DonationCoder.com Forum

Main Area and Open Discussion => General Software Discussion => Topic started by: masu on November 04, 2007, 12:05 PM

Title: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: masu on November 04, 2007, 12:05 PM
Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: OGroeger on November 04, 2007, 02:52 PM
Mp3tag (http://www.mp3tag.de/en/)
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Carol Haynes on November 04, 2007, 03:13 PM
MP3Tag
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Lashiec on November 04, 2007, 03:29 PM
Mp3tag, and foobar when I have to modify some tag and the program is open (99% of the time ;))

(Pass the ball, it's fun ;D)
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Darwin on November 04, 2007, 03:35 PM
mp3 Collector (http://www.collectorz.com), but will be checking out Mp3tag   :o
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: tinyvillager on November 04, 2007, 03:47 PM
I do about every thing audio related through dBpoweramp Music Converter reference now.
I wish i could find a video converter which was just as easy,but that's a different thread. 
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Darwin on November 04, 2007, 03:51 PM
Just to add a comment, the worst part of tagging is that you have to be REALLY careful about being absolutely committed to one solution. I use WMP 11 to organize music on my Samsung mp3 player (note: stay away from the Samsung software. It's pretty, works well, but installs a service to handle DRM which you cannot control in any way, so it just sits there gobbling up CPU and RAM  :down:) and occasionally run into instances where the tagging performed in mp3Collector doesn't translate well. If I do the expedient thing and perform a fix in WMP, it just compounds the problem...

I also use MusicIP Mixer which handles tagging as well. Same results as above. For now I've defaulted to using mp3Collector...
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Veign on November 04, 2007, 04:07 PM
I kinda like Media Monkey for managing my MP3 collection:
http://www.mediamonkey.com/

Reason I like it is has the ability to fix filenames and tags.  Once thing I like with my MP3's is absolute consistency across all files.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Darwin on November 04, 2007, 04:42 PM
Yes - this is what I was getting at: the annoyance of having inconsistencies introduced into my tagging system (OK that's a bit of a joke, but I'd appreciate everyone letting it pass) by mixing and matching different tagging solutions.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Lashiec on November 04, 2007, 04:42 PM
Darwin, the problem with that lies within the inability of programmers to correctly implement ID3v2 tags. It's not only their fault, but also a problem of the specification, being a hack in the beginning and all, with various versions of it, with only 2.4 being the right designed one. It seems to be a trend within big programs though, small software have support for the various revisions, and provide options to choose another revision of your fancy, but warning about their shortcomings.

For example, foobar2000, Mp3tag and XMPlay all recognize and play nice with my files. Winamp also fixed its way in recent times. You can't say the same of iTunes and WMP11, though, those both use ID3v2.3, and people has laughed (or cursed) the implementation.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Lashiec on November 04, 2007, 04:52 PM
Carol, can't you add a poll with multiple options? :)
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Darwin on November 04, 2007, 04:53 PM
Yup. No argument there, Lashiec. I guess rather than writing

mixing and matching different tagging solutions

I should have written  

using more than one programme to handle mp3 tagging
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Carol Haynes on November 04, 2007, 06:07 PM
Carol, can't you add a poll with multiple options? :)

Done - you can vote for as many as you like.

If people come up with different apps/methods I will add them to the choice list.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Lashiec on November 04, 2007, 06:09 PM
Nice! Thanks a bunch, Carol!
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: jgpaiva on November 04, 2007, 07:18 PM
As of its latest version, winamp also has the abbility of tagging mp3s. That's what i'm using right now.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: yksyks on November 05, 2007, 01:03 AM
A bit old, but still quite useful and worth trying: MediaTagger (http://www.viktorin.cz/media_tagger/eng/index.html). The latest beta works fine, but the development seems to stop.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: dhuser on November 05, 2007, 07:48 AM
I use AudioShell (http://www.softpointer.com/AudioShell.htm) for audio tagging and integrates into Windows Explorer. You can edit tags from the Properties dialog, under the Tag Editor Tab. Great for quick editing.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: urlwolf on November 05, 2007, 07:53 AM
I use foobar for mass-tagging and replaygain...
I wish I could use musicIP, because it's my main player, ...
but the designer of the tagging UI has very particular ideas about how to tag (I bet speed of editing is not an issue for him), and the entire program, while being the most promising ever designed *you can automatically correct tags using their server! no more hand-tagging! much better than musicBraninz Piccard!* is cursed by poor UI design.

