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Preserve Mp3 Tags while merging

Posted: Sun May 24, 2020 6:46 pm
by L3enc
Hi,
today i bought your great software to merge a large number of audiobooks.
I used this HowTo viewtopic.php?f=16&t=31 and its works like a charm.

But my problem is, that after the merging some of my Tags are lost.
I understand that you can't know which tag from which source file you should copy to the target but in my case all source files have the same content so a copy should be possible.

In my case i'am missing "Discnumber" all source Files in a folder have the same value so it should be possible to copy it or not?

Some Tags are filled correct like album or title. -> Update 25.5.2020 Thats wrong. TITLE is not filled, its empty. ARTIST and ALBUMARTIST is filled correct (but is equal for all files).

Maybe you have a hint.
Thanks in advance

Re: Preserve Mp3 Tags while merging

Posted: Sun May 24, 2020 7:06 pm
by admin
Here's the update to try - https://xrecode.com/test/setup_xrecode3 ... _1.102.exe
It will write the disc number (if it's equal for all tracks).

Re: Preserve Mp3 Tags while merging

Posted: Sun May 24, 2020 7:49 pm
by L3enc
Unbelievable.
Thanks a lot. I will try it tomorrow.
Will this feature be included in the following Versions?

Re: Preserve Mp3 Tags while merging

Posted: Mon May 25, 2020 5:57 am
by L3enc
OK, I was curious to see if it worked and tried it last night after all. Yes it works and takes a lot of work off my shoulders because otherwise this information would not be available anymore and would have to be added manually.
Thanks for the terrific fast reaction. I knew that the registration was worth it.

But now I have a few more questions because if you think about it a bit more carefully, the behaviour seems to be not quite consistent for me yet. But maybe there are use cases that I don't have in my head right now and where there is a conflict.

In XRecode V1.101 the tags
YEAR
ARTIST
GENRE
ALBUM
FRONT COVER
in the target file (in my case) is filled correctly. How were the contents of these fields determined? Were the values simply copied from the first or xt file or is there more magic?

I don't use that many tags, but the following ones were ignored (maybe because they differ except for DISCNUMBER?) and were empty after merging.
DISCNUMBER
TITLE
ALBUMSORT
TITLE LOCATION
and probably others I don't use.

Now in Beta 1.102 you have taken over the DISCNUMBER according to my suggestion, if it is identical on all tracks. It feels right, but for other fields without this adjustment it remains empty. So I think it's better to have a not quite correct content that I can correct than no content at all.

Example:
Merge 40 audiobook files into one.
The tags often follow the pattern
ARTIST = "The three ???"
TITLE = "and the parrot - Chapter 1"
ALBUMSORT = "The three ??? - S0001E00001 - and the parrot"
So they differ per title, but after the merge I would rather have content that doesn't quite fit, than no content at all.

What do you think about an option like
Use tags from
Radio Button -> first file
Radio Button -> last file
Radio Button -> File number x
Radio Button -> first non-empty tag in the file list? (e.g. leads to a cover in the target even if there is only a cover in one source file)
Radio Button -> only copy a tag if all source tags have the same value
This could then apply to all tags and make the new DISCNUMBER rule redundant.