# Which tag format to use?
**URL:** https://community.mp3tag.de/t/which-tag-format-to-use/46421
**Category:** General Discussion
**Created:** [September 14, 2019, 11:39am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/which-tag-format-to-use/46421 "2019-09-14T11:39:08Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@APWSoft](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/APWSoft)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2019, 11:39am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/which-tag-format-to-use/46421/1 "2019-09-14T11:39:08Z")
I recently bought a new album and went to update the tags using MP3Tag. I noticed that this time saving the changes did not add APE tags. I've always used ID3v2.3 (ID3v1, ID3v2.3, APEv2), but this latest album defaulted to ID3v2.3 (ID3v1, ID3v2.3). I'm not too concerned because it hasn't affected my music player at all, but it set me to thinking what are the best tags to use? Can/should I remove APE tags from all my music? What is the general standard for players these days?
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### Author:  [@LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/LyricsLover)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2019, 12:32pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/which-tag-format-to-use/46421/2 "2019-09-14T12:32:21Z")
Unfortunately, there is no "general standard for players these days".
It depends only on YOUR players. The one in your car, in your appartement, your mobile phone and so on.
I would say: For most `.mp3` files, you don't need APE\*\* tags. But again, it really depends on your devices.
\*\* The _APEv1 tag_ was designed for the [Monkey's Audio](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey%27s_Audio) format.
\*\* [APEv2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APE_tag#APEv2) allows metadata values to be Unicode rather than simply ASCII in APEv1
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### Author:  [@MP3Freak\_Peter](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/MP3Freak_Peter)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2019, 7:54pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/which-tag-format-to-use/46421/3 "2019-09-14T19:54:38Z")
That's not completely true.
If you're using mp3 you should know.
ID3v1/ID3v2 was first tagging format for mp3 and designed to work with mp3 (uses synsafe int values to avoid interpretation as audiodata).
APE was introduced by Monke's much more later and is NOT SUPPORTED for most Audioplayers (Software and Handware).
ID3v2 supports unicode, dynamic tag lenght, covers and so on
ID3v2.3 is a de facto standard that is even supported by Windows itself and most hardware devices.
ID3v1 is the older format that support just fix lengh Ansi Tags but is support by almost any devices, even hardware devices.
Do not use APE for mp3 files, you will get compatiblily problems and may corrupt files.
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### Author:  [@APWSoft](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/APWSoft)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2019, 10:21am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/which-tag-format-to-use/46421/4 "2019-09-15T10:21:58Z")
Interesting. As far as I can tell it doesn't cause any problems at the moment, but I'll bear it in mind if I start to get any. Thanks.
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### Author:  [@Zerow](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Zerow)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2019, 8:01pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/which-tag-format-to-use/46421/5 "2019-09-20T20:01:37Z")
And there is also the issue of some players not being able to displaying data from every tag field, even the legit ones
An example from my own experience:
> [@Mapping of tag fields - is it really needed at all?](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/mapping-of-tag-fields-is-it-really-needed-at-all/19791/2):
>
> [I also posted a version of this post on the Winamp's forum [http://forums.shoutcast.com/showthread.php?p=2662015](http://forums.shoutcast.com/showthread.php?p=2662015) but it awaits moderation, so it may be, that this knowledge will see the daylight only here] This Advanced Title Formatting in Winamp has serious limitations It seems that users are confined only to the very basic fields: TITLE ARTIST ALBUM YEAR TRACK GENRE COMMENT as they are used by various formats And by confined I mean a set up like this: I use FLAC, MP3, TTA and WV files. …
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### Author:  [@Moonbase](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Moonbase)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2019, 11:14am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/which-tag-format-to-use/46421/6 "2019-09-29T11:14:39Z")
Bear in mind that tools like _mp3gain_, _foobar2000_ and _liquidsoap_ do store ReplayGain values in _APEv2_ tags in MP3 files.
I’d still recommend getting rid of APEv2 and ID3v1 tags in MP3s, and use other tools like [loudgain](https://github.com/Moonbase59/loudgain) for replaygaining or foobar2000 with APEv2 tag writing disabled.