I have posted in their forums, but to date none of the features suggested, which will make MIP at least on par with all the programs cited in the poll, have being implemented.

I still hope one day they will, although considering that they add a new feature every 2-3 months at most, I'm not holding my breath.

Seriously, somebody should buy that company and inject cash into it. It's a pity that development is so slow, and that crucial aspects such as GUI are sorely ignored.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: urlwolf on November 05, 2007, 08:01 AM
I tried audioShell, but after install it didn't do any of the things advertised.
Do you have to reboot? How do you know it's running?
I need it to work with Total commander too...
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: masu on November 05, 2007, 02:29 PM
Thanks for your Hint with MP3Tag. The Program looks really solid  :Thmbsup:
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: urlwolf on November 05, 2007, 02:35 PM
by the way, foobar 9.5 beta 3 is out.
Check out the new default interface, really functional, very usable.
Not much use of title formating.
Looks great out of the box, you can have cover art, a volume bar (!!! :) ), without installing a single component.

The search function are the spartest I've ever seen.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: tranglos on November 05, 2007, 02:46 PM
MP3Tag here, the best I've found for keyboard-only operation. I've turned all confirmations off, and editing the tags is now like typing in a document - just type and it's done.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Darwin on November 05, 2007, 06:47 PM
Actually, the Total Commander reference reminds me that yet another option I have used (and rued due to the aforementioned conflicts that arise) is DOpus. It's pretty much restricted to ogg and mp3 but is actually quite easy to use. If it would do BATCH tagging I'd probably use it...
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: tinjaw on November 05, 2007, 07:02 PM
I use a combination of Picard (http://musicbrainz.org/doc/PicardTagger) and Media Monkey Pro.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: CWuestefeld on November 05, 2007, 08:23 PM
Wow, Thinking about this, I've got a whole slew of tools I've used, depending on the need.

First, for bulk operations I use Zortam (http://www.zortam.com) or The Godfather (http://mahopa.de/tgf/) or MediaMonkey (http://www.mediamonkey.com).

For a major overhaul, you may find MusicIP (http://www.MusicIP.com) helpful. They've got some kind of magic algorithm that identifies tracks from the audio itself rather than tags or filenames, and then assigns the tags properly. The accuracy is stunning. Also, they're pretty good for generating random but coherent playlists.

Finally, for a repairing a quick error, I use a shell extension called MP3-info (http://www.mutschler.de/mp3ext). This adds a page to the file properties dialog for Windows Explorer, so you don't need to start up a special application. It also gives you different icons for .MP3 files, depending on its bitrate.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: mwfuss on November 06, 2007, 12:36 PM
I use both mp3tag and Tag&Rename.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: CWuestefeld on November 06, 2007, 12:48 PM
OK, with MP3tag being so popular... Can you tell me if it understands the AlbumArtist tag? A big part of the reason I use different tools is that support for this tag is still uncommon.

Some of my favorite things to listen to in the car are compilations like "Like, Omigod! The '80s Pop Culture Box" (http://www.rhino.com/store/ProductDetail.lasso?Number=78239) and "Have A Nice Decade: The '70s Pop Culture Box" (http://www.rhino.com/store/ProductDetail.lasso?Number=72919). If you can't assign an AlbumArtist of "Various" to these, then the content of the disc gets fragmented by the library software so you can't listen to it all as one unit (without creating playlists).

