FLAC with embedded cuesheet, one step ? Options

[Synthetic Soul]

The FLAC-file-format is also able to store the infos of the corresponding cuesheet in an own TAG-field, so you could decide only to drive with this one flac-file (with embedded cuesheet) - still a matter of taste.

You can also embed a cuesheet into an APEv2 tag, and Foobar will pick it up. Both Wavpack and Monkey's Audio can use APEv2 tags. I embed the cuesheet into my APE files as well as keeping the original.

If you are interested in this area my guide may be of some help. As well as covering the process I use to backup the site now has explanations covering how to extract the cuesheet from a file, and restoring an archive to CD.

[sPeziFisH]

If you are interested in this area ...

I guess this is addressed to VCSkier isn't it

[Synthetic Soul]

If you are interested in this area ...

I guess this is addressed to VCSkier isn't it

Sorry, yes. I was quoting you, but the whole response was really directed toward VCSkier.

Apologies for the confusion.

[atici]

No.  I'm referring to tagging.  This is where things get confusing with FLAC.  With FLAC you can store a cuesheet in two places:

1. The FLAC CUESHEET block
   
2. A VORBIS tag called CUESHEET

I believe both are picked up by Foobar.  The FLAC CUESHEET block won't store TITLE/PERFORMER information - so if Foobar is displaying Artist/Album/Track info then you must be using a VORBIS tag.  I think.  I don't use FLAC personally, or or the Foobar database (which seems to add other issues into this mix), so I get a bit confused at this point.  I don't expect Foobar would let you edit the FLAC CUESHEET block - so that's another reason I assume you are using the VORBIS tag.

How did you get the cuesheet into the FLAC file?  (i.e.: What app did you use?)

I used the FLAC Frontend and followed the same method as the sticky EAC+FLAC thread in the lossless forum. I think my cuesheet is in the FLAC CUESHEET block. Is there any way to strip out the cuesheet from this block or make any changes to the FLAC file (without reencoding) so that I could use UNICODE characters? UTF-8 is also fine. Thanks for your help.

[Synthetic Soul]

Is there any way to strip out the cuesheet from this block or make any changes to the FLAC file (without reencoding) so that I could use UNICODE characters? UTF-8 is also fine. Thanks for your help.

Use METAFLAC's "--export-cuesheet-to" switch to get the cuesheet out to a file.

I guess you would use METAFLAC to remove it also - I assume (I don't use FLAC) you would use the "--remove-tag" switch.

Edit2: I would ensure that it is removed before attempting to create a VORBIS tag - otherwise things will get way too confusing. The easiest way to test I guess, apart from METAFLAC, would be to drag the FLAC into Foobar and see if it is listed as one track, or many.

Edit: ... and to create a UTF-8/VORBIS tag version just pull the FLAC into Foobar, add a tag called "CUESHEET", and paste in the cuesheet contents.

An alternative to add the VORBIS tag would be to use my version of TAG and do:

TAG.EXE -f "CUESHEET=<path to cuesheet>" "<path to flac>"

This post has been edited by Synthetic Soul: Mar 23 2005, 17:31

[VCSkier]

hmmm, unfortunately, im still confused. i'd like to create wavpack lossless images of my cds (for storage on a hdd), preferably with the embedded cuesheets, preferably with tagging information included, and preferably using only eac and foobar, in artist titled subdirectories, as directly and simply as possible. i would really like to avoid manual data entry, or manually editing my cuesheets. im using wavpack 4.2b3, which afaik supports cmd line tagging without the wapet.exe. i found the copy image and create cue sheet / compressed... action in eac, but this dosent appear to do what i need it to do. sorry if i am asking you guys to repeat yourselves here, im just having difficulty understanding. is this stuff possible?

edit: what would my command line need to be (in eac or fb2k diskwriter)?

This post has been edited by VCSkier: Mar 24 2005, 05:15

[VCSkier]

synthetic soul, after spending alot of time looking through your guide (very well written by the way), i think the step that has me the most confused is the use of your "batch files." i dont really know what batch files are. will the same batch files that you use work with the setup i am seeking (using wavpack instead)? again sorry for my ignorance...

edit: im sorry guys. the more reading and learning ive been doing, im seeing more and more clearly that alot of my questions are already answered earlier in the thread, or in your guide. i apologize. so please ignore my previous questions. they were a result of ignorance to the topic as a whole, and a degree of laziness for not reading the thread and your guide more closely. i guess my one remaining question is if you are planning on switching to wavpack becasue of its additional features anytime soon...

regardless, i really apprecieate your hard work on that guide. ive learned alot, tho it took me a while. and again, sorry for my previous ignorant questions...

