Really strange MP3 issues

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Okay, so I've recently moved over my whole collection of MP3s from my old computer to my new one. This was largely done by CD-RW (yes, this post was created in 2006 and yes I'm suspecting this method may be the cause of my issue somehow) because it really seemed to be the best and most cost-effective (if not time-effective) method of transferring over all my files. I would copy as many as the CD-RW would hold, then re-format the CD-RW (my 1999 machine running Windows 98 made me do a complete re-format each time I wanted to re-write) and copy more files. This was completed about four months ago, and I hadn't noticed any problems.

This weekend, I finally downloaded the ITunes setup bit so I could get on and purchase some stuff there. I didn't set ITunes as my default player and I didn't ask it to convert my unprotect .wma files to .aac files like it offered. I just wanted access to the store. ITunes is my second suspect.

Now for the problem. When I click, for example, on my Bobby Valentino - Slow Down file, I hear Cat Power - Dreams and then Cat Power - The Greatest (within the same Bobby Valentino track). When I try to play Bobby Valentio - Slow Down (Remix), I hear Cat Stevens. When I try to play Bobby Womack - If You Think You're Lonely Now, I hear Cerrone - Supernature. But when I click on the Cat Power or Cat Stevens or Cerrone tracks themselve, the correct tracks play. I've only found this problem with files that start with B (and not even all of them), although I don't know what that would have to do with anything. This happens in both Winamp and Windows Media Player. All properties/track info look completely normal but the screwy tracks show now ID3 tag info. It is so strange.

Any clues as to what is going on?

― matt2 (matt2), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 02:12 (nineteen years ago)

Dangit! Sorry, this was supposed to be on ILM. I'll start the same thread there, feel free to lock this mods.

― matt2 (matt2), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 02:22 (nineteen years ago)

It sounds like those files got corrupted in the transfer... although I can't explain how. I'd imagine your only chance would be to re-copy or re-rip those particular tracks.

― like murderinging (modestmickey), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 02:33 (nineteen years ago)

I had an even weirder file transfer issue - I moved a MIDI file by jump drive from my old computer to my new one, and when I opened it, even though it was still opened in Media Player as a MIDI file, it played a split-second clip of the opening Kim Gordon section of "Teenage Riot" by Sonic Youth. Despite the fact that (to my knowledge) "Teenage Riot" by Sonic Youth had never been on my computer.

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Wednesday, 16 August 2006 02:44 (nineteen years ago)

It's called "spontaneous artistic insertion " - I often hear Liberace coming from my calculator

― Mr Jones (Mr Jones), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 11:07 (nineteen years ago)

why iTunes renaming your tracks is a poor idea reason #35275 ?

I don't know how you have your files named, but it's at least worth having a back up system of sorts if your tags DO get confused or lost.
http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/4010/untitled1mk2.jpg

(run filename --> ID3 tag [track - artist - title])

― rollin', rollin', rollin', keep them dogies rollin', rawhide! thread (fandango), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 11:55 (nineteen years ago)

"spontaneous artistic insertion "

hmm.

― Bob Six (bobbysix), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 12:01 (nineteen years ago)

Wow, I just checked back here on a whim, not expecting anything and I actually have real responses here, unlike ILM. Not surprising really, I suppose. Anyway, I'm not sure exactly what you're saying, rollin', rollin'. I asked ITunes to not rename my tracks as I was installing it, although I suspect it probably didn't listen. Is this something I can un-do?

― matt2 (matt2), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 16:31 (nineteen years ago)

if you asked it not to rename stuff that's a good start (imo but not everyone's) but it also probably means I can't help much :(

― rollin', rollin', rollin', (fandango) stupid sub sub-JBR tagline (fandango), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 16:37 (nineteen years ago)

Howdy fandango, what would you recommendation be if ITunes did rename stuff, just in case that's the problem?

― matt2 (matt2), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 18:15 (nineteen years ago)

I don't know :( I'm not an expert (and avoid iTunes myself) also a little confused re: what's going on!

You say you play the tracks from the source folder and they are right, but from within iTunes, Winamp or else another track plays? BUT at some point (after installing iTunes) all the relations got fux0red?