(BTW, that "Have A Nice Decade" set is really cool. Between the tracks it's got several news clips, reporting on 70s events like Watergate, Patty Hearst, "Jesus Freaks", etc. It really gives some cool context to the music.)
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Lashiec on November 06, 2007, 12:51 PM
Yes, Mp3tag understands any tag you create and embed in the file. You have to go to the "Extended tags" panel by clicking in any file(s) you wish to edit, and there you can define the tags. As you can define a renaming mechanism as well, it's easy to set up a renaming scheme that chooses either "Album Artist" or "Artist" (a conditional sentence).
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Dude Spell on November 19, 2007, 12:32 PM
Great piece of software.  :Thmbsup:

ID3 Sync (http://www-users.rwth-aachen.de/Christoph.Brueser/)
Let us assume that each file contains a least some correct information, for example: you might have a mp3 which has the correct artist in the filename, the correct title is in the id3v2 tag whilst the id3v1 tag contains the name of the album. ID3-Sync presents you with a simple and fast interface to select the correct information from these different sources. It then updates the id3v1 and id3v2 tags and renames your file according to a pattern you can specify.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: rjdegraff on November 19, 2007, 07:26 PM
Tag & Rename by Softpointer
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: billryan_nz on November 20, 2007, 01:15 AM
Tag 'n Rename - by a long shot (and I've tried a few over the years, including several on the original list).

I have a huge collection with 70% of it classical and jazz. To boot, I'm a pedant (I'd prefer 'social historian' but my family thinks otherwise!) regarding details. Tag 'n Rename does what it does such that the information shows as I wish in my preferred players, J River Media Centre and (on rare occasions) WMP - gave up on WinAmp 2-3 years ago. It can also handle flac and ogg - not that I use them much...
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Carol Haynes on November 20, 2007, 03:23 AM
Poll updated again! (note you can remove votes and also vote for as many as you want)

If you want to change your vote simply remove your vote and then you can choose as many as you like again.

Shame the voting system can't be weighted so that you can order your votes in order of importance to you and items get a fractional vote depending on where they are in the list.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: app103 on November 20, 2007, 06:54 AM
I wonder how many are aware that you can quick edit a tag in Explorer for an .mp3 file by right clicking and going to properties, and then on the 'Summary' tab, clicking 'Advanced', and then clicking what you want to add or change, then hitting 'Apply' when done.

[ You are not allowed to view attachments ][ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Dr-Leech on November 20, 2007, 07:45 AM
For masstagging MP3Tag, for album tagging Musicbrainz.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: TheQwerty on November 20, 2007, 08:05 AM
MP3Tag, foobar2000, and some custom scripting.

foobar2000's gotten to the point where I could probably ditch MP3Tag, but since all it does is tagging I still prefer MP3Tag's interface for doing a lot of bulk editing.

Plus, it's a lot easier to deal with the different versions of ID3 tags within MP3Tag.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: CleverCat on November 21, 2007, 01:26 AM
What are the advantages of tagging?
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: app103 on November 21, 2007, 08:09 AM
What are the advantages of tagging?

Some things require tags in order to work properly, such as the Last.fm (http://www.last.fm) service. And some MP3 CD players (like mine) rely on tags to let you know what you are listening to, searching for songs, and allowing you to set up playlists.

Also, there is more than just artist/album/track/title that can go in a tag, such as genre, lyrics, year, composer, url of artist's homepage (or where you downloaded it from), original artist (if it is a cover tune), copyright holder (if it is different than the artist), comments (or a tiny bit of related trivia, or a list of all the members of a band).

You could never include all that info in the file name...it would be much too long.

People that are true music freaks will research all this stuff and add the info to every track they have. Then they will never wonder about it later because it's all in the tags in case they can't remember...or if they have software that can utilize the tags they have added. It is particularly useful with software that allows you to search your collection and gives results based on tag info.

So let's say for example you want to make a play list of all songs by and related to John Lennon and you do a search of your collection (provided you have an application or player that supports all tags and your files are fully tagged with all data).

You would get as your results...

Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: wuwei23 on November 22, 2007, 04:45 AM
MP3Tag is hands down the best tagger I've used; it even runs (almost) perfectly on Ubuntu under WINE.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Armando on December 24, 2007, 11:26 AM
Interesting coincidence, there seem to be 2 different software (with a different version number) of mp3tag :

http://www.mp3tag.de/en/
http://www.maniactools.com/soft/mp3tag/

So, which one is the "right" one ?
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: vegas on December 24, 2007, 11:54 AM
http://www.mp3tag.de/en/ ...Hands Down.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Lashiec on December 24, 2007, 12:28 PM
Notice that the freeware one is "Mp3tag" and the shareware "mp3tag". This is what happens when you choose a popular name ;D
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Curt on January 28, 2009, 08:31 AM
I have been trying MP3tag for a couple of months, and was overall pleased with it. The reason I nevertheless have ditched it is because it was ruining MP3Ext (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=1007.0)'s ability to read the bit rates. I cannot imagine what MP3tag is doing to the files, when tagging them, that are changing the signal the file later is sending to the MP3Ext (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=5315.msg148082#msg148082)'s bit-rate reader, but it is doing something.

