OCD template: Audio File Check
 
1. Description

    AUDIO_FILE_CHECK.DAX is an OrangeCD 1) template, which detects:

  1. Mismatch between Orange CD track names and (iTunes) audio file names

  2. Tracks with unusually low or high kb/s count
The result is presented in an HTML table.

This documentation is written for AUDIO_FILE_CHECK.DAX v.1.13 (2004-08-28).

Note: When editing the AUDIO_FILE_CHECK.DAX script in DAXEDIT.EXE, use Tab size=2
( DAXEDIT: View | Options | Editor | Tab Size )

1) OrangeCD is a music collection manager created by Firetongue Software.

2. How to install

    In order to use the template, follow these instructions:
  1. Unzip the AUDIO_FILE_CHECK-x.xx.ZIP file, which should contain the following file:


    • audio_file_check.dax

  2. Place the AUDIO_FILE_CHECK.DAX template file in the Orange CD template folder (C:\Program Files\OrangeCD\templates).


  3. Use DAXEDIT.EXE to edit the following Start page variables so they match your configuration:

    4. (DAXEDIT.EXE should be located in your OCD program folder)

    var ocdPath = "<Orange CD program folder path>";
    Example: var ocdPath = "c:\\program files\\orangecd";
    Note: You MUST use double backslashes.

    var baseDrive = "<iTunes database drive letter + :>";
    Example: var baseDrive = "s:";
    Note: You MUST include the colon.

    var baseFolder = "<iTunes database folder name>";
    Examples: var baseFolder = "iTunesDB";
              var baseFolder = "myCDs\iTunes";
    Note: Do NOT include leading or trailing backslash.

    var trackExt = "<audio file extension>";
    Example: var trackExt =".mp3";
    Note: You MUST include the dot.

  4. Run OCD, click the Tools menu, and then select Export To HTML…


  5. Select Audio_File_Check from the Web page template window.


  6. Click Next.


  7. Fill out the appropriate Minimum kbps and Maximum kbps values for your audio file collection. See explanation in Section 4: File checking.


  8. Click Next.


  9. Fill out the Output folder field, and add a Web site title. If the specified Output folder doesn’t exist, OCD will offer to create it for you.


  10. Click Next and then click Finish.


  11. Sit back and be patient. Generating the result can take some time, but after a few minutes you should see the result in your browser ( Section 3: Screen shot).


Note: This template creates one single and fairly large html file. I’ve tested it on a collection of 800+ CDs (13.000+ tracks), which generates a file of approx. 2,5MB. If you have a huge collection, the output might become too large and complex for your browser to handle.

Copyright © 2004 Juventas. All rights reserved.
3. Screen shot

   
Figure 1: Missing tracks in red, tracks with kbps below min value in blue, tracks with kbps above max value in green.


Copyright © 2004 Juventas. All rights reserved.
4. File checking

    During the file checking process, the script calculates the audio file's kb/s count. An unusually low or high count may indicate that something went wrong during the ripping/encoding process.

What it actually does is check the file size (bytes) and the length of the track (minutes), and then calculates the kb/s count. If this count is lower than the specified MIN_KB_PER_SEC value or above the MAX_KB_PER_SEC value, the kb/s value will be displayed in brackets next to the play button.

You must determine the appropriate MIN_KB_PER_SEC and MAX_KB_PER_SEC for your collection. It isn’t easy because it will vary depending on encoding (mp3, ogg, acc, ...), sampling rate, VBR vs CBR, embedded album cover size etc.

However, here are some min/max values you can try out:

Bit rate kbpsMinimum kbpsMaximum kbps
128118138
160145175
192177207
256226276
320300340

I've experienced that ripping with CBR (constant bit rate) tends to create larger files than VBR (variable bit rate), especially if the track is very short (< 60-70 seconds) and contains speech.

You can use DAXEDIT.EXE to set default minimum and maximum values. The variables to look for are: MIN_KB_PER_SEC and MIN_BYTES_PER_MAX. You’ll find them in the Declaration page.

Copyright © 2004 Juventas. All rights reserved.
5. Limitations

    Please note the following limitations:

  • Neither album title, album artist, track title nor track artist may contain the backslash (\) character:

     \   backslash, reverse solidus   ASCII 092   &bsol;

    If a track name contains a backslash, the script will not be able to detect the audio file, simply because OCD removes any backslash characters without leaving a trace or space. In other words the audio file will appear in the report as missing, although that may not be the case.

  • If you use a default character set other than Western European, you may encounter problems with some special characters. The script has not been tested extensively with other character sets.
    ( OCD: View | Preferences | Database | Languages)

  • The script will not work properly if your audio file collection is scattered all over your hard drive. Your audio file collection must reside in one main folder.

    In iTunes you should activate the 'Keep iTunes Music folder organized' option. (This option 'Places song files into album and artist folders, and names the files based on the disc number, and the song title.')
    ( iTunes: Edit | Preferences | Advanced).
    And then consolidate your collection by running Advanced | Consolidate Library….

  • The script is based on a single audio format collection. If your audio file collection contains a mix of formats (mp3, acc, wma, wav, ogg etc.) the script will only work for the one, single format you’ve specified in the template script variable trackExt.

  • A work-around would be to register the audio file format in an album or track related OCD field. At the album level it would probably be natural to choose the Format field (<--[Format]-->), or possibly one of the Custom fields <--[CustomX]--> . At the Track level however, there really is no relevant field available, so you would have to select one of the fields that you presently don’t use, like for instance the Soloist field. Then the correct extension for each track could be identified by using the <--[TrackSoloist]--> variable.

  • The script also relies on a consistent naming policy. It will not work properly if you’ve included track numbers in some file names but not in others.

  • In iTunes you should either activate or deactivate the 'Create filenames with track number' option for your entire collection.
    ( iTunes: Edit | Preferences | Importing).

  • And finally, the script will only work properly with an audio file collection that follows the iTunes naming convention:

    fqn = <DBdrive>:\<DBfolder>\<ArtistName>\<AlbumTitle> \ [[<VolNum>-] <TrackNum> ]<TrackTitle>.<TrackExt>

    See detailed documentation of the iTunes file naming convention.

Copyright © 2004 Juventas. All rights reserved.
6. Disclaimer

    This template is free and comes with no warranties. Use it at your own risk!

Copyright © 2004 Juventas. All rights reserved.
 
 Script version 1.13 (2004-08-30)   Email: mail@juventas.net URL: http://ocd.juventas.net