LIParothed

Gang,

This has probably been discussed before, but, I finally started using the MP3 player this week. The track titles are briefly displayed (for example..."Margaritaville" appears as "MARGARIT>". The right arrow appears, but it does not move on to finish the title, or even state the artist for that matter. These are all MP3 files, created on my PC, that also show all of the information on my I-Pod, but only a brief version of the song title on the Shaker 500.

Any tips? Something I'm missing?

AWmustang

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LIParothed @ March 2, 2006, 1:11 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
Gang,

This has probably been discussed before, but, I finally started using the MP3 player this week. The track titles are briefly displayed (for example..."Margaritaville" appears as "MARGARIT>". The right arrow appears, but it does not move on to finish the title, or even state the artist for that matter. These are all MP3 files, created on my PC, that also show all of the information on my I-Pod, but only a brief version of the song title on the Shaker 500.

Any tips? Something I'm missing?
[/b][/quote]

Press the Text button (radio memory 6) and it will show you the rest of the song title and move on to the artist. Though most of mine come up as No Artist, still haven't figured out why. You can also view the actual filename. Also if you press and hold the Text button while viewing the filename or song title or artist, that will then become the default item listed.

LIParothed

Tried the same with Button #6 (Text), with the same results as you (No Artist, No Album). Even tried holding the Text button. No dice. Bit disappointing, when I see friends cars with MP3's that show everything about the song. Would never go foreign, but a friend just bought the new Civic, and it takes memory cards!

Agent45

The disc has to be encoded with CD TEXT. That is a new feature that CD companies are putting on CD's. Not all have the info encoded. If you make your own MP3 discs be sure to enable playlist or track info when burning.

Vermillion98

Make sure the ID3 tags are filled out on your mp3s. There are a couple of different versions of ID3 Tags, I'm not sure which ones the Shakers read, so I just fill them all in.

All you ever wanted to know about ID3 tags on MP3s

archdandy111

If you use iTunes, make sure all of the information is showing up in there. And, if you're using iTunes, don't burn MP3 discs with it. Well, you can, but it doesn't usually make properly formatted MP3 discs. If it's not, you can select all of the songs that don't have the proper information at once and right click on them and select Get Info (or similar, I'm not sure what it says on the PC version) and then enter in the information and it'll change the info for all of the tracks selected. Especially handy when you have a ton of tracks by the same artist or off of the same CD.

If you're on a Mac, and you have the spare cash, pick up a copy of Roxio Toast Titanium. Roxio

With Toast, you can burn pretty much ANY type of disc ever, make disc image files to save for later burning, etc. The one main thing I love about Toast when I burn MP3 discs, is that I can create the entire disc structure, so I can make proper folders and all of that. Then, on the Shaker, make sure Folder Mode is activated by going through the menu on the Shaker, and then you'll be able to skip folders and all of that. I'm sure the PC has something similar to do this with, like Easy CD Creator or something, but I don't do Windows. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif[/img]

Burning MP3 discs in this manner always gives me all of the information on the Shaker though.

Any questions, feel free to ask, I burn like 10 mp3 discs a week, because I'm the most indecisive person ever. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif[/img]

jason

mustangjack

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Vermillion98 @ March 2, 2006, 5:05 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
Make sure the ID3 tags are filled out on your mp3s. There are a couple of different versions of ID3 Tags, I'm not sure which ones the Shakers read, so I just fill them all in.[/b][/quote]I'm not sure if that will work. If I remember right, it seems that I could only get all the fields to show if I used version 1 tags only. If I used them all it wouldn't work. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/dunno.gif[/img] Someone will have to verify that though, it has been a few months since I did it

dekujala

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mustangjack @ March 2, 2006, 5:59 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
I'm not sure if that will work. If I remember right, it seems that I could only get all the fields to show if I used version 1 tags only. If I used them all it wouldn't work. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/dunno.gif[/img] Someone will have to verify that though, it has been a few months since I did it
[/b][/quote]

This is correct, I did a basic test awhile back and they work fine as long as they are tagged with V1 ONLY!, if you have V1 and V2 or V2 it doesn't seem to like the tag.

parrotheadGT

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LIParothed @ March 2, 2006, 2:23 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
Tried the same with Button #6 (Text), with the same results as you (No Artist, No Album). Even tried holding the Text button. No dice. Bit disappointing, when I see friends cars with MP3's that show everything about the song. Would never go foreign, but a friend just bought the new Civic, and it takes memory cards!
[/b][/quote]

OK,
Time to help a fellow parrothead out. I had the same problems, until someone on this forum suggested using a program called Tag & Rename. It's easily downloadable, and free for the 1st 30 days. It will properly tag all the various fields. One problem I finally figured out was that the Shaker will only recognize V1 tags, so once you import your music into the program, there is an option to clear out all tag data. This is necessary, because your itunes or MP3 data probably already has V2 or V3 data embedded in the file, even if you don't immediately see it. I discovered that even though I was only using the V1 fields, the info still wouldn't display, until I finally decided to "clear" everything and type in fresh data. It worked fine then. All you have to do next is re-enter whatever info you want to have displayed, (in the V1 tags only), and then save everything. I created entirely new "car MP3 files" and saved everything in that, so I didn't overwrite V2 data that I may need in the future. Next, burn it to a disc, and everything should display properly. I wasted a whole pack of CDs before I finally figured it out, but now everything displays, which is very important when you're trying to find "One Particular Harbour" on a disc with about 100 songs on it! Hope this helps.......
Phins Up!

