hey everyone

i'm all set to run vbrfix over my whole collection, but there's one thing that i'm concerned about -- some of the options mention replacing xing and fhg vbr headers (presumably with lame-compatible ones?), which is fine with me... but suppose i want to have the option of someday replacing my xing, blade, and fraunhofer mp3s with lame ones? will running vbrfix over the files and "fixing" them change the identifying information such that i won't be able to figure out which files are lame and which ones come from other inferior encoders?

Why do you want to run vbrfix on your entire collection? It is only useful for:
a) adding VBR header to VBR file that has no header
b) fixing an existing VBR header that is somehow wrong (file was truncated or split for example)
c) replacing a Fraunhofer-style VBR header with a Xing-style VBR header (some programs (Winamp2 for example) don't understand Fraunhofer VBR headers but most understand Xing/LAME-style VBR headers).

Replace a LAME-created VBR header with a vbrfix-created one will likely lose some information from the LAME-specific portion of the header.

The encoder can usually be identified from the audio data itself with a tool like Encspot. Replacing the VBR header on a LAME-encoded mp3 will prevent identification of the specific LAME version used to encode, but it should still be identified as LAME.

i want to run it over my whole collection because if i understand correctly, it should a) ignore cbr mp3s and b) ignore vbr mp3s with proper headers, thus fixing only the files with screwy headers.

right?

anyway, good to know that the encoder used can be gleaned from the audio data itself.

I wouldn't run it unless you're having problems.

WHOA, this is wild.

having decided that scanning my whole collection with vbrfix would take too long, i decided to identify problem files using mp3utility and then run vbrfix on them individually.

i found a file with a faulty FhG VBRI tag using mp3utility, then i opened vbrfix and dragged the file into it. vbrfix chugged away for a while, and i left my computer (probably to go to the bathroom or something.) when i came back, vbrfix said it was done... but the file was gone!

at first, i could still see it in the folder after i closed vbrfix, but i tried to run mp3utility on it again (post-vbrfix) to verify that the problem had been corrected. mp3utility said "cannot process file." now it's not showing up in the folder at all.

what gives?

Veej007,

I know that feeling...

Since then, I have learned to make copies before processing.

Sergio

Hey there.

Can anyone point me to where I can get vbrfix, as the site has been down all week.

Cheers.

Use foobar2000. It can also fix corrupt/wrong VBR headers...

tiki4

Cheers. Will give it a go.

Hi -
I was planning to use vbrfix as well, but also cannot find it anywhere.
I have Foobar v.0.7.7b installed but have never used it for vbr-fixing and am not really familiar with the app in general. I've gone through the settings & can't figure it out -> do you mind describing the procedure?

Just to make sure we're all describing the same issue: I've got nearly 75 mp3's that play fine in winamp but display differing play-time lengths - for example, when a 3 or 4 minute track is dragged into winamp before playing, it shows as being over 18 minutes long! After being double-clicked, it reverts back to its actual time - kind of, it then continues to add/subtract a few seconds...

I had the same issue a few months back & took care of it w/ the vbrfix app, but no longer have it, so some assistance w/ Foobar would be appreciated.

TIA

I've only used it approximately four times to only fix vbr mp3's that wouldn't display properly.

You need to find out and only worry about the individual files have problems! There is no need to muck with each and every vbr mp3 you have, you're only asking for a bucket full of problems by going the route you have stated. If they are not all effected by displaying improper times, trouble seeking, etc., you will be wasting alot of your time, e.g.; time you could spend finding out which ones indeed have problems.

As for VBRFix making the file disappear, I remember it creating a new fixed mp3 (a completely separate mp3) when I ran it, it didn't/doesn't overwrite the original file. Of course I haven't ran it in a couple of years therefore I don't know if there are any settings that can make a file mysteriously disappear.

It has already been mentioned and deserves to be repeated that you should have made a backup to begin with! Don't blindly trust software you are not familiar with, without first testing it on a few files you've copied and pasted into a temporary working directory. Being safe is always better than sorry.

Since the VBRFix site is dead I can upload the program a whopping 65.4 kb. A Mod, or Admin can PM me, or email me and I'll send the zip.

Well, I use foobar2000 0.8, but I guess it also works in 0.7.7b. Just drag some MP3 files to the playlist window. Right click and choose 'fix VBR headers'. Just make a copy of the affected files before you try to change the headers.

tiki4

I didn't have that option in 0.7.7b so I upgraded to v0.8.1. No 'fix VBR headers' option w/ this latest version either. I had all of the 75 tracks highlighted when right-clicking. When I tried just selecting one track at a time, the option "Fix MP3 header" appeared, which I tried and which did the trick. Unfortunately I'll have to do this one track at a time.
Is checking the "Rebuild entire stream" checkbox advised? What does that do exactly?

Thanks.