This post has been edited by VCSkier: Mar 24 2005, 09:08

[Synthetic Soul]

hmmm, unfortunately, im still confused.  i'd like to create wavpack lossless images of my cds (for storage on a hdd), preferably with the embedded cuesheets, preferably with tagging information included, and preferably using only eac and foobar, in artist titled subdirectories, as directly and simply as possible.  i would really like to avoid manual data entry, or manually editing my cuesheets.  im using wavpack 4.2b3, which afaik supports cmd line tagging without the wapet.exe.  i found the copy image and create cue sheet / compressed... action in eac, but this dosent appear to do what i need it to do.  sorry if i am asking you guys to repeat yourselves here, im just having difficulty understanding.  is this stuff possible?

edit:  what would my command line need to be (in eac or fb2k diskwriter)?

As you say, 4.2b3 will allow tagging while encoding. It also allows you to set tags from the contents of a text file (e.g.: a cuesheet). If this had been around when I started my archiving I wouldn't have needed to amend Tag to do this, and I would have been saved many sleepless nights! I would have gladly chosen WavPack over Monkey's Audio for this feature.

Until David updates the docs, this post discusses the syntax.

To extract using EAC to a compressed image with cuesheet you will use the "Copy Image & Create CUE Sheet > Compressed..." method.

First you need to set up your external compressor.

• Open the compression options (F11).
• Switch to the External Compression tab.
• Check "Use external program for compression"
• Select "User Defined Encoder" from the dropdown list
• Enter ".wv" for the required file extension
• Use the "Browse..." button to locate WAVPACK.EXE
• In "Additional command line options" enter the following text:
  -hm %s %d -w "Artist=%a" -w "Album=%g" -w "Year=%y" -w "Genre=%m" -w "Cuesheet=@<path to cue/image>CDImage.wv.cue"

It is very very possible that there are better command line options out there. I don't use WavPack, but this is the command line I would try first.

Obviously you will need to replace <path to cue/image> with the path to where you are are creating the files.

Edit: I have just tested, and as suspected, EAC named the file CDImage.wv.wv. EAC doesn't like non-three character extensions (it names FLAC files CDImage.flac.flac). You may want to remove the extra ".wv" manually - to ensure the embedded cuesheet is accurate.

This post has been edited by Synthetic Soul: Mar 24 2005, 11:00

[Synthetic Soul]

synthetic soul, after spending alot of time looking through your guide (very well written by the way), i think the step that has me the most confused is the use of your "batch files." i dont really know what batch files are.  will the same batch files that you use work with the setup i am seeking (using wavpack instead)?  again sorry for my ignorance...

I use the batch files to be able to perform multiple steps. I use two to fool EAC. The first opens the second and then closes. At this time EAC renames the temporary APE file to its final name "CDImage.ape" as it believes the process has ended. However, my second batch file then waits for the rename (normally immediate) and then performs other processes.

Batch files are a DOS-like script, that allow you to execute multiple commands in sequence.

edit:  im sorry guys.  the more reading and learning ive been doing, im seeing more and more clearly that alot of my questions are already answered earlier in the thread, or in your guide.  i apologize.  so please ignore my previous questions.  they were a result of ignorance to the topic as a whole, and a degree of laziness for not reading the thread and your guide more closely.

Don't worry about it. The same questions get answered on a forum day in day out - it's the nature of the beast.

It takes a lot of time and effort to research a topic that you begin knowing nothing about, and you don't always find the exact answer to a question.

That said, the more people you read, the more diverse the information you get.

i guess my one remaining question is if you are planning on switching to wavpack becasue of its additional features anytime soon...

Not the immediate future. I don't know. There's an illogical part of me that wants to stay with MAC as all my current archive is in MAC. This is ridiculous really, as there is no reason why part of my archive can't be in one format and one in the other!

I wouldn't be surprised if I'm using it at the end of the year, or in 4 months time, but right now I'm thinking about other things. Too many things.

regardless, i really apprecieate your hard work on that guide.  ive learned alot, tho it took me a while.    and again, sorry for my previous ignorant questions...

No apology required. Thank you for the feedback. It's good to hear it was of some use.

[VCSkier]

• In "Additional command line options" enter the following text:
  -hm %s %d -w "Artist=%a" -w "Album=%g" -w "Year=%y" -w "Genre=%m" -w "Cuesheet=@<path to cue/image>CDImage.wv.cue"

It is very very possible that there are better command line options out there.  I don't use WavPack, but this is the command line I would try first.