RazorX

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(parrotheadGT @ March 2, 2006, 7:57 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
OK,
Time to help a fellow parrothead out. I had the same problems, until someone on this forum suggested using a program called Tag & Rename. It's easily downloadable, and free for the 1st 30 days. It will properly tag all the various fields. One problem I finally figured out was that the Shaker will only recognize V1 tags, so once you import your music into the program, there is an option to clear out all tag data. This is necessary, because your itunes or MP3 data probably already has V2 or V3 data embedded in the file, even if you don't immediately see it. I discovered that even though I was only using the V1 fields, the info still wouldn't display, until I finally decided to "clear" everything and type in fresh data. It worked fine then. All you have to do next is re-enter whatever info you want to have displayed, (in the V1 tags only), and then save everything. I created entirely new "car MP3 files" and saved everything in that, so I didn't overwrite V2 data that I may need in the future. Next, burn it to a disc, and everything should display properly. I wasted a whole pack of CDs before I finally figured it out, but now everything displays, which is very important when you're trying to find "One Particular Harbour" on a disc with about 100 songs on it! Hope this helps.......
Phins Up!
[/b][/quote]

I struggled with this myself but I eventually figured it out. The only way I can get all of the information [artist, song title, and album] to show up on the Shaker display consistently is to ensure ID3 v1.1 is the only tag format used on the file(s). I got mixed results with other ID3 versions (including 1.0) but all of the information displays correctly every time when 1.1 is only version used. The easiest way to strip out the other ID3 versions [a file can contain multiple versions] or convert files with a different version is to use iTunes to "convert" the tag to version 1.1. You can do this by right clicking the file (or files) and selecting convert ID3 tag version.

The beauty of this approach is you don't have to clear the existing text out and add it back as part of the process. All you need to do is convert the ID3 tag to v1.1 prior to burning the CD.

I do agree Tag & Rename is great for adding/editing tag information. I also like Music Match Jukebox for inserting tag information on a large number of files. It has a great feature that gets the information off of the internet. You don’t need to key anything in.

parrotheadGT

RazorX,
Thanks for the info, I'll have to give iTunes another try. I didn't know about the right click option o convert the files. It is very time consuming to key everything back in after you've stripped everything out of the tags the way I've been doing it!

Vermillion98

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dekujala @ March 2, 2006, 6:41 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
This is correct, I did a basic test awhile back and they work fine as long as they are tagged with V1 ONLY!, if you have V1 and V2 or V2 it doesn't seem to like the tag.
[/b][/quote]
I use a freeware app called ID3 TagIt that writes ID3 v1 and ID3 v2. I put both in and it works fine in my Shaker 500.

ID3v1 tags are appended to the end of the file while, ID3v2 tags are appended to the beginning of the file, so they shouldn't really affect one another. But since ID3v1 is the older standard, the Shakers probably only read ID3v1.

LIParothed

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(parrotheadGT @ March 2, 2006, 7:57 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
OK,
Time to help a fellow parrothead out. I had the same problems, until someone on this forum suggested using a program called Tag & Rename. It's easily downloadable, and free for the 1st 30 days. It will properly tag all the various fields. One problem I finally figured out was that the Shaker will only recognize V1 tags, so once you import your music into the program, there is an option to clear out all tag data. This is necessary, because your itunes or MP3 data probably already has V2 or V3 data embedded in the file, even if you don't immediately see it. I discovered that even though I was only using the V1 fields, the info still wouldn't display, until I finally decided to "clear" everything and type in fresh data. It worked fine then. All you have to do next is re-enter whatever info you want to have displayed, (in the V1 tags only), and then save everything. I created entirely new "car MP3 files" and saved everything in that, so I didn't overwrite V2 data that I may need in the future. Next, burn it to a disc, and everything should display properly. I wasted a whole pack of CDs before I finally figured it out, but now everything displays, which is very important when you're trying to find "One Particular Harbour" on a disc with about 100 songs on it! Hope this helps.......
Phins Up!
[/b][/quote]
Thanks much. I'll try this solution (as well as the other input from members) and see if that works. By the way...44 Buffett shows in seven (7) states, and my plate...PAROTHDZ.

LIParothed

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RazorX @ March 2, 2006, 8:21 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
I struggled with this myself but I eventually figured it out. The only way I can get all of the information [artist, song title, and album] to show up on the Shaker display consistently is to ensure ID3 v1.1 is the only tag format used on the file(s). I got mixed results with other ID3 versions (including 1.0) but all of the information displays correctly every time when 1.1 is only version used. The easiest way to strip out the other ID3 versions [a file can contain multiple versions] or convert files with a different version is to use iTunes to "convert" the tag to version 1.1. You can do this by right clicking the file (or files) and selecting convert ID3 tag version.

The beauty of this approach is you don't have to clear the existing text out and add it back as part of the process. All you need to do is convert the ID3 tag to v1.1 prior to burning the CD.

I do agree Tag & Rename is great for adding/editing tag information. I also like Music Match Jukebox for inserting tag information on a large number of files. It has a great feature that gets the information off of the internet. You don’t need to key anything in.
[/b][/quote]
RazorX,

This worked perfectly!! Just wish all of the infornation would scroll, like it does during the playing of a song off the radio. Seems you should not have to repeatedly press the Text button to finish the title, artist & album...BUT, at least it works.