Also...
Can someone tell me some practical reasons to not use ID3 v2, some things that I can test to see why it is a bad tag system.
Sorry for my english
Thanks

I dont know why, I only said APEv2 because everyone seems to like it

ID3 V1, hands down if you don't need replaygain values stored. Otherwise, APE. Do a forum search for all the reasons why ID3 V2 is considered the worst. This subject has been covered a thousand times. Perhaps it's even in the FAQ.

I really don't see what the deal with v2 tags is. I mean, I understand that they are placed in front of the data, like a variable length header. So what? So Winamp has to rewrite the file when you change them... so what?

The fact of the matter is that I use v1 tags on all my files, and when a title or album name does not fit, I use v1+v2 for that file. Winamp reads both tags just fine, and so does iTunes. Actually, I think iTunes ONLY uses v2 tags. Dunno for sure tho.

The tag thing is very similar to the whole MP3 vs other formats thing. The other tagging methods may be better, but at this point there is already a "standard" and that will be quite hard to change, specially when Winamp and most of the other audio players don't read APE tags in their default installs.

What if you mass-tagged a big collection of MP3s (over 15000), it would really stress your HD..

Of course it's not likely it'll fail but It'd take lots of time and HD activity

On buggy systems (where read and write from/to heard disk is not absolutely reliable)
it can also damage your files when you rewrite files.

And there are more buggy systems out there than you can imagine.

I agree with loKi128.

I write both v1 and v2 tags on all my MP3s before burning them to disc and I have never had a problem. My hardware player only reads v1 tags and Winamp defaults to v2 tags if both v1 and v2 are present.

Having said all that, tags are not important to me now but the info is embedded in the file forever if I ever need it at some later time, eg. to create track lists using MP3 Tag Studio or similar programs. B)

I have read that the ID3v2 tag is on the beginning of the file. This is bad??? If it where at the end of the file, the player must go to the end of the file to read the tag and then back to the beginning to read the header of the mp3. I am wrong?
The downside must be that if you retag a file, the tag program maybe have to rewrite the file, but this is no problem if you use padding. Furthermore, I tag the files only one time, and it doesnt cost soo much...

Sorry for my english and for posibble goofs

I think the old, erroneous and outdated r3mix.net can give you the info you need. According to them, ID3v2 tags can damage your files. However, APE tags are not mentioned.
I don't know if the info in r3mix is correct... since I sign in to this forum I was told not to trust in them: The --r3mix preset is crappy.
Maybe the tags info is correct. Here's the link.

The link is broken

I don't really understand why a "tag" will damage a file. I mean, it is just data appended to a file. The problem that people see with v2 is this:

Usually, headers are of a fixed length. That means that whenever you want to change them, you overwrite the whole header, but the file length stays the same. With v2, the length of the header can change, so therefore the file length can change, and of course the place where the actual mp3 data also changes. When a player that does not know v2 reads this file, it has to skip all of the "garbage" until it finds the first mp3 frame, or whatever.

Thing is, at this point in time when MP3 is so mature, all players should be able to handle this. There should be no data corruption. After all, you are just writting bits to the filesystem. Does not matter if the bits are in front or in the back or in the middle of a file. If a program cannot do this, then it sucks. And if the filesystem is so delicate that writting a file again will damage it, then I would be worried about my more important files, not just some random MP3s.

Of course, this is not to say that APE is not better. I believe it is. But like everything else, better does not always mean that it will get adopted. It's the age-old argument. Until I see hardware and software that can read APE, I will still use what is tried and true, at least for me. Catch 22 tho. Who will make the first hardware player if no one uses the tags...?

Plus why isn't the OGG tagging system in the list? After all, isn't OGG the "next generation" container? Let's build on that. Just from the list, there are 4 different tagging systems. Add OGG and maybe some other one (MCF?) and we have about 6 systems. Excelent. Choice is good, but what I really want is some sort of standard (like v1) that EVERYTHING supports.

A question tho. Is MPEG4 a container + a set of media formats? What is the default tag system for MPEG4?

I didn't vote as my option, "none", is missing

Seriously.. long ago.. I used to make up fields for year/composer/producer/writer/mood/tempo/favourites/skips/etc etc..
and then, when I got tired of adding all the info, I realized it didn't
really matter and I should just drop it and start enjoying the music

Hehe.. those were the days.. at one point I actually thought of the
possibilies of an access or sql database system connected to an
internet page.. hehe. Hmmm, come to think of it, it WOULD be
interesting to implement a system where the current winamp
song playing is listed onto a webpage through a plugin or something.

These days, I sincerely believe the best tagging system is.. the
filename!!

APE2 rules, but not with MP3. These tags should not be there.
I love ID3, but have to use v2 sometimes. At least most players read them correctly (the data I write there)
Voted for ID3V2 though...

I did't know about ogg when I post the poll sorry



I think you have reason in this

I always use both, ID3v1 and IDv2...I never quite understood why it could corrupt the file...

Opps! I tagged b4 a 5megs MP3 and ID3V2 turns it into a ???.mp3.xxxxx file with is only 4 kb!

I loss the file

But I think this won't happen oftenly?

I use ID3 V1 mainly because I can fit all the data and not leave empty fields, ID3 V2 for me has too many fields (the quantity change depending on the program) and I can't fill all of them. Howewer both V1 and V2 are good.

ID3v2. Badly designed and all that, I know, but how else do you want to store long field names while still being compatible with players other than foobar2000? Of course, if you exclusively use fb2k and all your friends you share files with do so too, APEv2 is the best bet.

I think this is problem of the tag program, not of id3v2.

I think there must be some sort of script preventing users from going directly to the tags page in r3mix. Please visit www.r3mix.net and once in the page, click this image link -


According to r3mix and other users opinions, ID3v2 tags can corrupt the header of the files preventing even the best players like winamp from retrieving ABR/VBR information correctly. I don't know if this statement is 100% true, but the fact is some years ago I had some VBR Xing encoded files with ID3v2 tags and winamp couldn't display the kbps correctly. Also, file scrolling was completely messed up.
Maybe it was just Xing's fault, but the truth is I only ID3v1 tag now

Thanks a lot, the r3mix page haves a lot of information

They say:

??? Can someone can explain me why??? Thanks

So... all the people that says id3v2 is bad, is believing the information about it, without knowing and understanding the reasons?

Of course. ALL the people who says ID3v2 is bad just believe the information about it, no one knows or understands anything.
I suggest you to learn how to search better and get your facts straight.
And

And i think this is a problem of incorrect usage of the tag program .

The most important reason: Tags were not part of the mp3 file format! It is an unofficial add on.
Other formats like OGG or MPC have a properly defined tag system so there are no mistakes in decoding.

An mp3 inside an OGG file could put an end to all this (But then, why not use Vorbis instead? )