getmusicbee.com
Support => Questions => Topic started by: BRAINS on February 07, 2015, 06:23:30 AM
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First off I want to say thanks for the great player. I am coming from Foobar and my reasons for choosing MusicBee over it is...
- More stuff 'built-in' rather than having to use plugins
- Clean UI, though I am still tweaking it to make it like my Foobar layout.
- Doesn't use a lot of resources like Foobar.
- Library Statistics
First thing I am trying to figure out is the playcount. I was originally on iTunes, and the playcount would only update after the song ended. With Foobar I had to get a plugin and the count would only update after 50% or x seconds.
I see MusicBee has a way to edit this in the preferences but I cannot get it to work. I tried erasing the skip count and then setting the playcount values to more than 1% or 1 second. It only seemed to update after 5-8 seconds of playing.
My second question is album art. iTunes did a very bad job of adding art and tagging in general. Once I moved over to Foobar I was missing tons of art or some albums had the low quality versions I replaced. Foobar did a good job when I manually went - tagging > attach pictures > front cover and then chose my file.
Will MusicBee embed the art into the file or does the art only show when in the program? I constantly move new music to my iPod and phone so I don't want to have to copy the art with it.
I am very picky when it comes to the cover art and get all my own scans at 600x600 or higher. MusicBee has an option to grab art from the internet, but where does it get it and what are the dimensions?
My final question is about tagging. A few of my albums in MusicBee have incorrect tagging. Specifically one album has 3 out of the 4 tracks with some weird Chinese symbols. When I view this album in Foobar, the track titles show normally. When I open in Windows explorer, those 3 tracks are missing the title but the file name itself is correct. Why does Foobar show them correctly but MusicBee does not? Do they tag files differently?
Thanks!
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You'll notice in the "Tags (1)" section of the preferences, there are "artwork storage" options that determine how artwork is saved.
Under "Tags (2)" and "auto-tagging", you can specify which sites are scanned for artwork and the minimum/maximum dimensions.
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My final question is about tagging. A few of my albums in MusicBee have incorrect tagging. Specifically one album has 3 out of the 4 tracks with some weird Chinese symbols. When I view this album in Foobar, the track titles show normally. When I open in Windows explorer, those 3 tracks are missing the title but the file name itself is correct. Why does Foobar show them correctly but MusicBee does not? Do they tag files differently?
They don't tag files differently but they may read different tags for certain things such as album artist. Have a look at one of the suspect files in tag inspector (at the top of the tag editor window) and I suspect that you'll find there are multiple tags and MB has just chosen a different one to read when compared to Foobar.
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You'll notice in the "Tags (1)" section of the preferences, there are "artwork storage" options that determine how artwork is saved.
Under "Tags (2)" and "auto-tagging", you can specify which sites are scanned for artwork and the minimum/maximum dimensions.
Well it seems to have 'embed into music file' on by default so that's fine with me. I may use the internet artwork search in the feature, but I prefer doing manually.
When I look at this one specific album, I can see the art which I added with Foobar. When I click on one of the songs and go edit > artwork tab, there is no art there. Why is the art not visible in the artwork tab, but it shows in the player?
My final question is about tagging. A few of my albums in MusicBee have incorrect tagging. Specifically one album has 3 out of the 4 tracks with some weird Chinese symbols. When I view this album in Foobar, the track titles show normally. When I open in Windows explorer, those 3 tracks are missing the title but the file name itself is correct. Why does Foobar show them correctly but MusicBee does not? Do they tag files differently?
They don't tag files differently but they may read different tags for certain things such as album artist. Have a look at one of the suspect files in tag inspector (at the top of the tag editor window) and I suspect that you'll find there are multiple tags and MB has just chosen a different one to read when compared to Foobar.
Under the tag inspector there are two 'titles.'
One says The Remembering / High The Memory and the other shows ??. In Foobar, ?? is not shown anywhere. Nor is it seen in Windows explorer. Why?
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My final question is about tagging. A few of my albums in MusicBee have incorrect tagging. Specifically one album has 3 out of the 4 tracks with some weird Chinese symbols. When I view this album in Foobar, the track titles show normally. When I open in Windows explorer, those 3 tracks are missing the title but the file name itself is correct. Why does Foobar show them correctly but MusicBee does not? Do they tag files differently?
They don't tag files differently but they may read different tags for certain things such as album artist. Have a look at one of the suspect files in tag inspector (at the top of the tag editor window) and I suspect that you'll find there are multiple tags and MB has just chosen a different one to read when compared to Foobar.
Under the tag inspector there are two 'titles.'
One says The Remembering / High The Memory and the other shows ??. In Foobar, ?? is not shown anywhere. Nor is it seen in Windows explorer. Why?
Windows Explorer doesn't display extra tags, as it doesn't have great support in that regard. I don't know about Foobar, I've never used it. Try opening the files in Mp3Tag if you want further proof that there are extra tags there that you should delete to get everything working properly again.