Obviously you will need to replace <path to cue/image> with the path to where you are are creating the files.

is there a way to, at this point, instruct eac to put the image in a artist/album subdirectory?

[Synthetic Soul]

is there a way to, at this point, instruct eac to put the image in a artist/album subdirectory?

I don't believe so. That's another thing my batch files do for me.

Would you like me to adapt my batch files to create one that:

• Encodes to WavPack
• Tags the .wv file with artist, album, year and genre tags
• Embeds cuesheet in .wv file as cuesheet tag
• Moves .wv, .cue and EAC log to an artist\album folder setup?

[VCSkier]

wow. that sounds like alot of work. yeah, a wavpack version of your files would be awsome, but dont feel like you have to. i understand you are busy and whatnot. but if you wouldn't mind doing that, i would be so grateful, and that would make things very easy for me.

[VCSkier]

It is very very possible that there are better command line options out there.  I don't use WavPack, but this is the command line I would try first.

Obviously you will need to replace <path to cue/image> with the path to where you are are creating the files.

Edit: I have just tested, and as suspected, EAC named the file CDImage.wv.wv.  EAC doesn't like non-three character extensions (it names FLAC files CDImage.flac.flac).  You may want to remove the extra ".wv" manually - to ensure the embedded cuesheet is accurate.

ive noticed talk about command lines for wavpack images in this thread and this thread. would they be helpful in creating a "better command line?" ive played around w/ a couple different combinations w/o much luck, cause again, i dont really know what im doing... your command line options seem to work, but i just that that might be helpful.

[Synthetic Soul]

ive noticed talk about command lines for wavpack images in this thread and this thread.  would they be helpful in creating a "better command line?"  ive played around w/ a couple different combinations w/o much luck, cause again, i dont really know what im doing...  your command line options seem to work, but i just that that might be helpful.

I don't think there's anything new/better there.

The only thing I'm unsure of is whether my switch -hm should be -h -m. It may be safer to use -h -m :

-h -m %s %d -w "Artist=%a" -w "Album=%g" -w "Year=%y" -w "Genre=%m" -w "Cuesheet=@<path to cue/image>CDImage.wv.cue"

NB: I'm just about to start work on your batch file...

[Mr_Rabid_Teddybe...]

The only thing I'm unsure of is whether my switch -hm should be -h -m.  It may be safer to use -h -m :

It should be completely safe to use something like wavpack -hmt or whatever...

[Synthetic Soul]

wow.  that sounds like alot of work.  yeah, a wavpack version of your files would be awsome, but dont feel like you have to.  i understand you are busy and whatnot.  but if you wouldn't mind doing that, i would be so grateful, and that would make things very easy for me.

Ok, you can download the batch files here:

http://www.neilpopham.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/eac-wv.zip

Extract the files to a folder of your choice (both in same folder).

Open eac-wv.bat in notepad and change the lines highlighted below to match your setup:

REM ######################################################
REM PLEASE EDIT THESE PATHS TO THE NECESSARY APPLICATIONS
REM =====================================================
SET pathToWavPack="C:\DOS\WAVPACK.EXE"
REM =====================================================
REM PLEASE EDIT THE PATHS TO THE STORAGE FOLDER
REM NB: If you paths below contain spaces do *not*
REM surround the path in quotes
REM =====================================================
SET rootFolder=E:Testing\Wv
REM =====================================================
REM YOU DO NOT NEED TO EDIT ANY TEXT BELOW
REM ######################################################


NB: rootFolder is the folder in which your <artist>\<album> folders will be created.

If you look at the Compression options dialogue on my site, then:

Change 3 to: .wv
Change 5 to: /c C:\DOS\eac-wv.bat %o %s %d "%a" "%g" "%m" "%y"

Note C:\DOS\ will need to be changed to the folder where you put eac-wv.bat and eac-wv2.bat. If that path contains spaces you will need to surround the path in quotes, e.g.:

/c "C:\My Folder\eac-wv.bat" %o %s %d "%a" "%g" "%m" "%y"


These batch files will:

• Encode to Wavpack, tagging the file with Artist, Album, Genre and Year info.
• Embed the cuesheet in the wv file
• Pause and ask you to close EAC's completion dialogue
• Wait for EAC to rename the file to <name>.wv.wv (CDImage.wv.wv)
• Wait for EAC to create it's log file
• Rename <name>.wv.wv to <name>.wv (CDImage.wv)
• Move all files in the folder into an <artist>\<album> structure with the root of <rootFolder> (see above)

[VCSkier]

you are so awsome. that is so helpful! thank you so much. i dont have the time to test it out now, beacuse im late for class, but i can't wait to give it a try this afternoon. thanks again so much!

