Hey folks,

Since 1998 I've kept music on my system, hence I have over 10,000 songs in mp3 and wav formats. Stupid me didn't always encode the artist, title, album into the mp3, or encode the info into the correct fields, and of course my naming convention was not consistent. My folder conventions has also changed, so I am sure I have duplicate songs (at different bit rates), I just can't find them because I some are named 'track 1.mp3'.

Presently, most of my ripping and encoding has been through Nero 6.6 (Extras | [ Encode Files | Save Tracks] ). I have the CDDB stored on an external hard drive that is referenced by all my systems (1288 files, 72.3 kb, but 40.2 MB of used disk space...FAT32). Hence, any database info should be able to be stored in a location of my choice, and shouldn't use individual files.

Anyway, I'm looking for a program that will help me rename my files and edit the all the mp3 fields. In theory, the software should delete the 'old' file if it is converted/recoded to an mp3, and allow me to re-enter information. Ripping mp3's from CD's I suppose would also be helpful. Ultimately, like Ms Office has the 'prompt for document properties', I would like the media manager to have a similar option.

I don't mind paying for new software, but I do have access to the obvious (real, wmp10, winamp) but also have a retail Audigy 2 that includes the Creative Media Source Player 3.x.

Thanks for your help

Audacity, free, easy to use. Have fun.

I would suggest using Foobar2000 for mass tagging/renaming of files.

http://www.foobar2000.com/

Not sure if you're needing anything else besides a tag/name editor, but as far as editing the actual song itself, adding effects, volume leveling etc.... I would suggest GoldWave.

Thank you for the advice. Somehow I knew you people would know good software. As for editing, no, I just need need some management. For editing I use SoundForge 4.x (WinNT Version).

I'll give both of them a shot

For other lusers, here's the link to Audacity
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

MP3tag should do the trick

or you could give winLAME a go

Ok I'll look into those also - thanks again

Right now I'm trying to digest Foobar2000
Man its powerful - so many options