Play Tag with Music

very good
key review info
application features
  • Batch processing of MP3 files
  • (2 more, see all...)

Those having large music collections in digital format, namely most of us, often face a problem that plagues nearly every assembly of multimedia files: faulty labeling. This can be quite annoying when, for example, you want to compile all the songs from a specific album but you don't remember all the featured songs or if you want to group your MP3s by genre. A simple renamer is of little help in this case, as the level of detail you need to process goes way beyond the mere file naming. There are dozens of tag editors out there with various levels of complexity for you to choose one to your liking.

If you're looking for a hassle-free tool that carries sufficient features, as well as a blank price tag, there is a certain piece of software for you to try. Its name is Moo0 Mp3InfoEditor and it offers a quick means of restoring order amongst the ranks of your music files. An uncomplicated interface, with all the functions in plain sight and batch processing capability are some of the characteristics you'll see as soon as you start it up. You will need no special abilities to work with this utility because the operation is straightforward, as its commands are very easy to understand and use.

First of all, you will notice the two running modes available and you'll have to decide which one is best for the task you want to accomplish: ''View & Edit'' or ''Alter Multiple Files at Once.'' The next obvious step is to load the items that are to be processed by the application. At this time, you'll see that the only supported type is MP3, as the software's name clearly states, so if you have audio files encoded in WAV or any other similar format, you should convert them to MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3. Adding the music can only be done by the familiar ''drag and drop'' action that will require you to open a Windows Explorer instance and locate the source folder.

If the selected file already packs some information, it will be displayed in the main window of Moo0 Mp3InfoEditor so you can check it and add more details where necessary. An important quality of this tool is that it can read and write using over 40 character sets like UTF-8, Central European, Chinese Simplified and Traditional or Western. This is very useful especially if the encoding for the embedded details is in a less common format or you need to make it as such. The read and write charsets are interchangeable, thus making possible hundreds of combinations.

The next step in processing the information for a loaded file is to edit the various fields containing the MP3 information. Here, you are presented with seven sections. The first one is the song title, followed by the performing artist. You can also input the name of the album and the year when the musical composition appeared. If the selected file is ripped from an audio CD, you'll be able to add the track number. The final fields are for the genre and for a specific comment you may want to add regarding that song.

When all the needed information is in its right place, all that's left for you to do is click the ''Apply Changes'' button and the magic will happen. To check if the content you introduced is correctly assigned, you can right-click the MP3 file in Windows Explorer, select ''Properties'' and then ''Details.'' The data should be there just as you typed it and now that song can be properly added to any selection based on one of the edited criteria. For example, if you load that song into an external player, you will be able to find it by sorting the files according to a rule that takes into account one of the values you inserted, like ''Artist Name'', ''Album'' or ''Genre.''

When it comes to batch processing, Moo0 Mp3InfoEditor will give you the possibility of modifying all the above mentioned fields at once or only some of them, as you please. All that is required from you is to check the ''Alter'' box for every section and enter the text content. There is also an interesting option designed to offer you a choice regarding the information that you don't want to modify for all the files at once. Consequently, you may change only the encoding for the un-altered fields and also pick the preferred character set.

The ''View'' menu of the application will surely look familiar to you because it enables you to use a variety of handy functions that are similar to those you may have used in Moo0 ImageInColors or Moo0 ImageTypeConverter. First of all, there's the command that lets you put the utility always on top of all the other running programs. Another feature that is quite useful is the ''easy drag.'' This allows you to change the position of the main window by simply clicking and holding the left mouse button with the cursor located anywhere within the boundaries of the interface. Finally, this menu will permit you to shut down the program with the help of the middle button, if your mouse has one. It's also worth mentioning the fact that this software supplies several languages for the interface and the number of available translations is constantly increasing.

The Good

The main strong point of this tool is its ease of use that will assist any user in appending the MP3 information without having to go through complicated configuration screens. The application's ability to deal with multiple files at the same time also scores some points alongside the processing speed, which is really good.

The Bad

Moo0 Mp3InfoEditor loses some points due to the rather austere user interface that clearly states the focus is evidently on practicality. There is another drawback brought about by the somewhat reduced feature pack. There are many more values that can be customized in a music file like rating, publisher or author, to name a few, missing at this point.

The Truth

The overall feeling that this utility gives forth is of a good, solid and reliable instrument that can get the job done fast, not in great detail but affecting a satisfactory level of information. Once you ''treat'' the songs with Moo0 Mp3InfoEditor, you won't be disappointed because the most relevant data will make the MP3 files easier to catalog and identify using particular criteria. Now, go on and take it for a test run to see for yourselves just how useful this application can be!

Here are some snapshots of the application in action:

 

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user interface 3
features 3
ease of use 4
pricing / value 4


final rating 4
Editor's review
very good
 
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