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My final question is about tagging. A few of my albums in MusicBee have incorrect tagging. Specifically one album has 3 out of the 4 tracks with some weird Chinese symbols. When I view this album in Foobar, the track titles show normally. When I open in Windows explorer, those 3 tracks are missing the title but the file name itself is correct. Why does Foobar show them correctly but MusicBee does not? Do they tag files differently?
They don't tag files differently but they may read different tags for certain things such as album artist. Have a look at one of the suspect files in tag inspector (at the top of the tag editor window) and I suspect that you'll find there are multiple tags and MB has just chosen a different one to read when compared to Foobar.
Under the tag inspector there are two 'titles.'
One says The Remembering / High The Memory and the other shows ??. In Foobar, ?? is not shown anywhere. Nor is it seen in Windows explorer. Why?
Windows Explorer doesn't display extra tags, as it doesn't have great support in that regard. I don't know about Foobar, I've never used it. Try opening the files in Mp3Tag if you want further proof that there are extra tags there that you should delete to get everything working properly again.
That's true Windows Explorer mp3 tagging is pretty bare bones.
But why exactly would there be two titles, with one in a different language? Why does MusicBee choose 'TIT2' over title 1? Foobar chooses the correct tag.
So it's safe to delete this second title in the tag inspector? The tag is ID3v2, do I need to change that?
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Safe to delete, and you don't need to change from ID3v2. In fact, I'd strongly advise against ever changing from ID3v2.
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But why exactly would there be two titles, with one in a different language? Why does MusicBee choose 'TIT2' over title 1? Foobar chooses the correct tag.
So it's safe to delete this second title in the tag inspector? The tag is ID3v2, do I need to change that?
As you've never said, I'm assuming these files are in mp3 format.
If that's the case MB will give preference to the 'TIT2' frame as it's the correct frame to have the title in for an mp3.
If at some stage, these tracks also had APEv2 'Title' tag added, Foobar will give preference to that.
Also from WMP 10 onwards, Windows gives the Winamp 'Title' tag preference over the TIT2 ID3 tag.
If the files are mp3's, put the correct title in the TIT2 frame and delete the rest.
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Here's what it looks like.
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7323/15864358384_7aff0b5727_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/qaSZ3q)
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OK. Thanks for clarifying with a screenshot :)
I'm guessing here, as your only supposed to be able to write one TIT2 frame, but because you have two TIT2 frames I'm assuming MB reads them sequentially, the last one read is the one displayed. I think Foobar is doing the right thing in only reading the first one and ignoring any others (because there shouldn't be any others).
Delete the second TIT2 frame and all should be OK.
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OK. Thanks for clarifying with a screenshot :)
I'm guessing here, as your only supposed to be able to write one TIT2 frame, but because you have two TIT2 frames I'm assuming MB reads them sequentially, the last one read is the one displayed. I think Foobar is doing the right thing in only reading the first one and ignoring any others (because there shouldn't be any others).
Delete the second TIT2 frame and all should be OK.
I deleted it as you said and it fixed the problem. It also gave the correct title in Windows Explorer so I didn't have to add that manually. I did have to add the artwork again though since it disappeared upon changing the tags.
Now can anyone help me with the playcount question? I've been messing with it but it doesn't seem to work right. Sometimes it updates the count once, sometimes it updates up to 3 times.
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Hmm I still cannot get this play count figured out.
I am also having a problem with album art. For some reason a few of my albums have 2 different album covers. My high quality art seems to be the second art when looking in the properties. In Foobar2000 however, it is the main cover art. What is the issue here?
Also why when you rate an album it changes the date modified? It doesn't do this in Foobar2000 or iTunes for that matter.
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I am also having a problem with album art. For some reason a few of my albums have 2 different album covers. My high quality art seems to be the second art when looking in the properties. In Foobar2000 however, it is the main cover art. What is the issue here?
Do you need the second cover art? If not, just delete it. There's also the "Primary Picture" checkbox you can use if you want to keep both.
Also why when you rate an album it changes the date modified? It doesn't do this in Foobar2000 or iTunes for that matter.
Pass on why Foobar2000 or iTunes don't, but MB explicitly chooses to change date modified every time you modify a tag, and Rating counts as a tag.
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Also why when you rate an album it changes the date modified? It doesn't do this in Foobar2000 or iTunes for that matter.
Pass on why Foobar2000 or iTunes don't, but MB explicitly chooses to change date modified every time you modify a tag, and Rating counts as a tag.
In Preferences > Tags (1), there's an option to not update the file modification time when saving tags.
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Also why when you rate an album it changes the date modified? It doesn't do this in Foobar2000 or iTunes for that matter.
I'm not using rating, but I can replicate this issue even when using right-click menu in artwork view or album & tracks view. Only album rating updates modification date while track rating doesn't. Not sure this is intended or an oversight.
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I am also having a problem with album art. For some reason a few of my albums have 2 different album covers. My high quality art seems to be the second art when looking in the properties. In Foobar2000 however, it is the main cover art. What is the issue here?
