Do you have a big collection of MP3 files? If so, you probably have run into all kinds of issues with your music files from missing track data to unplayable songs to insufficient sound excellent, etc, etc. There are many issues that can happen with MP3 files.
There are many software out there to effectively tag MP3 files, fix specific issues like VBR headers, add cover art, etc, but you have to download a lot of different programs and a lot of them mess things up more than they fix issues with MP3 files.
In this post, I want to bring up three applications that I have used to find damaged MP3 files and helping you fix the issues. If you are a perfectionist and really want to clean up your MP3 collection by tagging everything, adding cover art, fixing header issues and re-ripping poor quality files, then check out these programs below.
MP3 Diags:
MP3 Diags is a extensive program that can identify up to 50 kinds of issues with MP3 files and also has options to fix most of those issues.
Some of the issues that it can identify in MP3 files include:
- Broken tags and broken headers
- Duplicate tags and headers
- Wrong location of tags and headers (ID3V2, LAME, etc)
- Missing VBR header
- Missing track info
- Missing cover art
- Poor quality audio
- Adding track info from different sources (Internet, local files, etc)
- Adding album cover art from the Internet
- Fixing MP3 files that show the wrong song duration
- Fixing files in which the player cannot seek correctly
- Renaming files and changing the word case for track info
The beauty of this program is that even though it’s quite complex to use, it has a whole lot of documentation published by the system designer. He generally walking you through every display and describes what all the control buttons and alternate options. I have used this program on my fathers MP3 collection, which involved a lot of MP3s of Hindi songs. Most of those MP3s were damaged or losing tags in some way or the other. MP3 diags examined everything and easily offered me a overview of what issues each MP3 information file had.
MP3Test:
MP3Test is definitely a easier program to use than MP3 Diags, but it will not capture as many errors. However, if you are searching to find significant issues, then MP3Test is just outstanding. It easily tests your MP3 files and then smashes your songs down into damaged and error-free songs.
It also tries to give you some useful details like one amount for each songs so you can easily focus on the most damaged songs first. With this program, you will not be able to fix as many errors either, but at least you can identify them.
If you want to get some specs like tag modifying and automated relabel by labels, then you have to get the Pro edition. I would use this system only if you do not have the time to understand MP3 Diags.
MP3val:
The last program I desired to bring up was MP3val, which I like because it’s very light-weight and way more “push button” than the other two applications. Basically, you just run it and it examines the files and repairs them for you. It fixes a number of issues such as headlines issues, incorrect CRC, garbage at the end or starting of the file, etc.
These are three good applications for fixing damaged MP3 files that either do not play effectively, do not have the appropriate headers, do not have the right tag, etc. If you have a question about one of the software, post a comment here and we’ll try to help. Enjoy!