ID3 Tag Format Versions

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1

Over the years I’ve ripped my CD collection on different computers with different applications into various file formats (dBpoweramp, iTunes, XLD) > (WAV, AIFF, FLAC).

Before pointing Roon to this very large collection of files, I’ve been inspecting the file/folder structure and making sure the metadata is accurately tagged.

I’ve noticed the files from iTunes have the tag format of ID3v2.2, and the files from dBpoweramp and XLD have v2.3.

I’m using the application Metadatics to analyze and edit the metadata. In it’s preferences, the default is set to write tags using version 2.4, but I can change this to version 2.3.

After searching online, it appears version 2.4 still isn’t globally supported, and version 2.3 is the de facto standard. Even the home page of id3.org confirms this.

I’m guessing I should just convert the iTunes files to version 2.3 but wanted to ask this question…

When Roon extracts metadata tags from music files, is there a preferred ID3 version?

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2

We support both 2.3 and 2.4. If it were my own library, I’d use 2.4.

(We support the older stuff, too, of course…but 2.4 was specified in 2000–it’s very mature at this point).

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Thanks for the confirmation Brian. Very helpful!

During the online search, I noticed that the v2.4 issues people were commenting about were all dated 2009-2011. And the focus was incompatibility on programs and devices working with mp3 files — media players/taggers/encoders, mobile phones, and mp3 players.

It’s now 2016, and I’m transferring an uncompressed library from Aurender to Roon. So good to go!