**not to blame if this doesn't work** but can you just run system restore from a point before when you did this? Providing your music was on a drive covered by it (or it wasn't turned off).

Someone else might have better ideas concerning rebuilding the database/id3 structure somehow, I'd wait a bit.

-bump-

― rollin', rollin', rollin', keep them dogies rollin', rawhide! thread (fandango), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 19:24 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, the thing is, I don't recall playing those specific tracks since my transfer, so I can't guarantee they played correctly after the transfer. Many other tracks did, though, and continue to do so. The problem occurs when I play them in Winamp or Windows Media Player. Immediately after discovering the issue, I uninstalled ITunes just in case if was the cause of the problem, so I'm not sure if the tracks would play correctly using their player. I also know nothing about running a system restore. I may just have to accept that some of my tracks are screwed and hope that this doesn't with others. Regardless, thanks for your efforts fandango and thanks to anyone else who might have further advice.

― matt2 (matt2), Thursday, 17 August 2006 01:04 (nineteen years ago)

so what you are saying is that playing bobby valentino - slow down.mp3 in winamp, you hear multiple cat power songs, but playing cat power - dreams.mp3 you hear dreams by cat power?

if that's the case, ID3 tagging issues can't account for such behavior. it looks like your files probably got corrupted at some point. most likely the corruption occured while you were using one CD-RW repeatedly to transfer the mp3s from one PC to another. which is an extremely bad idea, but unless you're a computer dork you can't be blamed for not knowing that.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Thursday, 17 August 2006 04:39 (nineteen years ago)

as for a more detailed "what is going on" my guess is that when you burned the CD-RW with your artists B through C mp3s, the CD-RW's FAT got corrupted. FAT stands for file allocation table, which is a part of the CD-RW which is basically a big list of the files on the CD and where the data that makes up those files actually resides on the disc. if the FAT gets corrupted, you do tend to see stuff like a single file containing data from multiple files all glommed together. if the actual data isn't corrupted, some files will be fine (cat power mp3s) and others will point to the wrong areas of the disc (bobby valentino mp3s).

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Thursday, 17 August 2006 04:47 (nineteen years ago)

Thanks hazel. That sounds like a pretty feasible account of what might have happened. I thought I might be in trouble with the CD-RW when it would show the new batch of tracks I had copied to it when I accessed it on my old machine but would still only display the previous batch of tracks when I tried to access it on my new machine. Looks like I probably did what you are explaining. I was definitely suspect of the CD-RW idea when this started to happen, but continued on as, like I said, it was the most cost effective method I had. Oh well, thanks for the explanation. Looks like I may have just lost a few (hopefully just a few) tracks, but at least I'm a little more informed.

― matt2 (matt2), Thursday, 17 August 2006 13:47 (nineteen years ago)

And iTunes got a bum rap!

― Alba (Alba), Thursday, 17 August 2006 18:56 (nineteen years ago)

sorry to change the subject, but i have an mp3 issue question too and itunes is the culprit! i had an ipod that broke every 6 months (and now the warranty's over, so no more new ipods). today i bought a much smaller cheaper mp3 player, figuring that i may have better luck than with ipods, and even if not, it's less expensive. but all my files are on itunes, which uploaded them as mpeg4, whatever that is. and i can only put mp3 and wma on this player. the question: is there any way i can convert the itunes files to mp3 or wma without paying for software to do so? i really don't want to upload yet again from cds, and a lot of the music is from friends and i don't have the cds anyway.

― Maria (Maria), Friday, 18 August 2006 03:43 (nineteen years ago)

ugh nevermind. looks like i am going to have to burn things from itunes onto cds and then reload them as mp3s. grr.

― Maria (Maria), Friday, 18 August 2006 03:59 (nineteen years ago)

this free (windows) software should convert the files to mp3 for you--but there'll be some (perhaps imperceptible) loss of audio quality

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Friday, 18 August 2006 04:07 (nineteen years ago)

itunes can do the conversion for you

― hippo eats dwarlf (lfam), Friday, 18 August 2006 04:10 (nineteen years ago)

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