Tagging with the All Music Guide

Nothing wrong with FreeDB but in case of classical music, it is a bit of a mess.

If you want to have a consistent meta information you need a well structured database. AMG offers one.

AMG and FreeDB

As an example, a CD with works by Schubert, conducted by Jos van Immerseel.

 

This is typical for FreeDB, the composer is unknown and the artist is the composer.

The same CD by AMG

 

The artist and the composer are filled in correctly, the conductor is there and the cover art. The movements are labeled in a consistent way.

You can visit the AMG website and find the information you need. But how to get it into the HF without a lot of typing?
Windows Media Player (WMP for short) use the AMG to obtain the meta information.
Use WMP to do the tagging and import the result in the HF will save you a lot of typing.

Fun with Formats

To import a piece of music tagged in WMP into the HF you must have:
- a common file format
- the tags must be stored into the music file its self

In case of the HF you have 3 lossless formats:

1. AIFF – an Apple proprietary format, probably only useful in an Apple environment
2. WAV – a Microsoft format, reasonably wide supported but I have my doubts about the tagging. Even Windows own Media player support only the most rudimentary tags.
3. FLAC – a open source, support is reasonably but not all clients support it.

Windows Media Player (WMP for short)  supports

1. WAV
2. WMA and one of its flavours is WMA lossless (Like FLAC)

WAV

As WMP and HF have WAV in common lets
- rip to WAV on the PC
- add the tags
- put the files in the import folder of the HF

 

Ask for information

 

And nothing is shown.
The HF even refuses to import these files (invalid file format)
Maybe both are using different tagging methods but this obvious don't work.

What happens if we use the WAV files tagged on the HF and drag them in WMP

As you see only the file names are used, non of the info on the HF is recognised by WMP.
So WAV is not the way.

FLAC

WMP don't support FLAC but there is a plug-in (WMP Tag Support Extender) allowing you to edit tags in FLAC-files.

WMP won't rip to FLAC so:

1. rip the CD to FLAC using the HF (or any appropriate tool)
2. copy the files to the WMP music directory.

Something funny happens, some of the tracks have all the meta information, some don't.

Now you can select all the tracks and try to find the album information

 

Now you have all the meta information you need.
Copy the files to the import folder of the HF and import.

This is the old version

 

This is the new version.
Spot the zero differences.

Obvious, WMP don't write tags in FLAC or does so in a way the HF don't understand.

WMA

This is the last resort to get the AMG info.

- Rip a CD to WMA lossless
- Do the tagging in WMP
- Convert it to FLAC using a conversion program like MediaMonkey or dBpoweramp
Import it on the HF and voila

 

 

So now we have the composer  and a consistent description of the movements

 

 

So it is possible to use AMG to tag your classical collection but you probably better go for heavy metal in MP3 format.