diff --git a/ebml/EbmlElement.h b/ebml/EbmlElement.h
index bacaf7f1..a7310962 100644
--- a/ebml/EbmlElement.h
+++ b/ebml/EbmlElement.h
@@ -128,6 +128,12 @@ extern const EbmlSemanticContext Context_EbmlGlobal;
 #define DEFINE_START_SEMANTIC(x)     static const EbmlSemantic ContextList_##x[] = {
 #define DEFINE_END_SEMANTIC(x)       };
 #define DEFINE_SEMANTIC_ITEM(m,u,c)  EbmlSemantic(m, u, EBML_INFO(c)),
+#define DEFINE_SEMANTIC_ITEM_UINT(m,u,d,c)      EbmlSemantic(m, u, static_cast<std::uint64_t>(d), EBML_INFO(c)),
+#define DEFINE_SEMANTIC_ITEM_SINT(m,u,d,c)      EbmlSemantic(m, u, static_cast<std::int64_t>(d),  EBML_INFO(c)),
+#define DEFINE_SEMANTIC_ITEM_DATE(m,u,d,c)      EbmlSemantic(m, u, static_cast<std::int64_t>(d,true), EBML_INFO(c)),
+#define DEFINE_SEMANTIC_ITEM_FLOAT(m,u,d,c)     EbmlSemantic(m, u, static_cast<double>(d),        EBML_INFO(c)),
+#define DEFINE_SEMANTIC_ITEM_STRING(m,u,d,c)    EbmlSemantic(m, u, static_cast<const char*>(d),    EBML_INFO(c)),
+#define DEFINE_SEMANTIC_ITEM_UTF8(m,u,d,c)      EbmlSemantic(m, u, static_cast<const wchar_t*>(d), EBML_INFO(c)),
 
 #define DECLARE_EBML_MASTER(x)  class EBML_DLL_API x : public EbmlMaster { \
   public: \
@@ -222,18 +228,55 @@ class EBML_DLL_API EbmlCallbacks {
 */
 class EBML_DLL_API EbmlSemantic {
   public:
+    struct DefaultValues;
+
     constexpr EbmlSemantic(bool aMandatory, bool aUnique, const EbmlCallbacks & aCallbacks)
-      :Mandatory(aMandatory), Unique(aUnique), Callbacks(aCallbacks) {}
+      :Mandatory(aMandatory), Unique(aUnique), defaultValue(), Callbacks(aCallbacks) {}
+
+    constexpr EbmlSemantic(bool aMandatory, bool aUnique, const DefaultValues &def, const EbmlCallbacks & aGetCallbacks)
+      :Mandatory(aMandatory), Unique(aUnique), defaultValue(def), Callbacks(aGetCallbacks) {}
 
         inline bool IsMandatory() const { return Mandatory; }
         inline bool IsUnique() const { return Unique; }
+        inline const DefaultValues & DefaultValue() const { return defaultValue; }
         inline EbmlElement & Create() const { return EBML_INFO_CREATE(Callbacks); }
         inline explicit operator const EbmlCallbacks &() const { return Callbacks; }
         inline EbmlCallbacks const &GetCallbacks() const { return Callbacks; }
 
-    private:
+    enum DefaultType {
+      NO_DEFAULT,
+      UINTEGER,
+      SINTEGER,
+      DATE,
+      DOUBLE,
+      STRING,
+      UNISTRING,
+    };
+   struct DefaultValues {
+      DefaultType type;
+      union {
+        std::uint64_t  u64;
+        std::int64_t   i64;
+        double         f;
+        const char*    s;
+        const wchar_t* ws;
+      };
+
+      constexpr DefaultValues(void) : u64(0), type(DefaultType::NO_DEFAULT) {}
+      constexpr DefaultValues(const DefaultValues &) = default;
+      constexpr DefaultValues(std::uint64_t u) : u64(u), type(DefaultType::UINTEGER) {}
+      constexpr DefaultValues(std::int64_t u, bool date = false) : i64(u), type(date ? DefaultType::UINTEGER : DefaultType::DATE) {}
+      constexpr DefaultValues(double d) : f(d), type(DefaultType::DOUBLE) {}
+      constexpr DefaultValues(const char *d) : s(d), type(DefaultType::STRING) {}
+      constexpr DefaultValues(const wchar_t *d) : ws(d), type(DefaultType::UNISTRING) {}
+
+      bool HasDefault() const { return type != DefaultType::NO_DEFAULT; }
+    };
+
+  private:
     const bool Mandatory; ///< whether the element is mandatory in the context or not
     const bool Unique;
+    const DefaultValues defaultValue;
     const EbmlCallbacks & Callbacks;
 };
 
diff --git a/src/EbmlHead.cpp b/src/EbmlHead.cpp
index b14be5a5..9f9c38da 100644
--- a/src/EbmlHead.cpp
+++ b/src/EbmlHead.cpp
@@ -12,13 +12,13 @@
 namespace libebml {
 
 DEFINE_START_SEMANTIC(EbmlHead)
-DEFINE_SEMANTIC_ITEM(true, true, EVersion)        ///< EBMLVersion
-DEFINE_SEMANTIC_ITEM(true, true, EReadVersion)    ///< EBMLReadVersion
-DEFINE_SEMANTIC_ITEM(true, true, EMaxIdLength)    ///< EBMLMaxIdLength
-DEFINE_SEMANTIC_ITEM(true, true, EMaxSizeLength)  ///< EBMLMaxSizeLength
+DEFINE_SEMANTIC_ITEM_UINT(true, true, 1, EVersion)        ///< EBMLVersion
+DEFINE_SEMANTIC_ITEM_UINT(true, true, 1, EReadVersion)    ///< EBMLReadVersion
+DEFINE_SEMANTIC_ITEM_UINT(true, true, 4, EMaxIdLength)    ///< EBMLMaxIdLength
+DEFINE_SEMANTIC_ITEM_UINT(true, true, 8, EMaxSizeLength)  ///< EBMLMaxSizeLength
 DEFINE_SEMANTIC_ITEM(true, true, EDocType)        ///< DocType
-DEFINE_SEMANTIC_ITEM(true, true, EDocTypeVersion) ///< DocTypeVersion
-DEFINE_SEMANTIC_ITEM(true, true, EDocTypeReadVersion) ///< DocTypeReadVersion
+DEFINE_SEMANTIC_ITEM_UINT(true, true, 1, EDocTypeVersion) ///< DocTypeVersion
+DEFINE_SEMANTIC_ITEM_UINT(true, true, 1, EDocTypeReadVersion) ///< DocTypeReadVersion
 DEFINE_END_SEMANTIC(EbmlHead)
 
 DEFINE_EBML_MASTER_ORPHAN(EbmlHead, 0x1A45DFA3, 4, "EBMLHead\0ratamapaga")