Automated detection of corrupted files.

August 5, 2009 11:31 AM

I have about 100 gigabytes of MP3 files on my iPod that have been passaged through several iPods and failing laptop hard drives, and about 10% of the tracks have become corrupted and have little audible glitches in them. That's really annoying. Does this kind of damage leave behind some kind of tell-tale signature that I could get my computer to search for and give me a list of tracks that need re-ripping? Is there some kind of Mac (or at a pinch other OS) program that can identify the dodgy tracks? Or do I just need to spend however many hundred hours listening with pen and paper at hand?
posted by nowonmai to computers & internet (8 comments total)

There is mp3check (mac binary), which outputs all sorts of data about corruption, malformed packets, bad headers, etc. You'll find that many tracks that sound good report some errors, so you'll have to play with the flags until you get a set that always reports a problem when there is an audible problem.
posted by neustile at 12:01 PM on August 5

You could try reserving a particular rating star count for songs with errors. So when you hear one, rate it, say 1 star, and then go back later and re-rip all the one stars.
posted by toekneebullard at 12:30 PM on August 5

2nd ratings.

On my ipod, tracks which need deleting get one star. Tracks which need fixing or replacing, or other attention get two.
posted by pompomtom at 4:58 PM on August 5

Sorry, should have been clearer. I am asking for a way for my computer to identify the damaged songs for me. I don't want to have to methodically listen to the 39.1 days worth of music on my iPod in order to do this. Working a 40 hour week, that would take me over six months. What I want is for the computer to do it - grinding away for a few days if need be, but leaving me with just a few hours of hands-on time to clean up the mess.
posted by nowonmai at 5:15 PM on August 5

Thanks, neustile! I couldn't work out what to do with the linked binary, but I was able to compile mp3check from source and a bit of trial and error got the program reporting about 10% of files as broken including ones I know to have audible glitches. Looks like problem solved! For anybody else interested in doing this, I'm searching for frames that are too long or too short, and explicitly ignoring other errors.
posted by nowonmai at 8:22 PM on August 5

An equivalent (GUI) program for windows is mp3utility.
posted by unmake at 10:07 PM on August 5

Now all we need is a nice one for Linux/Ubuntu. And a flying unicorn farting rainbows while shitting gold doubloons, mixed with sticky skunk.
posted by Goofyy at 10:03 AM on August 6

Lifehacker has a story about something for Windows/Linux that might be of use to somebody who reads this question in the future:
http://lifehacker.com/5342197/mp3-diags-scans-and-repairs-your-mp3-collection. I didn't investigate, but it seems it doesn't scan for incorrect frame sizes though, so wouldn't have helped me.
posted by nowonmai at 1:52 PM on August 21