bitrates and song length
 

When I convert a song to m4a / MPEG-4 / AAC format, I want the song length and bitrate to appear in the file description. I can edit a song in limewire but their is still know song length or birate. Currently I don't know how to do this. Can someone please help?? I am sorry if this has already been asked. Please point me to a link if their is one. I did a search and could not find any information on the topic. I am new to the forum and very :confused:

Whit

"If" you have iTunes then you can do it there. Select the tune(s) holding the shift key & press the i key. Then info & comments. Media Rage can also edit m4a files. I'm not sure which windows programs can edit m4a tags.
I've never tried doing it with LW, but you should just be able to select the m4a file in your library window, press the Describe button, select Audio tab. And then type in details in comments. I just tried it & it seems to work fine within LW. However when I double-checked it with another tagger, the comment didn't seem to stick. But hovering my cursor over the song in LW the comment does show. :confused: Oh well, it either doesn't work properly with m4a files or it's a totally different type of tag that only LW understands.

Thank you for your help. I understand what you mean about editing the description in LW. My issue appears to be this. In itunes I can click on the song to show the info. I see the following tabs: summary info options lyrics artwork. The summary tab does show the kbps as being 128 and the options tab shows the song length. When I copy the file from itunes, EVERYTHING disappears including all of the things I added to the file in itunes. In the info tab on LW, their is no bitrate or song length. All I get is kind of file, size, and date modified. If I click on the audio part of the tab on LW their is no place to insert the bitrate or song length. Maybe I should not even worry about it but it is an awful lot of info to have to fill in to identify the songs. I'm still confused :confused:

Whit

Try converting the id3 tags to v2.3 (using iTunes with Limewire closed) You can do your entire iTunes library in a few minutes .. Just a word of warning .... the first time you start limewire after doing this your share may take ages like an hour perhaps to load into Limewire depending on the size of your share.

Thank you for the reply. I finally figured out where the Id3 tag is located but unfortunately when I right-click on a song, their is no Id3 tag that I can even highlight. I only see Id3 tags on mp3 files, None on m4a format files. :confused:

Whit

hummm I'm just tying to find some M4A files I know I have them somewhere! Back soon

Sorry I didn't gude you to the id3 tag info in iTunes. I realize now that that info is not there for m4a files. However using Mac all the relevant information is shown using extended tooltip (hovering the mouse over the title) in the Limewire Library. I think you may have a problem as a Windows user, which I assume you are. ... If you are a windows user I thought there were problems even playing M4A files. Anyway before I prattle on any more ... Are you using Windows or Mac?

Once again thank you for the reply. You are correct in your windows assumption. Thanks to itunes, I can handle the m4a format. Any suggestions?

Whit

Whit, It is evdently a windows only problem... I would not worry about it myself. Trying to change details in the Limewire library is in my experience a total waste of time, as the changes usually don't "stick" as LOTR has already noticed.

It seems you have 3 options ... Do nothing

Find an id3 tag editor which will work for M4A files on Windows Googling would no doubt find fomething, if it is available or

Convert all the files to mp3 ... ensuring after you did it that you convert the id3 tags to v2.3 as , in mac iTunes anyway, the default is the very useless 2.2

Unless a windows expert has any better ideas that is all I can suggest.

It is a nuisance when searching not to be able to view the bit rate or the length, but if I know what I'm looking for it is usually possible to guess if the file is any good from the file size.
Does this help?

Yes you are probably right. I guess I should not even worry about it. I just like to know what I am getting and I am sure others out there feel the same way. The things that I want to share are OUT OF PRINT. Meaning that you can only get them on auction sites or at used cd stores. It is hard to buy cds when they are not being made anymore! :(

Whit