Compare MP3 files

[DarrenD]

I used to use BC2 and could compare MP3 tags. When I compare MP3 files in BC3 I only get the HEX comparison. Is there an MP3 comparison in BC3 because I can't find it

Thanks
Darren

[Chris]

Hi Darren,

Yes, mp3 comparison is built in to Beyond Compare 3. The default configuration should open mp3 files in the mp3 compare automatically.

To manually open files in the mp3, click on the "MP3 Compare" button in the Home view when you open BC3 by double clicking on it's shortcut.

If you're launching a comparison in the Folder Compare, right click on your files and select "Open With > MP3 Compare".

[DarrenD]

Perhaps I had altered my default configuration (didn't do it deliberately). In Windows Explorer I would select 2 .MP3 files, right-click and do Compare which use the Hex compare.

To fix this, based on your reply, in BC3 I went into Tools->File Formats...->New... and then selected "MP3 Format" from the list box. Then I double clicked the new entry in the format list and entered *.mp3 in the General->Mask on the right hand side. This now adds the MP3 extension to the list of recognised file formats. Now right-clicking in Windows Explorer compares in the MP3 viewer. This text is more for information for others in case their BC3 settings were like mine.

Thanks
Darren

[Aaron]

Thanks for the follow-up, Darren. There should have been a MP3 format associated with *.mp3 already in your list by default.

A couple of things that may have caused this:
-If you accidentally uncheck the box next to the File Format's name, this will disable that file format.
-It is possible to accidentally delete a file format
-If *.mp3 is added to the Hex (or another file format) and that format is higher on the list, it will be used instead. The highest format on the list with the proper association is the one used automatically when launching a compare from the Folder Compare or Windows shell extension; the others must be picked manually.