Published 2025-07-26.
Time to read: 1 minutes.
av_studio collection.
I tried several tools in an attempt to diagnose issues with my MP3 renders from Pro Tools.
Checkmate MP3 Checker
Checkmate MP3 Checker is a free tool that scans MP3 files for structural errors, like incorrect frame headers or inconsistent headers. It provides a report indicating if the file is good or bad.
This program is very easy to use, but it found no issues with the MP3 file I was testing.
MP3 Diags
MP3 Diags is a more advanced tool that not only diagnoses issues but also offers options to fix some problems like incorrect tags, broken streams, and normalization issues. It allows users to "look inside" the MP3 file.
This is the only MP3 diagnosis program I tested that actually mentioned issues the MP3 file I was having trouble with.
mp3val
mp3val
is a command-line tool that focuses on identifying and
correcting structural defects like missing VBR headers,
which can cause seeking and duration problems.
To install mp3val on Ubuntu, use:
$ sudo apt install mp3val Installing: mp3val Summary: Upgrading: 0, Installing: 1, Removing: 0, Not Upgrading: 0 Download size: 19.8 kB Space needed: 63.5 kB / 232 GB available Get:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu plucky/universe amd64 mp3val amd64 0.1.8-5 [19.8 kB] Fetched 19.8 kB in 0s (79.1 kB/s) Selecting previously unselected package mp3val. (Reading database ... 479147 files and directories currently installed.) Preparing to unpack .../mp3val_0.1.8-5_amd64.deb ... Unpacking mp3val (0.1.8-5) ... Setting up mp3val (0.1.8-5) ... Processing triggers for man-db (2.13.0-1) ... Processing triggers for doc-base (0.11.2) ... Processing 1 added doc-base file... Scanning processes... No services need to be restarted. No containers need to be restarted. No user sessions are running outdated binaries. No VM guests are running outdated hypervisor (qemu) binaries on this host.
This is the help inforation:
$ mp3val P3val - a program for MPEG audio stream validation. Version 0.1.8. Usage: mp3val[options] Options: -f try to fix errors -l write log to the specified file (default: stdout) -si suppress INFO messages -nb delete .bak files (suitable with -f) -t keep file timestamps (suitable with -f) -p pipe mode (receive input file names from stdin) -v print version number and exit Wildcards are allowed. (c) ring0, jetsys, 2005-2009. This program is released under GPL, see the attached file for details.
I tried it on an MP3 file that had been giving me trouble, but no errors were reported:
$ mp3val '/mnt/e/media/renders/Lullaby 22-08-24.mp3' Analyzing file "Lullaby 22-08-24.mp3"... INFO: "/mnt/e/media/renders/Lullaby 22-08-24.mp3": 7990 MPEG frames (MPEG 1 Layer III), +ID3v1, CBR Done!