I am now trying Tag&Rename (http://www.softpointer.com/tr.htm) (3.5 RC 1), MP3 Collector (http://www.collectorz.com/), and some others, instead.

---

This thread is a little old, and maybe needs to be updated,
so I guess it is 'appropriate' to repeat masu's initial question:

Which MP3 tagger do you use?
  :tellme:
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: TheQwerty on January 28, 2009, 11:55 AM
I cannot imagine what MP3tag is doing to the files, when tagging them, that are changing the signal the file later is sending to the MP3Ext (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=5315.msg148082#msg148082)'s bit-rate reader, but it is doing something.
I'd be willing to bet that you have MP3Tag set to write ID3v2.4 (which I believe is the default) and MP3Ext only handles or prefers ID3v2.3 or earlier.  But it's a bit of a wild guess since I've never used MP3Ext and don't know much about it.

You could change that in MP3Tag and test it; the option is found at Tool -> Options -> Tags -> Mpeg.


I do all my tagging within Foobar2000 and MP3Tag and they've both worked extremely well for me for many years.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Dirhael on January 28, 2009, 01:32 PM
I cannot imagine what MP3tag is doing to the files, when tagging them, that are changing the signal the file later is sending to the MP3Ext (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=5315.msg148082#msg148082)'s bit-rate reader, but it is doing something.
I'd be willing to bet that you have MP3Tag set to write ID3v2.4 (which I believe is the default) and MP3Ext only handles or prefers ID3v2.3 or earlier.  But it's a bit of a wild guess since I've never used MP3Ext and don't know much about it.

You could change that in MP3Tag and test it; the option is found at Tool -> Options -> Tags -> Mpeg.


I do all my tagging within Foobar2000 and MP3Tag and they've both worked extremely well for me for many years.

Yeah, I've used mp3tag for quite some time now and I've never had problems with the files after tagging them (well, except the id3v2.3 vs 2.4 issue with some players but that's hardly a fault of mp3tag).

If you really do believe that whatever program you're using to tag files are altering the audio data itself, use foobar2000 with the offical Binary Comparator (http://foobar2000.org/?page=Download) component to check the files (just create a copy of the files before tagging, then compare them with tagged copies).
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Curt on January 28, 2009, 05:10 PM
I cannot imagine what MP3tag is doing to the files, when tagging them, that are changing the signal the file later is sending to the MP3Ext (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=5315.msg148082#msg148082)'s bit-rate reader, but it is doing something.
I'd be willing to bet that you have MP3Tag set to write ID3v2.4 (which I believe is the default) and MP3Ext only handles or prefers ID3v2.3 or earlier. 

- your bet might not be taken, and MP3Ext has not been updated for five years, so your explanation *should* seem likely. However, I have now transcoded all the files in question, using MediaCoder, and once they have been transcoded (to the very same bit rate as they already were) they are  being displayed correctly, by MP3Ext. Meaning, the error could not have been caused by the tags, but must have been caused by the file's bit-rate coding, or whatever. Apparently altered by MP3tag.

Or what? Does MediaCoder maybe also alter the tags, without telling?
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Writer on January 28, 2009, 10:04 PM
Have you tried TagScanner (http://www.xdlab.ru/en/)? Although the macro ability in MP3tag is better, TagScanner stands out for its neat UI.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: baeksam on January 29, 2009, 12:14 AM
Tag & Rename
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Cosiness on November 19, 2009, 06:49 AM
I use MP3 Tag Pro, it allows not only to extract the correct id3 tags from a music file, but if it is missing it can download this information from the Internet. It can also find and download the sonds' lyrics and album covers.  :Thmbsup:

[edited to remove link - mouser]
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: tomos on November 19, 2009, 07:10 AM
I use ________, it allows not only to extract the correct id3 tags from a music file, but if it is missing it can download this information from the Internet. It can also find and download the sonds' lyrics and album covers.  :Thmbsup:

dubious link there in original post ? (affiliate link I believe)

