Poll

Have you set up MusicBee to use ID3V2.3 or ID3V2.4 tagging for MP3?

ID3V2.3 (just left it at default, no specific reason)
19 (42.2%)
ID3V2.3 (intentional)
11 (24.4%)
ID3V2.4
8 (17.8%)
I sometimes switch between them, depending on purpose.
1 (2.2%)
I wouldn't know, it's not important to me.
6 (13.3%)

Total Members Voted: 43

Author Topic: POLL: Are you using ID3V2.3 or ID3V2.4 ?  (Read 23089 times)

hiccup

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psychoadept

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I recently toyed with going back to 2.3 because I was frustrated with lack of Windows support for 2.4.  But then I found an extension for Windows explorer that solved the problem. 

The biggest reason I prefer 2.4 is the separation of musicians and "involved people", which are lumped into one tag in 2.3.
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hiccup

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I recently toyed with going back to 2.3 because I was frustrated with lack of Windows support for 2.4.  But then I found an extension for Windows explorer that solved the problem.  

The biggest reason I prefer 2.4 is the separation of musicians and "involved people", which are lumped into one tag in 2.3.

Ditto, and the expansion of year fields.
Give MS some time, 2.4 is only 16 years old.
What extension is it that you are using?

phred

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But then I found an extension for Windows explorer that solved the problem.  
Yes, what's the name of, or link to, this extension?

And if one were to change from 2.3 to 2.4 would one have to reenter all the artists for an album that are now separated with a semi-colon?
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psychoadept

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Give MS some time, 2.4 is only 16 years old.

 :)  :D  ;D   :'(  :'(  :'(


The extension is called Audio Shell, you can download it here: http://www.softpointer.com/index.htm


And if one were to change from 2.3 to 2.4 would one have to reenter all the artists for an album that are now separated with a semi-colon?

No, semicolon is the official separator for 2.4.  But MB should handle all that kind of stuff in the background anyway.
Last Edit: December 22, 2016, 04:21:31 PM by psychoadept
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hiccup

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The extension is called Audio Shell, you can download it here: http://www.softpointer.com/index.htm

Thnx, this could be very useful. (irrespective if you use ID3V2.3 or 2.4)
I am using their Tag&Rename for many years now to full satisfaction, and I see this might be a very nice addition to it.
Strange that they don't include this functionality in T&R. It looks like a useful, quick and easy tool.

phred

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The extension is called Audio Shell, you can download it here: http://www.softpointer.com/index.htm
ACK!!! I've been using Audio Shell for a couple of years at least. But usually only for a quick tag check on those few occasions when I don't have MB open.


And if one were to change from 2.3 to 2.4 would one have to reenter all the artists for an album that are now separated with a semi-colon?
No, semicolon is the official separator for 2.4.  But MB should handle all that kind of stuff in the background anyway.
So if I were to change Tags (1) > Save MP3 tags as: ID3v2.4, I won't have to do anything else? And my multiple artists will be split correctly? Would I need to do a File Rescan?

And since I have your attention, is there any reason to 'also save ID3v1 tags'?
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hiccup

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So if I were to change Tags (1) > Save MP3 tags as: ID3v2.4, I won't have to do anything else? And my multiple artists will be split correctly? Would I need to do a File Rescan?

In MusicBee the 2.3/2.4 setting will only have a direct influence on saving tags, not on reading them. So I am pretty sure this will have no influence at all for MusicBee's abilities to read files.
It will only possibly affect other software or players, and unleash some extra possibilities in tagging for software and players that understand 2.4.
Last Edit: December 22, 2016, 08:29:07 PM by hiccup

psychoadept

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I think the tag format is only updated when you edit the files.  Not sure if a rescan would trigger it or not; we'll have to wait for Steven to answer that.
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hiccup

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And since I have your attention, is there any reason to 'also save ID3v1 tags'?

Only if you want to be sure ancient players will display correct (but very limited) tagging information.
It will only take up 128 bytes, and I am not aware of any conflict in having it present together with v2.
So it shouldn't be an issue at all.
(not revealing anything about my own character here, but if you are either ocd, or prefer lean&mean, leave it un-ticked)

hiccup

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I think the tag format is only updated when you edit the files.  Not sure if a rescan would trigger it or not; we'll have to wait for Steven to answer that.

That raises a new question for me.
Is there actually a 2.3/2.4 flag in the header of a file?


phred

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And since I have your attention, is there any reason to 'also save ID3v1 tags'?

Only if you want to be sure ancient players will display correct (but very limited) tagging information.
It will only take up 128 bytes, and I am not aware of any conflict in having it present together with v2.
So it shouldn't be an issue at all.
(not revealing anything about my own character here, but if you are either ocd, or prefer lean&mean, leave it un-ticked)
I've had it ticked since day one of using MB. So going with "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" I'll just leave it as is. I mean, seriously, what's 128 wasted bytes these days?
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Steven

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I think the tag format is only updated when you edit the files.  Not sure if a rescan would trigger it or not; we'll have to wait for Steven to answer that.
thats right - a rescan only reads from the file.
v2.3/2.4 when reading a file is determined from a field in the ID3 header, but when reading MB will happily read v2.4 specific tags even if the header says v2.3


hiccup

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@Psychoadept.
It's an academic issue, but I noticed that Audio Shell will remove existing TDRC frames, and only write TYER on saving.
Not an issue, since I don't believe this has any negative effect on anything considering MusicBee, but I think it's a bit weird, since Audio Shell does support and recognize 2.4.

psychoadept

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Huh.  I don't use it for tagging at all, so hadn't noticed ..
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