Edit metadata
What Edit metadata actually does
Most tag editors present empty boxes and ask what the tags should be, which means retyping values the file already holds and guessing at whatever is not shown. This one opens by reading the file: each field arrives filled in with what the container actually says, every embedded picture is listed at its real format and pixel size, and the facts a container reports about itself are shown without being offered for editing. The written file is then reopened and read a second time, so what appears on the page after a write comes from the produced file rather than from the request that made it.
How to use it
- Choose one audio file or a batch. Each is read in this tab and its current tags appear in the fields.
- Edit any field, tick remove beside a tag to drop it, or clear every tag at once. Artwork is a stream rather than a tag and is kept either way.
- Write the file, then read the result panel, which is filled from a second read of the file that was just produced.
Useful for
- Correct the artist or album on files ripped or downloaded with the wrong tags.
- Strip personal comments, encoder notes and stray tags before sharing a recording.
- Check what a file actually carries before sending it to a distributor or a player that reads tags strictly.
Limits worth knowing
- Tags are written through the container's generic key and value interface, so lyrics, chapters, ratings and replay gain are out of reach.
- MP3 output is written as ID3 version 2.3, which more players and file browsers read than version 2.4. ID3 version 1 is not written alongside it.
- The picture role byte that distinguishes a front cover from a back cover is not reachable, so a written cover is simply a cover.
Questions people ask
Is the file uploaded?
No. Reading the tags, writing the new file and reading it back all happen in this tab. The audio engine is fetched once and cached.
Does editing a tag re-encode the audio?
No. Every stream is copied, so the audio and any embedded artwork come through untouched and only the tags are rewritten.
Why does an empty field not delete the tag?
An empty field cannot say whether it was cleared or never filled. Removal is a separate instruction, which is what the remove box beside each field does.