[edit] I was having a look at the app & clicked on the BUY link to see the price & noticed the word 'affiliate' in the url [/edit]
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Innuendo on November 19, 2009, 09:14 AM
I actually tried MP3 Tag Pro a month or two ago & I didn't think it was all that impressive from what I recall. There are much better solutions available.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: xtabber on November 19, 2009, 12:09 PM
I use Mp3tag when editing tags, but since a lot of my tagging is done when I rip or convert audio, I should add Easy CD-DA ( http://www.poikosoft.com ) to the list. It's an audio ripper/converter/burner, but it also handles tags nicely while dong so. 

Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: superboyac on November 19, 2009, 12:34 PM
I've always been a huge fan of Tag&Rename, and I've talked about it many times here.  You can't beat it.  I know MP3tag is a lot more popular, but I've tried it and I feel it's more popular because it's free, not because it's the better program.  Tag&Rename has just the right balance of power and convenient interface for most mp3 tagging operations.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Darwin on November 19, 2009, 12:38 PM
+1 for Tag&Rename  :Thmbsup:

I've tried a myriad of alternatives, FOSS and shareware, and Tag&Rename just "fits" for me.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Innuendo on November 19, 2009, 05:48 PM
At first glance, IMHO, when comparing Tag&Rename to mp3tag the easy answer is Tag&Rename, but mp3tag has a deceptively simple interface. Lurking under the surface is a scripting language that is compatible with Foobar2000's Tagz scripting language. Users are free to write their own scripts for many things including tagging from web sources that don't come stock with the program. Actions may also be scripted that can perform any number of operations on your files with the scripting language being powerful enough that your imagination is the only limiting factor. You don't have to reinvent the wheel, either, as their forum is full of actions and scripts you can add to your installation easily.

What cinched me as a user is unlike most tagging programs, Tag&Rename included, you are not boxed into a pre-determined set of tags that the program author feels should be all you will need. You can use mp3tag to create, edit, and delete any tag. I'm talking any tag written by any tagging program ever & you are free to even create your own tags. Even if you have no interest in creating your own tags maybe you have some music files that were tagged by some other program you were using 5-10 years ago.

Who knows what weird tags are lurking in your files that your old program utilized that your new one doesn't? Well, mp3tag knows and gives you the ability to look at the raw list of tags & add, edit, or delete any your new tagging scheme & tagging program don't use. For a specific example, this is especially useful for those who used MusicMatch back at the height of its popularity. MusicMatch used a LOT of custom tags that no other tagging program uses. Loading up these files in mp3tag will allow you to nuke those relics from the past with impunity.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Darwin on November 19, 2009, 06:04 PM
For a specific example, this is especially useful for those who used MusicMatch back at the height of its popularity. MusicMatch used a LOT of custom tags that no other tagging program uses. Loading up these files in mp3tag will allow you to nuke those relics from the past with impunity.

This is good to know! I used MusicMatch for a number of years.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: superboyac on November 19, 2009, 06:06 PM
At first glance, IMHO, when comparing Tag&Rename to mp3tag the easy answer is Tag&Rename, but mp3tag has a deceptively simple interface. Lurking under the surface is a scripting language that is compatible with Foobar2000's Tagz scripting language. Users are free to write their own scripts for many things including tagging from web sources that don't come stock with the program. Actions may also be scripted that can perform any number of operations on your files with the scripting language being powerful enough that your imagination is the only limiting factor. You don't have to reinvent the wheel, either, as their forum is full of actions and scripts you can add to your installation easily.

What cinched me as a user is unlike most tagging programs, Tag&Rename included, you are not boxed into a pre-determined set of tags that the program author feels should be all you will need. You can use mp3tag to create, edit, and delete any tag. I'm talking any tag written by any tagging program ever & you are free to even create your own tags. Even if you have no interest in creating your own tags maybe you have some music files that were tagged by some other program you were using 5-10 years ago.

