I need advices about ID3 tag and sound quality before buying

[Drealm]

I plan on buying the new Zen X-Fi2 64gb. But I need 2 things made clear:

1. I don't care about anything (video, gadgets, photo, agenda, sudoku...) except music. I want to know if this player is one of the best about sound quality. In fact if I could pay less and have just a music player (like a cd player was), I would be happy. The only reason I want to buy a new mp3 player is for the space, I don't have to bring 300 cd with me on a travel.

2. I ripped about 43gb of mp3 from my entire music collection then realized that I didn't included MP3 tags. Will this look that bad in my player list?

I ripped them with complete titles; for example, every song is titled like that:

Madonna - 2005 - Confessions on a dance floor - 02 - Get together.mp3
Madonna - 2005 - Confessions on a dance floor - 03 - Sorry.mp3

So can anyone tell me what this will look like once dropped in my new player? I've read it will be classified into "unknow artist".

In my computer, it's not just a long list of songs. It's classified by artist-> album-> song.

I fear that these folders will disappear and end up with a single list of 8000 songs. Am I right?

If yes, is there a player that keeps exactly our folders like in Windows, like if I would just drag and drop in a usb drive?

Thanks anyone for a detailed answer!

[CrowdAds]

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by Drealm

… I don't care about anything (video, gadgets, photo, agenda, sudoku...) except music. …

… is there a player that keeps exactly our folders like in Windows, like if I would just drag and drop in a usb drive? …

If all you care about is music, sound quality, folder browsing, drag & drop and USB compatible, you should take a look at the 8GB Sansa Clip +. It has microSD expansion slot, so all you need is a few microSD cards and possibly a Duracell instant power charger for travel. No frills, connects as USB drive, view folder files, nice small size and great sound quality. Plus you can even run dual booting firmware with the original firmware and rockbox ftw.

[doushixuwang]

Well, I think what you need is MediaMonkey! This software'll help you upgrade(almost automaticly, ONE STEP) all your songs's ID3 tags by the file names. Then you could copy your songs with full tags to the Zen x-fi2. That's it.

[dfkt]

Drealm, Creative players are never the best choice when it comes to perceived sound quality. Not to mention they don't play nicely with your non-tagged MP3s.

As for your CD rips, it is easy adding proper tags. Just use a free app like MP3Tag to do it. It can access an online database of albums and you don't have to manually add anything. Or use MediaMonkey, like the person above me suggested.

[lestatar]

re: music tagging. Words of wisdom from all IMO...

I live and die by my ID3 tags - in my over 10 year history with mp3 players, i have never once encountered problems with my songs not being identified on any of my players.

The legwork is worth the time you put it.

Good luck with the Creative if you go forward... :-)

[FTN]

I have used MP3Tag for a couple of years, and once I figured out how to properly use it, it's been really great and easy for me.

My question is, is it worth embedding the album art, say 500x500 to each individual file, and how much space does that take in the player? Is it significantly bad, if my mp3s are ripped at 320 and I embed album art to each file?

Sorry OP, didn't mean to highjack your thread, but thought maybe the answer might interest you as well.

[lestatar]

FTN: Some quick personal notes...

I recently embedded album art in 99% of my 14k mp3 files. I also have been successful with having my album art display images of max 600x600 on all my current DAPs. Also, all my mp3 are HQ LAME at v0-v2.

Caveat: My image file sizes are never more than around 75k at 600x600.

So the space taken up on my players is actually not that big a deal imo. Of course, in total, it can be a lot.

It is a question of personal preference: do you like album art or not? :-)

I also never use the folder.jpg method of album art as I do not manage my music library like that. I prefer the simplicity of using ID3 tags to include my album art in the metadata.

just my 2 cents :-)
-lestatar

[FTN]

Thanks Lestatar,

i didn't really understand some of the talk about hq lame and vo-v2, but that's ok, I think I got most of it anyway.

I might have to start using 600x600 for my albums, than leave the individual mp3 files untagged, cause that's gonna be a pain...(you know, songs from 10 years ago, like Staind - It's been awhile or Nickleback - How you remind me, which now, serve nostalgia purposes only)

what is your current DAP btw? I wonder what you're using that displays your album art correctly?

[lestatar]

hey FTN: all my DAPs are in my signature... :-)

So far, 600x600 is the largest embedded art that I have tried on my Sony E, Fuze and Creative Zen V+ [probably one of the last good sounding CreativeLabs devices I am sorry to say]. I will not go beyond that as even 600x600 is excessive on my players. Mostly I do try and seek out 500x500 artwork, again, making sure the file sizes remain very reasonable.

Leaving your mp3 files untagged is your choice of course...Don't know how Creative treats untagged files, but if dfkt is correct [and he usually is] then you may encounter many problems by not tagging your music. I personally rely completely on my tags - I cannot stand seeing "Unknown Artist" or "Unknown Song" displayed on my players...it drives me nuts! :-)

That LAME info is very useful, but yes, can be slightly tough for newcomers. Not impossible to learn a bit tho as there is a ton of info out there on LAME settings. If you are interested in achieving great sounding mp3 rips using LAME, then IMO, it does pay to learn a bit about them.

Folks here can assist or again, lot of good info on web...

Good luck and cheers!
-lestatar

[Drealm]

Originally Posted by WalkGood

If all you care about is music, sound quality, folder browsing, drag & drop and USB compatible, you should take a look at the 8GB Sansa Clip +. It has microSD expansion slot, so all you need is a few microSD cards and possibly a Duracell instant power charger for travel. No frills, connects as USB drive, view folder files, nice small size and great sound quality. Plus you can even run dual booting firmware with the original firmware and rockbox ftw.

Many thanks to you! I just ended up buying this one finally. I looked at a youtube review made by this site and the folder browsing was the final argument that convinced me.

It have the simplicity I was searching for.

But can you explain me what you said :"Plus you can even run dual booting firmware with the original firmware and rockbox ftw". I really don't understand what that means.

Thanks again.