DSF Files Grouping tag not displaying

[paulg]

I have been using the GROUPING tag to add additional information about specialist labels to my music. Some of the files are FLAC and some are DSF files ripped from SACD's.

The tag displays for FLAC files but not for the DSF files. Is this because DSF files don't support that tag?

[simoncn]

It should be possible to add a GROUPING tag to a DSF file. What tagging program are you using?

[paulg]

(05-11-2023 18:17)simoncn Wrote:  It should be possible to add a GROUPING tag to a DSF file. What tagging program are you using?

I use MP3tag

[simoncn]

This should be fixed now in MinimServer update 244. This adds a mapping from the ID3v2 GRP1 frame (used by Mp3tag to store GROUPING information) to the MinimServer GROUPING tag.

[paulg]

(05-11-2023 19:12)simoncn Wrote:  This should be fixed now in MinimServer update 244. This adds a mapping from the ID3v2 GRP1 frame (used by Mp3tag to store GROUPING information) to the MinimServer GROUPING tag.

That does work. Thanks for that.

I have a couple of other tags that don't work either (sorry).

FILETYPE - This doesn't show up for DSF but does for FLAC.

COMPILATION - When I enter an artist name in the COMPILATION tag on a DSF file it defaults to 0 and displays in Minimserver as 0.

[simoncn]

How are you using the TFLT (FILETYPE) ID3v2 frame? From the ID3v2.3 specification, this should be used to contain information about the type of audio in the file. MinimServer doesn't read the TFLT frame but instead reads audio information directly from the file and provides this information in the #AudioFormat special tag.

The setting of COMPILATION to 0 when you enter an artist name is happening in Mp3tag, not in MinimServer. This tag is normally set to the value 1 for a compilation album or to the value 0 otherwise. Mp3tag appears to be enforcing this usage by not allowing other values. MinimServer is just showing what it received from Mp3tag.

[paulg]

(05-11-2023 22:53)simoncn Wrote:  How are you using the TFLT (FILETYPE) ID3v2 frame? From the ID3v2.3 specification, this should be used to contain information about the type of audio in the file. MinimServer doesn't read the TFLT frame but instead reads audio information directly from the file and provides this information in the #AudioFormat special tag.

The setting of COMPILATION to 0 when you enter an artist name is happening in Mp3tag, not in MinimServer. This tag is normally set to the value 1 for a compilation album or to the value 0 otherwise. Mp3tag appears to be enforcing this usage by not allowing other values. MinimServer is just showing what it received from Mp3tag.

This is how I have configured my Minimserver.

IndexTags:

Artist, All Artists, Compilation:Compilations, Albumsort:Collections, Genre:Genres, Date:Year Of Release, Filetype:Stereo / Multichannel, Grouping:Media Format / Audiophile Labels, *RecentAdded, *RecentPlayed, #AudioData, #AudioFormat

Tag value:

Grouping.default={'Various Other'}, Compilation.default={'Non Compilations'}, Albumsort.default={'Non Collections'}, Filetype.default={'Stereo'}

This works perfectly for FLAC files

[simoncn]

Tags in FLAC files have a name and a value. You can use any tag name you want and assign any meaning you want to that name, providing complete flexibility.

With DSF files, things are different. These are tagged using ID3v2 frames which are much more constrained. Each tag name (ID3v2 frame) has a specific meaning defined by the ID3v2 specification and should not be used for other purposes. There is also a "catch-all" frame that allows you to use any tag name that doesn't have a standard meaning for any purpose of your choosing.

In ID3v2, the FILETYPE tag corresponds to the TFLT frame. You are trying to use this frame for something different from its meaning in the ID3v2 specification and this is why there is a problem. Instead, you can define another tag with no special ID3v2 meaning (for example, CHANNELS) and use this to hold the values Stereo or Multichannel.

Another approach is to use the MinimServer special tag #AudioChannels. If you have enabled this tag in indexTags, MinimServer reads the audio data in the file and automatically sets the tag value to '2' for stereo and '5.1' for multichannel. This works for all file types including FLAC and DSF.

[paulg]

(06-11-2023 15:46)simoncn Wrote:  Tags in FLAC files have a name and a value. You can use any tag name you want and assign any meaning you want to that name, providing complete flexibility.

With DSF files, things are different. These are tagged using ID3v2 frames which are much more constrained. Each tag name (ID3v2 frame) has a specific meaning defined by the ID3v2 specification and should not be used for other purposes. There is also a "catch-all" frame that allows you to use any tag name that doesn't have a standard meaning for any purpose of your choosing.

In ID3v2, the FILETYPE tag corresponds to the TFLT frame. You are trying to use this frame for something different from its meaning in the ID3v2 specification and this is why there is a problem. Instead, you can define another tag with no special ID3v2 meaning (for example, CHANNELS) and use this to hold the values Stereo or Multichannel.


Another approach is to use the MinimServer special tag #AudioChannels. If you have enabled this tag in indexTags, MinimServer reads the audio data in the file and automatically sets the tag value to '2' for stereo and '5.1' for multichannel. This works for all file types including FLAC and DSF.

So I remapped FILETYPE to CHANNELS and COMPILATION to CHANNELS1 in mp3tag and changed my MINIMSERVER profile as below.

IndexTags:

Artist, All Artists, Channels1:Compilations, Albumsort:Collections, Genre:Genres, Date:Year Of Release, Channels:Stereo / Multichannel, Grouping:Media Format / Audiophile Labels, *RecentAdded, *RecentPlayed, #AudioData, #AudioFormat

TagOptions:

Grouping.default={'Various Other'}, Channels1.default={'Non Compilations'}, Albumsort.default={'Non Collections'}, Channels.default={'Stereo'}

All works ok now.

Many thanks for your help with this.