Apr 05 2007
Tagging MP3s with Winamp
Can anyone tell me how to access the ID3 tag editor in the recent versions of Winamp? It used to be a simple procedure, but now it isn’t. I’m still using version of 5.24 because the later versions seem to have complicated the tagging procedure.
One thing I used to like about Winamp is that when I was playing an MP3 and noticed the tag information was wrong, I could easily correct it by right-clicking and selecting “View file info,” which opened the ID3 tag editor window shown here. I would then enter the correct info, click the “Update” button and be on my merry way. I used to be able to update the tag info while playing the file, but one of the Winamp upgrades changed that function, and now I have to stop the file to update the tag info. I can live with that slight inconvenience.
But one of the more recent upgrades to Winamp seems to have removed the ID3 tag editor altogether. Maybe it hasn’t removed it, but it’s not where it used to be and I can’t find it. Any help?
UPDATE #1: The correct ID3 tag editor shows up with v5.33 only after I uninstall the my old Winamp 5.24 and delete the old directory and all its contents. Which means goodbye to my ShoutCast plugin which I would never be able to reinstall and configure again because the first time took forever (and Jody did it anyway). I’d also have to reinstall all my other plugins, which I’m not in the mood to do. There’s probably some left over component that’s screwing up v5.33, but I currently don’t have the time to hunt it down. So I’m sticking to the old version. For now.
UPDATE #2: Everything is working the way it should now. I had to uninstall every non-essential plugin from my old version of Winamp first. One of the plugins must be incompatible with the v5.33. Here are some of the plugins I removed: CompWide, Winamp Clock, Milkdrop Visualization, DSP Stacker (this one was always a bit buggy), Crossfader, Gapless Playback, and a few others I can’t remember. All of them are non-essential and easy to reinstall. (I didn’t remove my ShoutCast plugins.) All’s right with the world again.
UPDATE #3: (April 23/07): It ain’t working again. For some reason Winamp decided to revert back to the crappy edit window. I’m not sure why. I’ve uninstalled most of my plugins and I can’t figure it out. DSP Stacker, CompWide and the MP3Pro plugins are not causing it. I’m not sure what else it could be. Goddamn computers. UPDATE (next day): I had to reinstall Winamp (5.34). It’s working now. I’m thinking about getting a Mac.
Pressing Alt+3 doesn’t work?
I don’t think so, but I’ll upgrade to the latest version and try it again. (It’s not unlikely that I’m missing something obvious. I have no patience for upgrades.)
Nope. Still sucks. There is a new tag window, but the only thing that shows up in it is the file name. When I play an MP3 (a fully tagged MP3) through Winamp 5.33, there is no tag information showing up at all now.
Nice.
Back to the old version.
Use Musicmatch Jukebox. Much better… a little harder on system resources, but cool nonetheless.
You should check out “Tag & Rename”. oh my, what a fantastic program. There’s no way i would have ever organized and tagged 60 gigs of MP3’s without it.
What USED to be convenient about Winamp (and still is with Winamp 5.24) is that I could re-tag a file when it came up in the playlist. I have to press STOP now before I update the tag info, but it’s still better then opening another program altogether (eg “Tag & Rename”) and retagging from there. I rarely need to retag more than one file at at time, so Winamp is fine (or used to be).
Yeah, you find out, let me know too. I noticed Alt+3 didn’t work in new versions either. Sucks.
I have version 5.33. When I press Alt-3 when Winamp is the active window and mp3 is playing, the screen Phillip posted pops up. That’s not what you guys want?
Nope. When I press alt-3, I get a simplified version of that screen cut in half. (I’ll take a screen shot of it if I install the damn thing again.)
I’m slowly trying out other players. Foobar2000 has potential and MatchMusic Jukebox is too busy.
CORRECTION: Yes, that’s what I want, but nope, that’s not what I get.
Apparently Winamp 5.34 (latest version) has the Alt-F3 being able to easily tag songs back in it. I just gave it a try and it was like the old days. I remember you were frustrated by this too - so give the new version a try.
Whole Wheat Radio can no longer come in through with MP3Pro enchancement for me. Winamp reverted to the crappy and useless tag window I mentioned in this post. I tried to uninstall the MP3Pro plug-in, but it wouldn’t uninstall (very frustrating), so I had to manually delete the files in my Winamp directory. The good tag window back immediate. I’d love to listen to WWR at the 44kHz instead of 22, but that’s the way she goes. Not having the good tag window is just too inconvenient.
I know Wimamp is popular, but it’s always seemed much to techy to me. I can think of at least 10 ways to greatly simplify it’s interface. I don’t plan to update it again. Something inevitably gets haywire.
I’m currently using versoin 5.5.