I pretty much use CueTools exclusively to manipulate my collection. My only issue with CT is that it writes the track numbers as xx/xx which I do not like. I have confirmed with CT support that this is the default and it is not changeable.
It is not a big deal as I simply use either Mp3Tag or Tag&Rename to fix the issue for me.
My issue is with FLAC tracks, which I am in the process of making all my lossless collection into for use with emby. The FLAC tracks show the track numbers as what I consider the standard track number as xx, but Tag&Rename shows them as xx/xx.
It is not a big deal to load them all in T&R and go album by album and convert them with CTRL+T but it is easier in Mp3Tag but the tracks don’t show as xx/xx in Mp3Tag.
Now, when I create mp3s from the same image files using CueTools those do show up with track numbers as xx/xx in Mp3Tag.
I am now confused and need a little help understanding what is going on and if it is something I can correct. I would rather use Mp3 exclusively but at the moment that is not possible with this issue.
So little information with screenshots, esp. the extended tags dialogue of a file that look right and one that does not - could you please follow these guidelines:
Now I just made mp3s out of the same image file using the same mask from CueTools so it has exactly the same tag info and you can see the FLAC files are numbered xx and the mp3s are numbered as xx/xx. In Tag&Rename they both show as xx/xx.
I understand that the FLAC track is numbered differently and that is what the extended tag dialog shows but in T&R the FLAC track is still numbered xx/xx just like the mp3 so I still have to revert to T&R for all FLAC tracks to make sure they are numbered to my liking. I would rather use Mp3Tag exclusively at this point but this issue is preventing that.
As you can see there is a field TRACKTOTAL in the correctly tagged flacs.
So you either add a column for TRACKTOTAL so that you see the extra information.
Or you modify the column definition for TRACK to %track%[/%tracktotal%]
so that it looks like the mp3 track number.
This applies only to the file list.
In the tag panel it only works with an additional object for TRACKTOTAL
I understand what you are saying but I don’t want to manipulate the tags after because that is a pain and wasted work.
What I am trying to understand is why the very same FLAC tracks show the track numbering as different between Mp3Tag and EVERY OTHER tagging software. Yes, I prefer the way it shows in Mp3Tag but why are the extended tags different in the same file between different tag editing software?
I don’t want it to look like the mp3 counter but I am trying to understand why it is different between the FLAC tags and the mp3 tags but in the two other tag editing software I have loaded these very same files, the FLAC files, they show as xx/xx?
Now I just checked and if I change the track numbering of the mp3 files to xx then in other tag editors it is gone too and there is no track total for the album anywhere.
My issue is I can see that having a track total for the album as handy but only if it is a separate field like in the FLAC tracks when viewing in Mp3Tag where it shows the track as xx in the editor and the total is another field, but the very same file shows as xx/xx in every other editor. This is what is confusing me.
I would like the mp3 to show track as xx but have a separate field for track total for the album but I am not sure that is possible.
The issue is I think the info could be useful but I do not like to look at tracks numbered as xx/xx is all.
I think I just confused you and myself even further.
It is the way that other programs process the information. They hide the information from you that different files and tag types follow different standards.
MP3tag, on the other hand, shows transparently the real structure.
Well, is there a way to globally add the TRACKTOTAL field to all mp3s loaded into Mp3Tag that would only take an “ACTION” I suppose to populate those fields for each album?
Believe me, I am not complaining, I am just trying to understand this stuff and standardize my collection and how I work with it so when I come back in a year and add some music it is all the same formatting.
I now prefer Mp3Tag over all the other tagging software out there as I learn how to do things and would prefer to standardize on it alone.
TRACKTOTAL in MP3s would be a user-defined field that gets probably ignored by most players. So I doubt that it is a good idea to fill all file types with TRACKTOTAL.
If you use MP3tag to tag your files, then the data in TRACK gets split into the standard compliant fields for the various tag types.
If you want to get a certain kind of display then there are workarounds like the described on to emulate the display of other programs.
If you find discrepancies between your various programs, then it is always a good way to check MP3tag's extended tags dialogue first to see if the missing information can be found there in one of the fields.
I doubt it is important to be honest. I will do things as I have been and just make the mp3 tracks to have a TRACK field value in xx format. I really don’t see the need to have a total track # for the album.
I also don’t plan to change the track numbers of the FLAC files in Tag&Rename anymore because from what you have explained it is taking two fields and blending the information into one field for display. Not so with mp3s.
Luckily if I ever find a need to have track count for the album then Mp3Tag is the solution because I can load up 200K files and change them with 3 clicks.
I am really starting to love this program and I want to thank you for always being Johnny on the spot to help solve issues that are not actually problems just my misunderstanding on how the program works. I am learning though, I have solved several “how do I do this” items on my own lately.
