CD Burn software question

Z

zebra

Registered
I recently bought and installed a new CD burner on my P3 Win98 PC. It came with Nero software. At work I have a P4 w/ XP. On my work machine when you play a music CD the Audio player lists the title and tracks by name, showing the artist and other info. On Nero it just shows track # and length. What gives?

At work I can copy music that is stored on my computer and can be played or copied to disk later. I want to do that at home, so I can make compellation disks on my own time, (while drinking a glass of wine, in my underwear, while watching tv, scratching myself, etc., stuff that's rather hard to do while a work!)

I'm dial-up, so downloading isn't really convenient.

I'm perfectly willing to buy sofware and/or add another HD or whatever to my P3. (Though my HD has plenty of free space now.) I'll be getting a new machine in the not too distant future, but want to play with/tweak this one for educational purposes first. I'll probably make my own little network when I get the new one. I've considered putting 2000 or XP on this machine if I have to, but thought I'd toss the question out here first.

Thanks in advance.
 
RE: CD Burn software question

That was a nice enough scenario for me - LOL!

From my experience with Windows Media player and store bought CD's it should display the name of the artist and the track name. If you burned a copy of the store bought disk using a cd copier software, it usually comes up as a track number.

However, if you "rip" the songs off of a store bought cd (you will need to find a cda to mp3 converter) they will keep their origional track name. If you have a cd player that plays mp3's you could stop here.

If not, you will need to either "rip" the song off the store bought cd and convert it to a .wav file. ( a wav file should play on most cd players) Most of the converters out there should be able to take the .cda file and make it a .wav file - ofcourse you will definately find converters that take mp3's to wav so try it out!

.cda -> .mp3 -> .wav

Nero should work just fine!
Let me know how you make out.
 
RE: CD Burn software question

What's happening is that the media player at work is going on the net and looking up the CD in a music database then sending the info back to the media player. It is called CDDB. I'm pretty sure newer versions of Nero have this available, but the older ones don't (Version 5 doesn't).

You can also copy discs so that they are recognized by CDDB, but not all burning programs support this method. I use Alcohol 120% to make copies that include the code for CDDB, but I think even the older versions of Nero can do this. Just make sure you check the option that say "read subcode data"...

Kale
 
RE: CD Burn software question


"At work, you're connected to a LAN
At home you're on dial up.
Normal cda files don't contain track info.
The player at work is reading your disc, and going out and collecting the CD info."

Ok, I get it. (that explains Nero's desire to go online...)

"If you convert to mp3's, you can save or add the file info."

I thought Mp3s were lower quality?
I've made a bunch of copies of various CDs to carry in my car and truck. I love the stereeo in the car as I'm always hearing something new in the music. I don't want to go with lower quality. The truck's stereo is Ford stock and not always happy with copied CDs. (Not even rewritables!)

I guess I'll just have to continue burning my music at work until I can swing a wireless internet connection at home.

Thanks for the info.
 
RE: CD Burn software question

Stephanie,

I thought Mp3s were lower quality?

Not at all. It depends on the sample rate.
192kbs is CD quality. Most people convert at 128kbs.(near CD quality).

The truck's stereo is Ford stock and not always happy with copied CDs. (Not even rewritables!)

Most factory players have trouble with CDR's and especially CDRW's.
Sometimes it helps to burn at a slower speed (like 4x).

Keep in mind, the factory unit will ONLY play .cda's

Rick
Mesa, AZ
http://members.cox.net/rickkipping/CARS/smlpipe.gif
 
RE: CD Burn software question

You guys have it all wrong. In order to read the track names off a CD, either burned or purchased from a store, the player (CD-ROM, CD player, DVD player, etc.) needs to have CD-TEXT capability. This is in order to read the CD-TEXT info on the CD. Not all CDs you buy at the store have this info. To write your own CD-TEXT you need a compatible burner. CD-TEXT info can only be written on to a CD if it is burned using the Disc-at-Once (DAO) method. You can edit the artist, album, and track info at will.

[http://www.geocities.com/cv.refugee@sbcglobal.net/pic_page.html]

Almost all CD creation software has this option. It's up to the burner whether it can be utilized or not.
 
RE: CD Burn software question

Technically, mp3s ARE lower quality and you will find some people who claim to be able to distinguish between a 192kbs encoded mp3 and a CD recording, depending on the recording.

Then you'll also find those who will tell you that in some instances a vinyl record sounds better. It's probably a moot question though since you don't seem to an "audiophile". You'll probably never hear the difference in your car or at your computer.

Kale
 
RE: CD Burn software question

That's not all true cvrefugee. You do not need to have CD-TEXT writing ability to be able to copy a disc and have it recognize the names of the songs and artist. Now if you wanted to change that information, YES, you would need CD-TEXT ability, but the catalog number can still be written to the CD, then retrieved from CDDB.

Kale
 
RE: CD Burn software question

To record CD-TEXT, your CD burner also needs to support this capability. I'm not sure if CD players need similar capability. Writing CD-TEXT is supported on most MMC3-compliant recorders. Check these for more info:
[link:www.cdrfaq.org/faq03.html#S3-28|Adding CD-Text]
[link:www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aa571/cdtext.htm|More about CD-Text]

John
[link:mark8.org/lodnca|NorCal Chapter Website]
http://mark8.org/users/johnaec/Mark_VIII_s.jpg
'97 Mark VIII LSC
'96 T-Bird 4.6L
 
RE: CD Burn software question

One other thing to remember, is when you get a copy of CD Burning software free with a CD or DVD Burner, it is a crippled version of that software and all the features of the purchased software aren't there. They give you just enough to burn a disk then hit you with an "UPGRADE" price. Watch the computer ads in weekend papers, you can save a batch by buying it locally instead of from the manufacturer.
Bud Pytko
'97 LSC Silver Frost
'92 F250 Banks TurboDiesel Bimini Blue
http://myfilelocker.comcast.net/charlespytko/Lincoln/BudPytko97LSC.JPG
 
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