When an album appears out of order, the track numbers may already be inside the music files. The problem can be how those values were stored or how an earlier version of a player interpreted them. PhaseShift v1.2.7 reads more forms of embedded track and disc metadata and safely fills missing album-order values in libraries you already imported.

The update works with metadata used by MP3, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, DSF and DFF files. It also recognizes paired values such as “3/9” for track 3 of 9 and “1/2” for disc 1 of 2. The result is more reliable ordering for single-disc and multi-disc albums, without renaming tracks, importing the library again or modifying the audio files.

Why Music Files Can Have Track Numbers but Still Sort Incorrectly

Track and disc positions do not have one universal storage format. An MP3 commonly stores them in ID3 track and disc frames. FLAC and Ogg files often use Vorbis comments named TRACKNUMBER and DISCNUMBER. DSD files can carry their own embedded metadata, while Apple-supported containers may expose position values through system metadata identifiers.

The value itself can vary too. One tagger may write a plain number such as “3,” while another writes “3/9” to preserve both the position and the total number of tracks. If a library import does not recognize that identifier or value form, the audio file can be tagged correctly while the player’s library record still has no track number. Album Order then has less information to work with.

PhaseShift v1.2.7 broadens the metadata path used for album organization. It checks native tags for MP3, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis and DSD alongside metadata exposed by Apple’s media frameworks. For a paired value, PhaseShift uses the position before the slash: “3/9” becomes track 3, and “1/2” becomes disc 1.

Existing Libraries Are Repaired Automatically

You do not need to remove an album and import it again. After updating, PhaseShift checks libraries created with earlier versions in the background. When a song has a missing track or disc value and the audio file contains a valid embedded position, the app restores that value in its local library.

The scan is resumable and runs as background library maintenance. Albums update after repaired values are saved, so Album Order can use the recovered disc and track sequence. Files referenced from a Mac folder or external drive are handled as well. If a referenced source is temporarily offline, PhaseShift leaves it pending and checks it after the library is available again.

This repair complements the sorting controls introduced in version 1.2.6. Album Order can only prioritize embedded disc and track positions that the library knows about; version 1.2.7 makes that stored information more complete. The existing numbered-filename fallback remains useful when a file truly has no track tag.

Recheck Track & Disc Metadata on Demand

PhaseShift also adds Recheck Track & Disc Metadata in Settings. Use it when you want to scan the library again—for example, after reconnecting a referenced collection or when an album still appears out of sequence.

After you confirm the recheck, PhaseShift reads the embedded position tags in the background. Album views update automatically when it finishes. The command checks non-CUE audio tracks throughout the library, so you do not need to open and repair albums one at a time.

The Recheck Preserves Your Library Decisions

A metadata repair should not undo careful library work. PhaseShift only fills a position when the stored track or disc value is missing. A value already present in the library remains unchanged, even if the embedded file contains something different.

The same protection applies when you intentionally edited or cleared a track or disc field. PhaseShift records that decision and does not silently restore the embedded value during an automatic or manual recheck. That distinction lets the app repair an import gap without treating every blank field as a mistake.

The scan is read-only with respect to your music. It reads existing tags and updates PhaseShift’s local library records; it does not write metadata back into MP3, FLAC, Ogg, DSF, DFF or other audio files. Managed copies and files used in place keep their original contents.

How to Fix an Album That Is Still Out of Order

First, open the album and make sure its sort choice is Album Order. If the files were added with an earlier PhaseShift version, allow the automatic background check to finish or open Settings and choose Recheck Track & Disc Metadata.

If the album is in a referenced library, confirm that its folder or external drive is connected before running the recheck. PhaseShift needs read access to inspect the embedded tags, but it does not need permission to change the source files.

When a track still has no embedded position, Album Order can fall back to a conventional leading number in a filename such as “01 - Track.flac.” You can also edit track and disc values directly in PhaseShift when the file metadata is incomplete or the release needs a custom sequence.

PhaseShift v1.2.7 makes album ordering more dependable across the mixed formats and tag-writing conventions found in real personal music collections. It recovers useful metadata that is already present, protects deliberate edits, retries unavailable sources and keeps the audio itself untouched.