WMA incorrect track length

[Minwah]

I've noticed with some of my wma's I've ripped from my cd's (using Media Player), the track length is incorrect...the tag editing feature in my mp3 players' software doesn't allow you to manually change this (you shouldn't need to I suppose).

Anyone know a) why this happens (Media Player bug?) and b) how I can fix the affected tracks?

[Silver]

Not sure to be honest, but there was a bug in some versions of Winamp that displayed the wrong track length for WMA files not so long ago.... are you using that?

Most usual cause of this error in other formats - mp3/ogg etc... is that they are encoded in VBR not CBR which makes it much harder for the decoder to figure out how long the track is if it is not in the header...

My personal (and completely useless) suggestion is: don't use wma.

[Minwah]

I'm not using WinAmp...I think Media Player is just placing an incorrect (almost random, but always too short) track length in the tag (if that's the correct term).  I don't see why, most of the time they are fine.

So, the track length appears wrong in anything I try to play the file back in (Media Player, portable MP3 player etc.).  However, when the track reaches the (incorrect) total track length, it just continues playing as normal.  So really just the time display and progress bar look incorrect, nothing is wrong with the audio.

I could stop using wma's but a) I like them and b) I'm not convinced the problem would go away even if I were using MP3's or another format.

Thanks for your reply tho

[SalmonKing]

What version of WMP are you using?  When I wrote SKJB, I used version 8 then 9 and it would give me the wrong track length on several MP3/WMA files.  From memory, version 10 did not do this (then again, my memory could be a bit hazy on this....rewriting a jukebox program around a different engine 3 times in a month can get a bit tiresome).

That's when I went with : http://www.multimediasoft.com/amp3dj/

One of the reasons I went with it was because the control seemed to be free, but after a month people's music stopped playing!!!   

Anyway, kinda glad that happened, as I ended up buying a pretty good control.

[Minwah]

What version of WMP are you using?  When I wrote SKJB, I used version 8 then 9 and it would give me the wrong track length on several MP3/WMA files.  From memory, version 10 did not do this (then again, my memory could be a bit hazy on this....rewriting a jukebox program around a different engine 3 times in a month can get a bit tiresome).

Thanks...I was using version 9 until a few days ago.  Hopefully version 10 won't have the problem.

Is there a (free) program I could use to alter the existing wma's with incorrect track lengths?

[SalmonKing]

Thanks...I was using version 9 until a few days ago.  Hopefully version 10 won't have the problem.

Is there a (free) program I could use to alter the existing wma's with incorrect track lengths?

I wouldn't think it would store that in the file.  Are you sure it isn't calculating the length, and just showing it like the other editable fields?  Then again, who knows...maybe it is a field you can edit.  I'll have a look around.

[Minwah]

I wouldn't think it would store that in the file.  Are you sure it isn't calculating the length, and just showing it like the other editable fields?  Then again, who knows...maybe it is a field you can edit.  I'll have a look around.

I'm not sure...

I agree, it shouldn't be held in the file...it's just that my mp3 player's software displays it with the other editable info, but the time itself is not editable.  It could just be calculated, but what would cause multiple programs to give the same incorrect time?

Wait...I just read your last reply, and did you ask what version of media player I was using just for playback?  I thought you meant what version was I ripping CD's with, and I was hoping the older version might 'label' rips incorrectly.  The reason I mention this is as I said above, the problem occurs in multiple programs, leading me to think the problem is with the files themselves.

[Barry Barcrest]

The legnth is generated by the software. So it is probably the software you are using to play the files that is at fault.

[richms]

Any VBR format needs to have the length specified in the header of the file as the only way to calculate it is to read the entire file. There are plenty of MP3s out there with incorrect length headers, I dont use WMA myself so dont know of any tools to fix them unfortunatly.

[Minwah]

Any VBR format needs to have the length specified in the header of the file as the only way to calculate it is to read the entire file. There are plenty of MP3s out there with incorrect length headers, I dont use WMA myself so dont know of any tools to fix them unfortunatly.

Ah thanks, that makes perfect sense, I am using VBR wma's...and the track lengths appear wrong in multiple apps so I'm sure it is in the header.

There must be some program out there to do it, I'll have a good look...