Feature request: Option to keep ALL metadata when editing a file

Discussion forum for Amadeus users

Moderator: Martin Hairer

Post Reply
User avatar
Lou Kash
Posts: 102
Joined: Wed Jul 16, 2008 1:39 pm
Contact:

Feature request: Option to keep ALL metadata when editing a file

Post by Lou Kash »

Not sure if it's a feature or a bug, but one of my minor annoyances with AP is that it strips any metadata it doesn't know.

Example:
I just noticed in Izotope RX8 Elements that my 48/24b WAV recordings from the Zoom H1n device contain the following data in the Coding History chunk: "A=PCM,F=48000,W=24,M=stereo,T=ZOOM Handy Recorder H1n". Also "Originator: ZOOM Handy Recorder H1n" plus recording date and time. That's in fact pretty useful! Especially since the first thing I do is to resample to 44.1. When editing the WAV with RX8 – or with the discontinued Sample Manager or Wave Editor – this data is retained. But as soon as I process the file with AP – because it can do a few things that RX8 Elements can't, and Sample Manager and Wave Editor won't run on Catalina – the metadata is stripped.

And that's not always a good thing.
Sometimes it can be useful to get rid of metadata junk, but other (most of the) times AP should leave every metadata as is when all I want it to do is editing the waveform.

Thanks

User avatar
Martin Hairer
Site Admin
Posts: 1975
Joined: Wed Nov 08, 2006 11:49 am
Contact:

Re: Feature request: Option to keep ALL metadata when editing a file

Post by Martin Hairer »

Hi, could you please send me a link to a sample file? Thanks, Martin.

User avatar
Lou Kash
Posts: 102
Joined: Wed Jul 16, 2008 1:39 pm
Contact:

Re: Feature request: Option to keep ALL metadata when editing a file

Post by Lou Kash »

From what I've observed, it affects any file format and any metadata that are NOT shown in the Sound Info sheet > Metadata/Additional.

For example, usually I'm using the standard Grouping field for personal keywords, so that I can easily sort files in iTunes into smart playlists. Grouping is always being stripped.

As for the aforementioned WAV metadata, I've been also discussing it with the developer of Yate (https://2manyrobots.com) last night. He identified them as the "bext" chunk and will be implementing a read module for the next Yate update – which will make it possible to copy them to another tag when processing files in Yate.

So my point is that AP should simply leave anything that it doesn't read and know as is. :)

User avatar
Martin Hairer
Site Admin
Posts: 1975
Joined: Wed Nov 08, 2006 11:49 am
Contact:

Re: Feature request: Option to keep ALL metadata when editing a file

Post by Martin Hairer »

So my point is that AP should simply leave anything that it doesn't read and know as is. :)
This would be a bad idea since the 'bext' chunk contains some information about the waveform (peak level, peak loudness, etc) as well as a unique material identifier (UMI) used to identify the file. Changing the sound data without updating this information would lead to inconsistent files and would break the implicit guarantee that identical UMI's label identical data.

User avatar
Lou Kash
Posts: 102
Joined: Wed Jul 16, 2008 1:39 pm
Contact:

Re: Feature request: Option to keep ALL metadata when editing a file

Post by Lou Kash »

Martin Hairer wrote:
Tue Jan 05, 2021 9:50 pm
This would be a bad idea since the 'bext' chunk contains some information about the waveform (peak level, peak loudness, etc) as well as a unique material identifier (UMI) used to identify the file. Changing the sound data without updating this information would lead to inconsistent files and would break the implicit guarantee that identical UMI's label identical data.
Fair enough as far as some file format specific metadata is concerned and if I'm converting to a completely different format.

But I wouldn't mind having it a hidden option preference for those of us who know what we're doing and why we're doing it, and who will also know what something like defaults write com.hairersoft.amadeuspro HSKeepAllMetadata true is supposed to mean. :)

But if I'm editing a lossless waveform and stay in the same format, then my metadata shouldn't just disappear.

Same for metadata supported by a variety of formats like my Grouping example:
Every so often I need to batch convert my archived ALAC master files to AAC or MP3, e.g. when sending them to my bandmates. That could be done in iTunes, but usually I don't keep masters of our recordings in an iTunes library, as it's a faster workflow to batch convert outside. The AP batch converter is handy because I can save it as a document with very specific settings. But losing certain metadata in this proces is a dealbreaker. And so when I need to keep metadata as is, without having to double check if anything's been lost, I'm now using Fission's batch conversion utility which will leave all standard metadata and tags intact. (Fission is great for losslessly editing lossy formats, but other than that it's too basic for any "surgical" waveform editing, so not an AP replacement.)

Post Reply