[Mr_Rabid_Teddybe...]

These batch files will:

• Encode to Wavpack, tagging the file with Artist, Album, Genre and Year info.
  
• Embed the cuesheet in the wv file
  
• Pause and ask you to close EAC's completion dialogue
  
• Wait for EAC to rename the file to <name>.wv.wv (CDImage.wv.wv)
  
• Wait for EAC to create it's log file
  
• Rename <name>.wv.wv to <name>.wv (CDImage.wv)
  
• Move all files in the folder into an <artist>\<album> structure with the root of <rootFolder> (see above)

- Are the inclusion of ARTIST and ALBUM fields necessary, as they get included with EAC's cuesheet in CUESHEET field? I rip my WavPack images with only GENRE, YEAR and ENCODEDBY, then I embed CUESHEET and LOGFILE fields.
- Would it be possible to additionally have log file automatically embedded in LOGFILE field?

[Synthetic Soul]

- Are the inclusion of ARTIST and ALBUM fields necessary, as they get included with EAC's cuesheet in CUESHEET field? I rip my WavPack images with only GENRE, YEAR and ENCODEDBY, then I embed CUESHEET and LOGFILE fields.

I guess not. Personally I don't bother with genre or year (I just do Artist, Album, and Cuesheet). I supposed you could say those tags are useful for tagging apps that don't display bespoke tags like CUESHEET or LOGFILE.

Would it be possible to additionally have log file automatically embedded in LOGFILE field?

Yes, I would probably use Tag to do this. Something like:

%pathToTag% -f "LOGFILE=%~dp3%logFilename%" "%~dp3%~n1%~x3"

With "pathToTag" being set in eac-wv.bat.

I could add this feature if you want.

Edit: In fact, you can download it here:

http://www.neilpopham.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/eac-wv-2.zip

You will need to set pathToTag in eac-wv.bat, as you do pathToWavPack (see above)

• Encode to Wavpack, tagging the file with Artist, Album, Genre and Year info.
• Embed the cuesheet in the wv file
• Pause and ask you to close EAC's completion dialogue
• Wait for EAC to rename the file to <name>.wv.wv (CDImage.wv.wv)
• Wait for EAC to create it's log file
• Use Tag to embed EAC logfile in LOGFILE tag
• Rename <name>.wv.wv to <name>.wv (CDImage.wv)
• Move all files in the folder into an <artist>\<album> structure with the root of <rootFolder> (see above)

This post has been edited by Synthetic Soul: Mar 25 2005, 20:45

[Mr_Rabid_Teddybe...]

I could add this feature if you want.

Well, that would have been super ...

[Synthetic Soul]

See edited post above.

[VCSkier]

its not seeming to work for me. after eac extracts everything, a black command prompt window pops up for a second saying something like "c:\program is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program, or batch file." it is only visible for a brief second, so im not quite sure, but i think thats what it says. i believe i have everything set up as you recommended. what am i doing wrong?

This post has been edited by VCSkier: Mar 25 2005, 22:59

[Synthetic Soul]

What are your "command line options"?

Are eac-wv.bat and eac-wvp.bat definately in the folder specified in your command line options?

If you have put eac-wv.bat and eac-wvp.bat in a folder with a path with spaces in try moving them to the C:\ drive, so your command line options would begin:

/c C:\eac-wv.bat ...

(I have had mixed results using paths with spaces... but randomly)

These files definately work for me (Win 2K).

Sorry it didn't work first time.

In fact, for added safety, you could even try putting eac-wv.bat and eac-wvp.bat in system32, so your command line options would begin:

/c C:\WINNT\system32\eac-wv.bat ...

Best of luck

[VCSkier]

my command line is now

CODE

/c "C:\WINDOWS\system32\eac-wv.bat" %o %s %d "%a" "%g" "%m" "%y"

both tag.exe and wavpack.exe are in "c:\program files\exact audio copy." should these be moved to system32 also? in eac-wv.bat, the paths to both of these are in qoutes, beacuse there are spaces in the path. is that right?

also, does it matter where i tell eac to save the image and cuesheet? because your batch file moves it anyway, right?

anyways, thanks for the help

[VCSkier]

now the error message reads something to the effect of "the filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect."

edit: corrected message

This post has been edited by VCSkier: Mar 26 2005, 01:34