Who knows what weird tags are lurking in your files that your old program utilized that your new one doesn't? Well, mp3tag knows and gives you the ability to look at the raw list of tags & add, edit, or delete any your new tagging scheme & tagging program don't use. For a specific example, this is especially useful for those who used MusicMatch back at the height of its popularity. MusicMatch used a LOT of custom tags that no other tagging program uses. Loading up these files in mp3tag will allow you to nuke those relics from the past with impunity.
i agree with you.  That's I always say "for basic purposes" for these tagging programs.  Most users do not encounter situations like you described.  For basic tagging with normal fields, it's very quick and easy in Tag&Rename, and because that's 90% what I do, it's my favorite program for it.  now, sometimes i do need something fancier, and I do use other programs for that.  (I still don't know what to do about classical music).  But a few years ago, i railed against programs like Godfather, which turned something as simple as managing mp3 tags into a phd class in programming...just completely unintuitive and nonproductive.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Curt on November 19, 2009, 06:07 PM
I use AudioShell (http://www.softpointer.com/AudioShell.htm) ...

What is the situation today - with AudioShell not been updated since July 2007 (XP > Vista > Seven) ?
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Dormouse on November 19, 2009, 06:10 PM
I use mp3tag & J River. Also use Replay Music.
Can't say I'm that heavily into tagging though. I listen to a wide range of music, and usually just have the player set to shuffle from the whole collection of whatever gadget I'm on. Or listen to 'radio' streams. If I want to check out a particular artist, I use Spotify.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Innuendo on November 19, 2009, 10:29 PM
i agree with you.  That's I always say "for basic purposes" for these tagging programs.  Most users do not encounter situations like you described.

I disagree. Most people have been collecting digital music for years and they haven't used one program throughout the entire process. Heck, different programs can't decide which tag to use for the artist when it comes to MP3s.

  For basic tagging with normal fields, it's very quick and easy in Tag&Rename, and because that's 90% what I do, it's my favorite program for it.  now, sometimes i do need something fancier, and I do use other programs for that.

This is what I like about mp3tag. You can set it up to be as simple or as elaborate as you wish. You don't have to switch gears and learn a different program.

(I still don't know what to do about classical music).

You don't use the MP3 format. You use Ogg Vorbis or FLAC which has a much more versatile tagging format & then use a media player that can understand how you tag.

But a few years ago, i railed against programs like Godfather, which turned something as simple as managing mp3 tags into a phd class in programming...just completely unintuitive and nonproductive.

The Godfather was the most powerful & most counter-intuitive program of its day. Throw in a retro Windows 95 style GUI and you had something that was frustratingly powerful; emphasis on the word frustratingly.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Innuendo on November 19, 2009, 10:30 PM
This is good to know! I used MusicMatch for a number of years.

Then if you tagged any of your music with MusicMatch they got all sorts of weird things in there. You'd be surprised what you'd find. :)
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Innuendo on November 19, 2009, 10:36 PM
What is the situation today - with AudioShell not been updated since July 2007 (XP > Vista > Seven) ?

Basic functionality is in the Windows 7 Explorer. If you want fancy features (even fancier than AudioShell) there's always the payware dbpoweramp.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Xenonym on November 21, 2009, 08:45 AM
I used to use MusicBrainz Tagger, but I have since switched foobar2000 with foo_discogs (honestly, it's an awesome plugin).
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Innuendo on November 21, 2009, 10:02 AM
I used to use MusicBrainz Tagger, but I have since switched foobar2000 with foo_discogs (honestly, it's an awesome plugin).

Foobar2000's tagging abilities are truly awesome. Start adding components like the foo_discogs one you just mentioned and you go from awesome to crazy-powerful quickly. My only beef with Foobar's tagging, and this is my own personal quirk, is that there's no way to tag files without modifying the file dates.

This behavior of mine goes all the way back to the very first mp3 I got my hands on. I may have to try to break this habit in order to use some programs I can't otherwise.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: paarkhi on November 21, 2009, 10:04 AM
MP3tag
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Innuendo on November 21, 2009, 10:06 AM
Not really my thing, but someone may be interested in this. Helium Music Manager 7 has been released. I haven't tried it out myself extensively yet, but lots of things look encouraging. They've re-wrote a lot of the code so everything is Unicode-aware now. The GUI has been streamlined a bit. Also gone is the 30-day trial mode. That's been replaced with a free mode that never expires and if you find you want to shell out the bucks for paid mode you'll be pleased to find out that the price has been lowered from $44.95 to $29.95.

