Sonnox Fraunhofer Codec Toolbox - Manual (Page 25)

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7.5.2 Supported Tag Formats
The Manager provides the ability to add and modify metadata in files with an ‘mp3’ extension, and
some files with an ‘m4a’ extension. Adding and modifying metadata in m4a files compressed with
the Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) is not supported. The Status panel will display an error
message if one of these files is selected. The adding and editing of metadata in ‘wav’ and ‘aiff’
formats is not supported.
The metadata contained within mp3 and m4a files is distinct from the audio data, and is stored in a
separate format of its own. The Manager supports the handling of 2 different metadata formats:
ID3v2
This format is typically for use in mp3 files. The ID3v2 standard is now in its 4 th revision, but
many players, including Windows 7 utilities, only support up to ID3v2.3. The Manager can
read and write metadata in all versions: 2.2, 2.3 and 2.4.
iTunes Metadata
This is the standard developed and popularised by Apple, and found in m4a files.
These two tag formats are widely supported, and can be parsed by most commercially available
music player applications.
Note that m4a files can contain metadata in the ID3 format, but mp3 files cannot contain metadata
in the iTunes format.
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