Retain original wav's metadata on mp3 export?

Audacity 3 Help Forum
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I produce podcasts for Amazon Content Exchange (ACX). I create and edit the podcasts in Adobe Audition and export .wav files, which I then open in Audacity so that I can run the ACX Checker (Nyquist prompt etc), then export .mp3 for upload to ACX.
I want Audicity to retain the original metatdata that is in the .wav (ID3 tages) so I don’t have to laboriously re-enter all the metadata again, for each time I export an .mp3. And each .wav has unique metatdata, so I can’t use a Template in Audacity either.
In Audacity, the ‘Edit Metatdata Tags’ popup does not seem to have an option to ‘Retain Original metadata’ or something similar. Apparently “a file that has metadata into an Audacity project, the file’s metadata overwrites Audacity’s default metadata” (Default metadata tags when exporting aren't saving between sessions) but this is not my experience.
Am I missing someting? Is there a way to export .mp3 files so that they retain the original wav’s metadata ?

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You may be able to copy the metadata from old-to-new with Mp3Tag. (It works with all popular formats, not just MP3.)

Metadata is a “weak spot” for Audacity.

The different formats have different tagging standards so they don’t always copy-over exactly.

Metadata for WAV files is not well standardized or well supported.

You might try FLAC instead of WAV, but FLAC uses Vorbis comments and MP3 uses ID3 tags.

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Thanks Doug. Ideally I am wanting to avoid having to use yet another program/software to do this. In my current workflow, I add the desired metadata into the Adobe Audition ‘master’ project, and export .wav’s from there that carry the metadata; then open those wavs in Audacity, perform the ACX adjustment/check, and then export the mp3s. I then am having to open the mp3s in Audition and copy each metatdata field I want from the Audiiton project master to the mp3. It’s very labourious…
So using another program like MP3Tag won’t really reduce the workload or help. I already also have ‘ID3 Editor’ but again, it’s the double-up I’m wanting to avoid if possible.

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A note here. That’s not what you said in the first post. If all you do is ACX-Check and then out the door, you could make the MP3s in Audition.

But if you use, for example, Audiobook Mastering and then ACX-Check, then you’re stuck managing the metadata manually.

I can’t help with the metadata problem, but I wrote most of Audiobook Mastering and I’m one of the daddies of ACX-Check. It is known that podcasts have different loudness specifications than audiobooks. Given enough Starbucks, I might write Podcast Mastering Macro. This might reduce most of the Audacity trip to two steps—not counting the export/metadata.

What are you doing to the work other than inspect with ACX-Check?

Koz

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Hi Koz, thanks very much for your thoughts.
In Audacity I am running a Macro (adjusts EQ, Loundness Normalization and Limiter–as suggested by Josh Meyer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8E5xLPCRiA) after which I run the ACX Check, and it always passes.

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Thanks for the info and link.

I tried a couple of tests on my machines and I’m beginning to understand where this is going.

Every time I touch loudness tools I get a surprise. Engineering isn’t suppose to have surprises.

It says here.

Koz

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Post the Macro. It’s a text file, right? That will save a lot of work. The forum upload icon is the thick horizontal line with up arrow.

Koz

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Thanks Koz.
Yes I think the Macro is a text file. I’m just away from the computer so will post it shortly, but I don’t think it’s relevant. The issue of the original metadata NOT being carried to the mp3 exported from Audacity happens whether I use the macro or not.
That is, I could simply open a wav in Audacity and do NO editing/adjusting to it, and export an mp3, and the metadata that was on the wav does not appear on the exported mp3.

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Not to your original question, no. But you happen to be successfuly producing work and are willing to share how you’re doing it. That’s the forum, right? Users helping each other.

Any minute now, we may get someone posting with the solution to your metadata problem.

Koz

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Does the metadata stick around if you export a WAV rather than the MP3? Just as a test?

Koz

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Here’s Josh Meyer’s macros for meeting ACX specs:
Josh Meyers.txt (960 Bytes)

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Good thinking. I just tried this ie opened a wav, did nothing except immediately export as wav, and no, the original metadata is lost.

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Haha fair enough!

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I can’t wait to try this on actual sound. His curve is monstrously more complicated than mine.

———

I would try different versions of Audacity.

The very latest feature repair is contained in 3.6.1. Read the elfin posts!

The one before that was 3.6.0 and may be the one you’re currently using.

The last hero version was 3.4.2. We don’t talk about 3.5.0.

The one before that was 2.4.2.

From fuzzy memory, Metadata Management was one of the features that came and went as feature advancement progressed.

You can get older versions here.

When you install a version clean it out with Tools > Reset Configuration. That keeps the prior version’s poisons from contaminating your new one.

Post how it goes.

Koz

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Starbucks Kicking In.

Audacity is not a DAW or Sound Editor. It’s a Project Editor. That’s why when you File > Save, you only get various Project configurations.

You have to File > Export and leave the Audacity Environment/World to get any of the stand-alone sound formats. So inside Audacity, the program has no idea what the original metadata was.

The bit depth isn’t carried forward, either. It was probably 16-bit when you were holding it in your hand, but it’s 32-Bit Floating inside Audacity. They got in trouble with that because one version of Audacity would cast off everything and destroy the sample rate, too. This would give you squeaky mice or double-bass voices and bad clip duration.

Entertaining, but probably not what you wanted.

Koz

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Thanks for all that Koz.

UPDATE:
At this time I cannot find a workflow that will do what I am wanting, so this is what I have settled on doing (for this point in time anyway):

  1. Edit each podcast episode in Adobe Audition. Add ID3 metadata to the Audition multitrack session project (.sesx).
  2. When episode editing is complete, export .wav.
  3. Open .wav in Audacity, run the Josh Meyer’s Macro (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8E5xLPCRiA ie Josh Meyers.txt) to meet ACX requirements. Run the Nyquist prompt / ACX Check. If file passes the checks, export .mp3 and either ignore whatever metadata fields are produced; or amend them via ‘Edit metadata’. If the file fails the ACX check, return to Audition and fix the issue/s (complete silence, too loud etc).
  4. Open the .mp3 file in Audition and amend the metadata (copy and paste the relevant metadata from the multitrack session project fields to the mp3 file’s fields).
  5. Done.
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