Do you need the second cover art? If not, just delete it. There's also the "Primary Picture" checkbox you can use if you want to keep both.
Also why when you rate an album it changes the date modified? It doesn't do this in Foobar2000 or iTunes for that matter.
Pass on why Foobar2000 or iTunes don't, but MB explicitly chooses to change date modified every time you modify a tag, and Rating counts as a tag.
I was just curious as to why Foobar imbed the new cover art correctly but MusicBee had kept the old copy.
I don't want playcount or ratings changing the date modified. The date gives me a good idea when I fixed the tags of file or updated the cover art. I change ratings for albums often so I don't want that affecting the date.
Also why when you rate an album it changes the date modified? It doesn't do this in Foobar2000 or iTunes for that matter.
Pass on why Foobar2000 or iTunes don't, but MB explicitly chooses to change date modified every time you modify a tag, and Rating counts as a tag.
In Preferences > Tags (1), there's an option to not update the file modification time when saving tags.
Thank you Zak I noticed this today when going over the preferences again.
Interestingly enough, with this checked, changing the album art does not change the date modified. Rating an album however, still does change the date, in MusicBee anyway.
I confirmed this with Foobar2000 and Windows Explorer. Changing art had no effect on date modified. Changing the rating had no effect in Foobar2000 or Windows Explorer, but in MusicBee it changed the date to 2/22/2015 11:15pm when rating a single song 5 stars.
Perhaps this is a bug in MusicBee?
Also why when you rate an album it changes the date modified? It doesn't do this in Foobar2000 or iTunes for that matter.
I'm not using rating, but I can replicate this issue even when using right-click menu in artwork view or album & tracks view. Only album rating updates modification date while track rating doesn't. Not sure this is intended or an oversight.
Hello redwing. As you can read above, rating a single track did affect the date modified.
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rating a single track did affect the date modified.
It depends on whether you save ratings to the files and how you rate. If you have set not to save ratings to the files and rate with right-click menu, then it won't update modification date for changing track rating.
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Saving ratings to a file has its own preference setting, so it's possible there's a bug where the timestamp setting isn't respected for some combination of the two checkboxes.
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rating a single track did affect the date modified.
It depends on whether you save ratings to the files and how you rate. If you have set not to save ratings to the files and rate with right-click menu, then it won't update modification date for changing track rating.
Saving ratings to a file has its own preference setting, so it's possible there's a bug where the timestamp setting isn't respected for some combination of the two checkboxes.
Yes I see that - 'store ratings in the music file.' I unchecked that and it seems to be good. That must be a bug though because if you have 'don't update file modification time' rating changes shouldn't matter.
I found another strange bug that may be related disabling date modifications.
When changing something like the album title or the genre of an album, it correctly updates in Windows Explorer and MusicBee. However when you go in Foobar2000 its not changed until you PLAY the song.
For example, say the genre was Rock when it was suppose to be Pop. When you play the song in Foobar2000, it changes to 'Pop', but when the song ends or you stop it, it goes back to Rock.
Is this a tag bug or something to do with the disabling date modifications?
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Interesting. Perhaps foobar updates database based on file modification date though it has to scan file while playing.
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Interesting. Perhaps foobar updates database based on file modification date though it has to scan file while playing.
Is there a way I can check this?
I mean the album art updates fine, if I do it through MusicBee. The rest of the tags don't change though.
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How to check? See if foobar's database gets updated if the file has a newer modification date.
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How to check? See if foobar's database gets updated if the file has a newer modification date.
Where can I see this?
I checked the Foobar preferences but did not find it. Under 'Media Library' it is scanning for files on startup and monitoring the library for changes while running. I don't see anything about modification dates.
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What option are you talking about?
I'm just guessing how foobar might work not to update database when file's modification date didn't change.
If that's the case and if you want foobar updates database in real time, then probably you will need to untick the MB's modification date option.
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It just seems strange that the album art updates fine in Foobar, even with file modification date disabled. Windows Explorer updates, which is where the files are located on the computer, so I don't see why Foobar doesn't recognize that.
It also updates properly in iTunes even though I don't use that as a media player anymore. I just right click and open with iTunes in Windows Explorer and all the tags are correct.
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Windows explorer is not a music app but a file manager, so it should rescan files every time. But music apps don't have to rescan library files all the time unless some changes were made onto a file (hence modification date change). iTunes does not update database in real time, even with a modification date change. If you try to play the track, then it will say it can't locate the track.
With foobar, if you right click and open properties dialog, it will show correct values. But that does not update its database.
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Well I can open the file in iTunes and all the tags are correct. I don't use it as a media player so your probably right when saying it doesn't update in real time.
Foobar however is not showing the correct values when looking at a song in properties.
Maybe I should ask the guys on Foobar forum how it updates its database?
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As I said, foobar's properties dialog is not the same as its database. It's more like MB's tag inspector. I don't understand how the properties dialog can't show updated values. Feel free to ask around in other forums.