edit the track name of a DSF file in Windows 10

[blanc]

Hi,

what’s the easiest way to edit the track name of a DSF file in Windows 10?

 

[Vintage02]

Hi,

I think that the program mp3tag could do it

Mp3tag - Download

Download Mp3tag, a powerful and easy-to-use tool to edit metadata of audio files

www.mp3tag.de

 

[Nutul]

DSD files use the same tag system as mp3 (id3v2). The position of the tag in the file, though is different (in MP3s it is at the very beginning, while in DSDs is at a certain (supposed to be varying...) offset, which is specified in the header of the file itself. IME it is at the end of the file, so the offset is something very close to FILESIZE - TAGSIZE...
So, check with the tag editor software if it is compliant with this, otherwise your modified DSDs won't show any metadata in programs that honor (correctly) its tag position inside the file.

 

[linuxfan]

DSD files use the same tag system as mp3 (id3v2).

Yes that's certainly true for the (Sony) dsf file format, which natively supports ID3 tags.
The Philips dff file format, on the other hand, uses a unique form of tagging, which is near-impossible to edit in my experience, and even though there is now a de facto ID3 tagging method for dff, the ability of different media players to read these tags is hit and miss.
Take home message; encapsulate your DSD files as dsf, not dff.

I think that the program mp3tag could do it

Yes, Mp3tag fully supports tagging of dsf files, ever since 2014.
foobar2000 will also tag dsf files, once the Super Audio CD Decoder plugin is installed.
And my favourite tagger - Tag&Rename - supports dsf tags.

 

[SoundsGood64]

Another possibility would be MusicBrainz Picard which has the added benefit of the potential to import metadata from a large repository that users contribute to.

MusicBrainz Picard

Official website for MusicBrainz Picard, a cross-platform music tagger written in Python.

picard.musicbrainz.org

 

[Nutul]

The Philips dff file format, on the other hand, uses a unique form of tagging, which is near-impossible to edit in my experience, and even though there is now a de facto ID3 tagging method for dff, the ability of different media players to read these tags is hit and miss.

DFF files are, by their standard, tag-less. The fact that there appears to be a standard for tagging them kind of frustrates me... You want TAGs? ==> use DSF. There is no difference between DSF and DFF, apart one being tag-less. Well, DSF was born from DFF in order to:
1. not corrupt the standard (the DFF standard)
2. provide TAGs to the music lovers.

 

[linuxfan]

DFF files are, by their standard, tag-less.

I had not heard that before. I seem to recall that dff files freshly extracted from an ISO have some form of metadata which indicates artist/album/title. Bear in mind I'm going by my early attempts to include DSD files within my digital music collection, back in 2013.
When I return to Sydney in a few days I will test.

 

[Nutul]

I had not heard that before. I seem to recall that dff files freshly extracted from an ISO have some form of metadata which indicates artist/album/title. Bear in mind I'm going by my early attempts to include DSD files within my digital music collection, back in 2013.
When I return to Sydney in a few days I will test.

I quote an extract from https://samplerateconverter.com/educational/dsd-dsf-dff-audio#dsd-dsf-dff-sound-quality (about 2/3 down the page - I now found this site, but I got the information somewhere else, a long ago, but cannot remember where, and I am too lazy to go through all the google search results...)

DFF file doesn't support music metadata (song name, album, performer, artwork) standard way. However, the metadata may be stored in ID3 format in DFF file's chunk (internal data block). For access to the metadata, DFF file player must be able to recognize ID3-chunks.

DSF specification supports the metadata. DSF audio player may have issues with artwork format, size and resolution.

The bold text leaves me perplexed, as it is the exact contrary of what's stated at the beginning of the paragraph...
Anyway, the files are identical for what concerns audio data; so, the purist I am, shall I need metadata in a DSD file, I'd use DSF as file format.

 

[JustJones]

I quote an extract from https://samplerateconverter.com/educational/dsd-dsf-dff-audio#dsd-dsf-dff-sound-quality (about 2/3 down the page - I now found this site, but I got the information somewhere else, a long ago, but cannot remember where, and I am too lazy to go through all the google search results...)