Registered Helium 6 owners need to check their receipts. If you bought Helium 6 anytime in the last year you're entitled to a free upgrade to a version 7 network license.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Innuendo on November 21, 2009, 10:08 AM
MP3tag

That's what I've been trying to tell these people. I probably should mention at this point the mp3tag I've been raving about is the one at http://www.mp3tag.de/en/ .

The MP3 Tag Pro made by Maniac Tools is rather craptacular.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: mouser on September 28, 2013, 04:23 AM
Just had a chance to use mp3tag and it is an incredibly powerful and easy to use tool. I was shocked at how good it was.
It's donationware and after using it I immediately went to donate.  Well deserved.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Curt on September 28, 2013, 05:16 AM
November 2007:

[ You are not allowed to view attachments ] (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=10691.0)


-this was the poll that made me install mp3tag late 2007 April 2008 (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=13159.msg110935#msg110935). Today I am a fan of mp3tag, the program, it has tagged more than 100.000 audio files of mine :-) However, I am not a fan of their donation system; I haven't received any confirmations. Did they ever get the money? I don't know, so I stopped donating!

Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: mouser on September 28, 2013, 05:28 AM
I should say that I have not compared any of the other taggers, so i have no idea how mp3tag stacks up against the other tools.

I only know i was able to use it to do all kinds of things like parsing tags from the filename in different ways, sorting and filtering, and cleaning up tags using regular expressions, etc.  It had a way to do everything i wanted to do.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Tuxman on September 28, 2013, 08:15 AM
I switched from the (long dead) ID3Tag to Mp3tag years ago. I tried AudioShell, AIMP's internal tag editor and The GodFather, but none of them worked so well for me. Still, Picard has a reason to live on my hard disk as it can find tags by checking the fingerprint, but for my daily, uhm, "work" Mp3tag might be the best choice.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Vurbal on September 28, 2013, 10:32 AM
Mp3Tag is also my go to choice for every day tagging but like Tuxman I keep MusicBrainz Picard around for its fingerprint capabilities.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: tomos on September 28, 2013, 01:39 PM
Picard has a reason to live on my hard disk as it can find tags by checking the fingerprint
like Tuxman I keep MusicBrainz Picard around for its fingerprint capabilities.

I was going to ask what this meant, but I found this in the documentation:

Scanning (fingerprinting) files

Instead of using release-oriented and metadata-dependent lookups, Picard can try and tag your files 1-by-1 based on their audio fingerprint. If you select a set of files in the left-hand pane and click "Scan", Picard will find PUIDs for your files and query MusicBrainz to find a track that matches them.
-http://musicbrainz.org/doc/MusicBrainz_Picard/Documentation#Scanning_.28fingerprinting.29_files

1) so IIUC, that's mainly used to identify unknown tracks?
2) Can it be used to identify similar tracks?
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: Tuxman on September 28, 2013, 01:43 PM
1) Yes.
2) I'd recommend Similarity (http://www.similarityapp.com/) for that.
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: tomos on September 28, 2013, 02:07 PM
1) Yes.
2) I'd recommend Similarity (http://www.similarityapp.com/) for that.

thanks!
Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: xtabber on September 29, 2013, 02:05 PM
I only know i was able to use it to do all kinds of things like parsing tags from the filename in different ways, sorting and filtering, and cleaning up tags using regular expressions, etc.  It had a way to do everything i wanted to do.
Perhaps the most awesome ability is that tags selected by a user defined template can be exported to a text file which can be manipulated any way you want, then imported using the same or a different template into the same, or different music.

Without MP3Tag. life would be too short to even think about providing consistent labeling across multiple versions of Bach's Well Tempered Clavier, which consists of either 48 or 96 files, depending on whether the preludes and fugues are combined or separate.

Title: Re: Which MP3 tagger do you use?
Post by: CleverCat on October 17, 2013, 02:32 AM
I use TagScanner Portable - http://www.xdlab.ru/en/index.htm (http://www.xdlab.ru/en/index.htm)

No mess no fuss!  :Thmbsup: