020, 04:29:44 PM
It does leave the question though why all other mentioned software look at the stream data for the duration, and MusicBee looks at the header for it. Maybe that should be changed?
Title: Re: Wrong time on songs
Post by: NailJ on February 21, 2020, 05:54:16 PM
Nothing changed with the numbers, as far as I can tell, after running MP3diags and 'hammer 4'  :-\

(https://i.imgur.com/dOuoqb9.jpg)
Title: Re: Wrong time on songs
Post by: NailJ on February 21, 2020, 06:00:21 PM
I didn't rip this album from a CD or download it from major vendor like Amazon or iTunes, instead I bought it directly from the artist site (in the form of a 78 MB .zip file).
First time I've done that and the first time I've had this issue, very strange.
Title: Re: Wrong time on songs
Post by: sveakul on February 21, 2020, 06:17:35 PM
It does leave the question though why all other mentioned software look at the stream data for the duration, and MusicBee looks at the header for it. Maybe that should be changed?

That verifies a related experience.  I have a M4A file created by wrapping an original AAC via Mp4Box.  When played in MusicBee, the sample rate shows in the Track Information section as 44.1kHz.  However, in Edit/Properties the sample rate is shown as 22kHz.  So one function must be getting the rate from the wrapper, and the other from the stream.  MediaInfo shows 44.1kHz.  Extracting the raw ADTS AAC file and playing that shows 44.1kHz sample rate in Track Information and "unknown" in Edit/Properties.  So Track Information is getting the sample rate from the stream, and Edit/Properties from the header.

Which begs the question, why does the wrapper header NOT show the correct sample rate.  The only clue I've come up with in this case is that MediaInfo shows this particular ADTS stream as being "Format Version 2", and during extraction Mp4Box says "Extracting MPEG-2 AAC."  Literally every other AAC extraction I've done with the same tool shows as "Extracting MPEG-4 AAC", and the result is shown as "Format Version 4" in MediaInfo.  So apparently there is something about this particular AAC ("Format version 2") that is tricking Mp4Box into using "22kHz" in the header instead of the actual stream rate.
Title: Re: Wrong time on songs
Post by: NailJ on February 21, 2020, 06:58:13 PM
Fixed!

Huge thanks to hiccup for helping me out via pm!

(https://i.imgur.com/6tdlOIL.jpg)
Title: Re: Wrong time on songs
Post by: sveakul on February 21, 2020, 07:02:57 PM
Fixed!

Please let us know what worked so that others may benefit, thanks!
Title: Re: Wrong time on songs
Post by: NailJ on February 21, 2020, 07:06:52 PM
Fixed!

Please let us know what worked so that others may benefit, thanks!

I sent the files to hiccup and he "removed the Xing header" and sent them back to me. I don't really know what that means, perhaps he can explain further
Title: Re: Wrong time on songs
Post by: NailJ on February 21, 2020, 07:14:47 PM
I got my album fixed, hiccup got some great new music (if you like americana/ singer-songwriter that is lol), Win-Win  :)
Title: Re: Wrong time on songs
Post by: hiccup on February 21, 2020, 07:15:29 PM
I got my album fixed, hiccup got some great new music (if you like americana/ singer-songwriter that is lol), Win-Win  :)

;-)
Title: Re: Wrong time on songs
Post by: hiccup on February 21, 2020, 07:25:18 PM
Fixed!
Please let us know what worked so that others may benefit, thanks!
... perhaps he can explain further ...

I removed the Xing header.
In MP3Diags that option is not available by default, through configuration you'll need to move it from 'Invisible transformations' to 'Visible transformations first.

If I understand correctly, while these headers are necessary for VBR files, they may be absent/removed for CBR files.
(if anyone has different information or experiences, please chip-in)

@NailJ: Be sure to keep your original files stored for a while in case the performed lobotomy has some negative effects. (I don't expect so, but you never know)
Title: Re: Wrong time on songs
Post by: sveakul on February 21, 2020, 07:52:42 PM
Thanks Hiccup and NailJ for the info!  Did you happen to try the Foobar "Fix VBR Header" tool suggested by frankz?
Title: Re: Wrong time on songs
Post by: hiccup on February 21, 2020, 07:57:03 PM
I take it that the Foobar "Fix VBR Header" tool wasn't enough for this case?

I hadn't tried that, and I already deleted the original files so I can't try it now.
Perhaps NailJ can give that a try?
Title: Re: Wrong time on songs
Post by: NailJ on February 21, 2020, 11:54:47 PM
Tried Foobar's 'Fix VBR Header' now (missed Frankz post for some reason, sorry...)
It didn't work, duration times are still off. It did change the numbers though, but not to the correct numbers (!?)

(https://i.imgur.com/4gWj9tS.jpg)
Title: Re: Wrong time on songs
Post by: Skibear on August 05, 2020, 01:29:18 AM
Im so glad it all worked out for you! Here we are 6 months later and musicbee just as good as ever!
Title: Re: Wrong time on songs
Post by: Steven on August 05, 2020, 08:05:11 AM
Im so glad it all worked out for you! Here we are 6 months later and musicbee just as good as ever!
glad to hear you are enjoying musicbee