iTunes player plays 'wrong' (older) song?

Question

Level 1

8 points

iTunes player plays 'wrong' (older) song?

Hi.

I hope the following makes sense!

I create my own music in Logic Pro X (LPX) and bounce to MP3s (48KHz, 24-bit MP3). These files are saved in the Bounce folder local to my Mac. When I double click the resultant audio file, let's call it Song_1.mp3 it will play in iTunes. Fine.

Here's the problem:

When I listen to the file I'm considering what instruments to mix differently; volume levels and panning for instance. I make a few changes in LPX then bounce the audio again. As the changes are minor I'll leave the song name as Song_1.mp3 as I don't want to be dealing with higher and higher revisions. I'm prompted to 'Replace' the file which I do. The file stamp changes in the Bounce folder so I know it's overwritten the previous mp3 file. I click the file and I don't really perceive any changes so I make further changes in LPX and repeat the same bouncing and saving process. It then dawns on me that iTunes is actually playing the first version of Song_1.mp3 which is very annoying!

To get round this I"m having to trash previous versions in the Bounce folder and iTunes playlist. Alternatively saving the audio file as Song_2.mp3 does the same thing, but again, if I make a small change I'd prefer to overwrite that again rather than continually keep saving with higher revisions. At the moment I can't even find the song in my playlist yet iTunes is playing it. i.e. the older version of the song. So, despite saving and clicking on Song_2.mp3 (third overwrite) the system launches the file from iTunes which is the first version of Song_2.mp3. It's ridiculous!

Anyone know if this is standard or a bug?

Many thanks

Mike

For info:

MacBook Pro Retina Mid 2012, 2.6GHz, 16GB RAM

OS X El Capitan (v10.11.6),

iTunes (v12.5.1.21 - no updates available)

Logic Pro X (v10.2.4 - no updates available)

MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), OS X with Bootcamp Win 7 64-bit.

Posted on Oct 19, 2016 10:54 AM

Reply

Answer 1

CubeDroid Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 19, 2016 11:12 AM in response to CubeDroid

Just to add, in case anyone asks:

I know the file is being overwritten by an updated version because I can play the file with VLC! That works. Even emailing it to myself and playing it with iTunes though, means it will play the original version of the file via iTunes which has caused confusion in the past when my friend and I were listening to 2 different mixes over the phone! His was fine but different to mine I was hearing!

Thanks

Reply

Answer 2

Oct 19, 2016 11:49 AM in response to CubeDroid

I don't have your software so I can't test what is happening. How iTunes works is you add a track by dragging to iTunes, iTunes puts a copy of that file in the iTunes Media folder. iTunes makes a note of the file copy name and location. It enters that in its library database. When you click on the track in iTunes it looks for that file it put in the media folder and plays it. So if you are editing the file in another location you aren't editing the copy iTunes made. If you want to edit the copy iTunes uses you will have to edit the copy in the iTunes Media folder (which will be under a bunch of other artist and album name folder hierarchy). If you edit this more or less in place iTunes will suddenly change its tag information about this when you next play it (so if you make it 10s longer it will suddenly show a new time).

Reply

Answer 3

CubeDroid Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 19, 2016 11:59 AM in response to Limnos

Hi Limnos

Thanks for the reply but that's not really what I'm saying/asking, sorry. I never drag any file into iTunes, for a start! I double-click the MP3 file (as mentioned) which in turn launches the iTunes player. Having Logic Pro is probably irrelevant; I'm interested to know if having a song called test.mp3 is played by iTunes, then overwritten by another song called test.mp3, which version will iTunes actually play next? The first or second song. That's probably the test!

I don't make any changes to the mp3 file in the bounce folder nor copy (drag) into the iTunes folder. All changes are made in Logic Pro then saved to the Bounce folder to overwrite the original source file. It's when I then double-click that file it should play that file - not the previous version. Its as though iTunes isn't updating it's tracking/database.

Thanks

Mike

Reply

Answer 4

Oct 19, 2016 12:17 PM in response to CubeDroid

Having iTunes simply play it is as good as dragging it. If you are using default preferences settings then playing any file with iTunes adds it and iTunes will make a copy of it to put in its media folder. The exception is if you add files using Automatically Add To iTunes folder.

I do not know what a "bounce" folder is other than what I interpret in the general meaning of "bounce".

The behavior of iTunes with which I am familiar (albeit an older version) is if you add a file multiple times it will create multiple copies. I am guessing somehow newer iTunes is picking up that you are adding a file with a specific name again and not doing this because as far as it can tell you are playing the same file repeatedly and it is just saying, "Okay, he's play file_1 again, so let's go to my copy of file_1 and play it."

Reply

Answer 5

CubeDroid Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 19, 2016 1:04 PM in response to Limnos

Hi Limnos

I'm clearly not a big fan of iTunes! I think the resolution is to make my MP3 songs play with VLC or any other media player by the looks of it. I cannot understand why iTunes would need to make a copy of a file just to play it? Since VLC does what I want then I really cannot be bothered to waste any more time getting around the issue with iTunes - its frustrating and illogical.

Here's a scenario: What if I have a ballad called Blue Moon and a heavy metal song by the same name in a different folder. I play the ballad with iTunes. I then replace the ballad with the heavy metal version. According to what I'm experiencing, when I then double-click the heavy metal version, I will hear the ballad - just because it has the same name and is in the same source folder! That's really bad but is essentially what's happening.

Thanks for the reply anyway, mate.

Cheers

Reply

Answer 6

CubeDroid Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 19, 2016 1:19 PM in response to Limnos

Yeah, it's playing a copy from an iTunes Media folder located elsewhere.

That's rubbish!

I'm clearly wanting iTunes to play my updated file from a different location i.e. The 'Bounce' folder from Logic Pro X where all my other personal MP3 files are located!

I'm afraid iTunes and I are about to depart company! There must be a rudimentary check in iTunes for same name and (perhaps) same location. That's poor though. Checking a time stamp would help but I wouldn't want all those ridiculous copies anyway. Other players cope fine just by playing the **** file without any fuss! What a waste of disk space, and SDD at that!

Is there anything in a menu to play the actual source file, rather than a copy, do you know?

Cheers again

Reply

Answer 7

Oct 19, 2016 1:46 PM in response to CubeDroid

Sure, Quicktime Player. If you want all mp3s to open with Quicktime Player then Get Info on a mp3, change Open With to Quiicktime Player, click the "open all of this kind" button and close the window.

If two tracks have the same name in a media folder iTunes will give them different names by adding a number.

You can disable iTune's copy to functionality but for most people it is a good idea to leave it because you have to be super organized to make sure you don't start losing media files in the general housekeeping of files on a computer. Certain other functions such as iTunes repairing broken links will also cease to work.

Reply

Answer 8

Oct 19, 2016 1:05 PM in response to Limnos

Right click on the track in iTunes > Show in Finder to see which file is actually being played.

Reply

Answer 9

CubeDroid Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 19, 2016 1:46 PM in response to Limnos

Thanks Limnos

I'm more of an experienced Windows user than Mac! (bough for Logic Pro) so I'm familiar with the file association setup, etc.

I'll click on the Helpful button for you!

Take care

Reply