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Display of AC/DC as AC, should be AC/DC
22-09-2018, 03:51 (This post was last modified: 22-09-2018 04:13 by Gijs Schubert.)
Post: #1
Display of AC/DC as AC, should be AC/DC
Hello folks,

I have installed Minimserver on a Synology NAS to operate my Naim Nova streamer using the Naim app. And I'm pretty impressed by its convenience compared to the default "MediaServer" installed on Synology NAS systems.

The artist "AC/DC" (Australian hardrockband) is displayed on the Naim app as "AC" without the semi-colons, so apparently the slash "/" and text following the slash are not displayed.

How can I display AC/DC as AC/DC, not as AC?

Note: MediaServer on the Synology NAS displays the name correctly on the Naim app, so the root cause is in Minimserver
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22-09-2018, 06:09
Post: #2
RE: Display of AC/DC as AC, should be AC/DC
It works on my minimserver using the linn app. Do you have the "album artist" tag set, or only the "artist" tags? Do you only see "AC" when browsing "album artists", or is it the same in "artists" as well? It could be that minimserver is stripping out the trailing slash if the album artist tag isn't set for displaying on the control point. The slash is a reserved character, so the directory name of the artist may be "AC" (when I convert from flac to mp3, the converter creates a directory for the artist stripping out the slash and anything after it). If minim does something similar, that may have something to do with it.
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22-09-2018, 06:37 (This post was last modified: 22-09-2018 07:10 by Gijs Schubert.)
Post: #3
RE: Display of AC/DC as AC, should be AC/DC
(22-09-2018 06:09)timster Wrote:  It works on my minimserver using the linn app. Do you have the "album artist" tag set, or only the "artist" tags? Do you only see "AC" when browsing "album artists", or is it the same in "artists" as well? It could be that minimserver is stripping out the trailing slash if the album artist tag isn't set for displaying on the control point. The slash is a reserved character, so the directory name of the artist may be "AC" (when I convert from flac to mp3, the converter creates a directory for the artist stripping out the slash and anything after it). If minim does something similar, that may have something to do with it.

Thanks Timster.

Your remark on MP3 triggered me to test this. Indeed, the display of an artist's name is related to the file format of the track:

- The artist name of an album in FLAC format is displayed on the Naim app with the full name (e.g. AC/DC)
- The artist name of an album in MP3 format is displayed on the Naim app only with the characters before the slash /

I tested this by changing the artist name ABBA of two albums both to AB/BA (using my media editor JRiver MC). The MP3 album gets displayed under the artist name AB, the FLAC album under the artist name AB/BA. When I then view the MP3 Album, the Artist name under the album title is displayed as "AB, BA". Same story for AC/DC: The name under the MP3 album title in the album list is displayed as "AC, DC"

I then converted the MP3 files into FLAC with JRiver: test confirmed! The converted FLAC files are displayed with the correct artist name. The size of the converted files is a factor 5 larger though, so I'm not keen to convert my thousands of MP3 files...

Again, the default MediaServer installed on Synology NAS displays the artist names with a slash correctly, both of MP3 and FLAC files. So it is related to Minimserver.

So the slash / symbol seems to serve as tag separator for MP3 files, not for FLAC files.
How to display the artist name of an MP3 file as AC/DC as AC/DC, not as AC or AC, DC ? Maybe there is a setting to display reserved characters?

By the way I display the "artist" tag, not the "album artist" tag to avoid misery with multiple artists on an album.
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22-09-2018, 07:26
Post: #4
RE: Display of AC/DC as AC, should be AC/DC
This sounds like it's something to do with what mp3 coding you are using. I'm no expert but I think ID3v2.3 handles multiples better (although my mp3 converter created an artist directory up to the slash, the actual tags in them do contain the full name with the slash, and iTunes shows them correctly). So, perhaps do a batch convert all of your mp3s to ID3v2.3? Rather than flac (cos then you're just padding it out with zeros).

Having multiple artists in an album isn't a problem and shouldn't cause misery. If they are compilations then Various Artists as the album artist is the usual thing to do. If not, then the album artist could be the main one (eg. Lump - it is actually a collaboration between Laura Marling and another guy, can't remember right now who) but I have the Album Artist as Laura Marling, and the track artist as both her and the other guy. The album artists could just as easily be Lump).
Or guest artists - so the album artist could be Fred, and the tracks are by Fred, or Ginger, or both, or even George. Doesn't matter.
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22-09-2018, 08:38
Post: #5
RE: Display of AC/DC as AC, should be AC/DC
Actually I think the problem is that you are using id3v23, the spec says multiple artists are separated by '/' so MinimServer is interpreting AC/DC as AC and DC. Most applications ignore this part of the spec since it is problematic, this is why the default server works.

The solution would be to convert your tags to id3v24 since this uses nulls to separate multiple fields, so now AC/DC should be correctly interpreted.
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22-09-2018, 09:06
Post: #6
RE: Display of AC/DC as AC, should be AC/DC
(22-09-2018 08:38)paultaylor Wrote:  Actually I think the problem is that you are using id3v23, the spec says multiple artists are separated by '/' so MinimServer is interpreting AC/DC as AC and DC. Most applications ignore this part of the spec since it is problematic, this is why the default server works.

The solution would be to convert your tags to id3v24 since this uses nulls to separate multiple fields, so now AC/DC should be correctly interpreted.

Oh, thanks for that. So the fact iTunes and my iPod show my 2.3 ones with "/" in the name correctly is actually a fluke? Just so happens none of my mp3s that Minim scans have that naming.
I'll use 2.4 from now on, and I presume it will still work!
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22-09-2018, 09:17
Post: #7
RE: Display of AC/DC as AC, should be AC/DC
Yes, moving to ID3v2.4 will solve this problem and a few other issues as well.
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22-09-2018, 10:54
Post: #8
RE: Display of AC/DC as AC, should be AC/DC
Hi Paul Taylor and Simon Nash,

The problem is solved!

I could not figure out how to change the MP3 tag format in JRiver, so I downloaded the MP3tag program.
I could bulk convert all MP3 files via Tools > Options > Tags > Mpeg > Write ID3v2, option ID3v2.4

"AC" is gone, "AC/DC" rocks along like never before! Cool

Cheers,
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