DFF file doesn't support music metadata (song name, album, performer, artwork) standard way. However, the metadata may be stored in ID3 format in DFF file's chunk (internal data block). For access to the metadata, DFF file player must be able to recognize ID3-chunks.

DSF specification supports the metadata. DSF audio player may have issues with artwork format, size and resolution.

The bold text leaves me perplexed, as it is the exact contrary of what's stated at the beginning of the paragraph...
Anyway, the files are identical for what concerns audio data; so, the purist I am, shall I need metadata in a DSD file, I'd use DSF as file format.

Perhaps Wikipedia may help?

A single DSDIFF file may store an entire album as a single audio stream together with markers indicating the location of individual tracks for the album. Some parts of the audio content may be left out entirely from the resulting SACD. The embedded metadata format is intended for mastering engineers not consumers. For example, markers indicating the beginning of a new audio track have a text field for storing arbitrary text-based information. However, there is no requirement for the text to contain the title of the track. A de facto standard for including ID3 metadata in an unofficial ID3 chunk was later developed as consumers adopted the format for storing individual tracks of DSD audio.

Direct Stream Digital - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[linuxfan]

I just did some tests with dff files, which were extracted from an SACD iso image.
First I queried the contents of this SACD iso, with this command -
sacd_extract -P -i <name-of-iso>.iso
This revealed a complete listing of artist,album,title,publisher,copyright,genre information - so clearly SACD's have the ability to hold this metadata.
Once extracted, I opened these dff files in several tag editors, and several media players. To cut a long story short, here are the results;

The tag editors Tag&Rename & Mp3tag would not recognise these dff files, even though they can read/write tags of dsf files.

But the tag editor Musicbrainz Picard could recognise these dff files, and immediately read the artist,album,album-artist,title,track number,date,copyright,record label,genre information. Picard can also modify these values - by adding an ID3 tag. But the original dff metadata remains unchanged.

The media player foobar2000 (with foo_input_sacd plugin installed) will open these dff files, play them, and read the original metadata, but will ignore this original metadata in preference to an ID3 tag, if present. foobar2000 can also create or modify ID3 tags of a dff file.

The media player Music Player Daemon behaves the same way as foobar2000.

The media player VLC will open these dff files, attempt to play them but fail, complaining of a missing codec, and read the original metadata, completely ignoring any ID3 tag if present.

SUMMARY
dff files do not officially support tags, although some proprietary tag information is usually present, but the ability of other applications to read this is hit and miss.
ID3 tags can be added to dff files, but again, the ability of other applications to read this is hit and miss.
If you want tagged DSD files in your digital music collection, use dsf file encapsulation.

 

[Sokel]

I just did some tests with dff files, which were extracted from an SACD iso image.
First I queried the contents of this SACD iso, with this command -
sacd_extract -P -i <name-of-iso>.iso
This revealed a complete listing of artist,album,title,publisher,copyright,genre information - so clearly SACD's have the ability to hold this metadata.
Once extracted, I opened these dff files in several tag editors, and several media players. To cut a long story short, here are the results;

The tag editors Tag&Rename & Mp3tag would not recognise these dff files, even though they can read/write tags of dsf files.

But the tag editor Musicbrainz Picard could recognise these dff files, and immediately read the artist,album,album-artist,title,track number,date,copyright,record label,genre information. Picard can also modify these values - by adding an ID3 tag. But the original dff metadata remains unchanged.

The media player foobar2000 (with foo_input_sacd plugin installed) will open these dff files, play them, and read the original metadata, but will ignore this original metadata in preference to an ID3 tag, if present. foobar2000 can also create or modify ID3 tags of a dff file.

The media player Music Player Daemon behaves the same way as foobar2000.

The media player VLC will open these dff files, attempt to play them but fail, complaining of a missing codec, and read the original metadata, completely ignoring any ID3 tag if present.

SUMMARY
dff files do not officially support tags, although some proprietary tag information is usually present, but the ability of other applications to read this is hit and miss.
ID3 tags can be added to dff files, but again, the ability of other applications to read this is hit and miss.
If you want tagged DSD files in your digital music collection, use dsf file encapsulation.

I always wondered what these options at the SACD plug-in do: