# Compare 2 different files **URL:** \ **Category:** Support\ **Created:** [August 9, 2022, 7:51am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/compare-2-different-files/58161 "2022-08-09T07:51:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kenjaz](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/edb3f5/32.png) [@kenjaz](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/kenjaz)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 7:51am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/compare-2-different-files/58161/1 "2022-08-09T07:51:15Z")
Is there a way to compare all the info on two different files? I use Audio Station on my Synology drive and in a mix album, one song out of the twenty is broken out as a separate 'album'. I cannot find why this is happening since the readily available song info is the same. I assume Audio Station is seeing something different to make the distinction but I cannot find what that is. So I would like to compare the odd track with one of the 19 in the main album listing to try and spot what's different. (In File Station, all 20 tracks are listed together.) Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ohrenkino/32/4843_2.png) [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 8:16am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/compare-2-different-files/58161/2 "2022-08-09T08:16:14Z")
MP3tag does not compare the tag content of 2 different files. MP3tag does not (really) look at the audio/video part of a file. > [@How to check files for errors?](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/how-to-check-files-for-errors/44633): > > It’s required and often helps to reduce support cycles to check files for errors before filing a bug report. Symptoms of erroneous files are often missing or wrong bitrate or length audible blips or skips tags seem to be sticky and cannot be removed There are some really good tools to check the files for errors, namely MP3 Diags — identifies many different issues in MP3 files Website: [http://mp3diags.sourceforge.net](http://mp3diags.sourceforge.net) Download: [MP3 Diags - Getting MP3 Diags](http://mp3diags.sourceforge.net/010_getting_the_program.html#binWindows) If the font size in MP3 Diags is … Shows links to tools that also look at the audio part. Perhaps you find something there. ---
**Author:** ![kenjaz](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/edb3f5/32.png) [@kenjaz](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/kenjaz)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 8:54am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/compare-2-different-files/58161/3 "2022-08-09T08:54:04Z")
Thanks for the speedy reply! Will check out MP3 Diags. I'm not clear why you mention the 'audio/video part of a file'. I assume the difference is in some tag. I converted all the music tracks from MP3 to FLAC so I can't imagine that it is something in the one audio track. ---
**Author:** ![LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/c6cbf5/32.png) [@LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/LyricsLover)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 10:02am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/compare-2-different-files/58161/4 "2022-08-09T10:02:58Z")
> [@kenjaz](#): > > I converted all the music tracks from MP3 to FLAC I'm just curious: Why do you convert your sound from the [lossy format MP3](https://higherhz.com/lossless-vs-lossy-compression-audio-formats/) to the lossless format FLAC? ---
**Author:** ![ryerman](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ryerman/32/5285_2.png) [@ryerman](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ryerman)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 10:58am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/compare-2-different-files/58161/5 "2022-08-09T10:58:29Z")
> [@kenjaz](#): > > Is there a way to compare all the info on two different files? There is no action or scripting function that compares information from one file to another. But the tag panel has drop-down menus that show all the different contents for a field, in all selected files. If all selected files have the same information, the value will be shown. If any file is different from the others, `""` can be shown and all the different values will be shown in the drop-down menu. That is, in effect, a comparison. ---
**Author:** ![MotleyG](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/motleyg/32/440_2.png) [@MotleyG](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/MotleyG)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 11:02am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/compare-2-different-files/58161/6 "2022-08-09T11:02:50Z")
There is no way to directly compare tags of tracks. But there is a method I use when this has happened. 1. Open all 20 of the album songs in mp3tag 2. Select all songs 3. In the tag panel you can check for all fields that should be the same, typically Album, AlbumArtist, Year, TotalTracks, TotalDiscs, and possibly even Artists for many but not all releases. 4. If any of the above fields instead shows `< Keep >` then there are at least two with different content. 5. Click the down arrow on the far right of that field, a list will display for all the current content, even if it is just a space or other unseen character. 6. Select the one you want to keep. 7. Repeat for all of the common fields, then Save. ---
**Author:** ![MotleyG](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/motleyg/32/440_2.png) [@MotleyG](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/MotleyG)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 11:07am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/compare-2-different-files/58161/7 "2022-08-09T11:07:43Z")
Whoops, how’s that for timing? ---
**Author:** ![kenjaz](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/edb3f5/32.png) [@kenjaz](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/kenjaz)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 1:15pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/compare-2-different-files/58161/8 "2022-08-09T13:15:46Z")
I am a novice at understanding the reality of this stuff at 74, but isn't lossless better sounding than lossy? ---
**Author:** ![LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/c6cbf5/32.png) [@LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/LyricsLover)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 1:19pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/compare-2-different-files/58161/9 "2022-08-09T13:19:26Z")
If you convert your music from a high quality source (like a physical CD) directly to FLAC, then the answer is YES. But if you convert a "crappy bad quality" MP3 to FLAC you still get a "crappy bad quality" FLAC in the end (sorry for the term...) Converting from a lossy format to a lossless format only makes sense, if your target device only understand the new target format (FLAC in this case). If you do it only because of "better sounding", it is not worth the effort. You even need much more disk drive space with FLAC and don't gain any quality advantage in your case. Please have a look at the linked article > **[Lossless vs. lossy audio: FLAC, WAV, MP3, and other formats](https://higherhz.com/lossless-vs-lossy-compression-audio-formats/)** > > We explain what lossless audio is, the difference between lossless and lossy compression, and the main formats that you should know. They explain the details between the formats and the difference between _lossy_ and _lossless_ compression. ---
**Author:** ![kenjaz](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/edb3f5/32.png) [@kenjaz](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/kenjaz)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 2:13pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/compare-2-different-files/58161/10 "2022-08-09T14:13:03Z")
Lyrics Lover: Thanks. Got it. I thought that the FLAC conversion did some internal magic… ryeman and MotleyG: Thanks. Did that and every category checks out. No issues. So it must be something else. It may just be some fluke in Audio Station… I appreciate all the help! I think that the fine app MP3tag is not going to help; fix this. ---
**Author:** ![LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/c6cbf5/32.png) [@LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/LyricsLover)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 2:21pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/compare-2-different-files/58161/11 "2022-08-09T14:21:08Z")
If you like, you can show us a screenshot\*\* from the one track that is broken out as a separate album. Then please show us the same screenshot\*\* from one of the 19 correctly grouped tracks. \*\* Load both tracks into Mp3tag and press ALT + T or press the menu View -\> Extended Tags for each of them. You can find instructions on how to create and post a screenshot here: > [@Hints for asking Support Requests](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/hints-for-asking-support-requests/56190#use-screenshots-to-exemplify-the-issue-2): > > If you need support using Mp3tag, you can help the community members that are about to support you in finding a solution or workaround to your problem, by following these simple guidelines. Be descriptive, also in what you’ve already tried Please give a short explanation what’s not working as expected or what you’re trying to achieve. It’s best to know any details about the problem at hand and especially, what steps you’ve already tried to solve it by yourself. Helpful information also includ… Maybe we can spot a difference in your metadata. ---
**Author:** ![MotleyG](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/motleyg/32/440_2.png) [@MotleyG](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/MotleyG)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 2:27pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/compare-2-different-files/58161/12 "2022-08-09T14:27:17Z")
Also, you can check to see if that one track has any other tags like APE or ID3v1 embedded as well that the others may not have. This could be affecting your player, depending on the priority it reads those tags. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/c/ce7035d426cb755a7916793326d23b465222a407.png) [@system](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/system)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 12:29pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/compare-2-different-files/58161/13 "2026-02-09T12:29:53Z")