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[yap]

Hello
Does anyone know or can you point me in the right direction on how to create MP3 CDs in MC11???
I have read many posts about this and they all refer to problems so it is possible to get a working MP3 CD from MC11??? If so How??

Thanks

[Alex B]

Does anyone know or can you point me in the right direction on how to create MP3 CDs in MC11???
I have read many posts about this and they all refer to problems so it is possible to get a working MP3 CD from MC11??? If so How??

Usually people who don't have problems don't post.

You could tell a bit more about your situation. Are your files already in MP3 format or do you need to convert some or all of the files? What device(s) are you going to use for playback? How does your device(s) need the mp3 files to be organized?

I think burning data CDs works quite well currently. There are conversion options and also options for the filename and folder rules.

If you have not burned data CDs before you could first try with a rewritable CD-RW disc.

[MarSies]

Alex B,

Maybe you can tell me how I make an MP3 CD, or better a DVD.

I have ape on my PC and I can't see how much space is left on the CD/DVD when sending songs to the burner. I managed to make an MP3 CD once but MC hung all the time. I believe this was an error in the MC version. The latest version shouldn't have this anymore.

I wonder how you can configure MC to tell you how much space is left on the CD/DVD.

Marsies .....

[Alex B]

MC cannot predict the encoded file sizes, but you can use the total playback time for finding out how much music you can fit into one disc.

I guess you didn't see this post:

You could collect the files to a playlist first and use a constant bitrate when transcoding.
Just monitor the total playback time and keep it below the disc limit.

Here is a table of the approximate maximum playback times for a 700 MB disc:

Code: [Select]

  Bitrate        Time
128 kbps   12 h 26 min
160 kbps    9 h 57 min
192 kbps    8 h 17 min
256 kbps    6 h 13 min
320 kbps    4 h 58 min
Leave some safe margin. Files are always a bit bigger than their theoretical size because of the tags.

I have saved my car/portable CD burning playlists. They have been useful afterwards.

For DVD discs you can multiply the times with a proper multiplier.

[Alex B]

I would like to add:

- MC creates a temporary ISO file when it transcodes the files. For burning a 4.38 GB writable DVD disc you need to have at least 4.38 GB of available temporary space. You can define the location in: Tools menu > Options > File Location > Temporary File Location.

- Transcoding from lossless to mp3 is as slow as normal decoding + encoding. For example, 4.38 GB of 192 kbps MP3 files have an approximate playback time of 53 hours. If the conversion speed is e.g. 10x, the process will take over 5 hours plus the burning time.

I would rather burn a few CD discs instead of a DVD disc. CD-R/RW discs are more universally compatible and big enough for me. It is easier to find music from smaller discs too. Usually I print an A4 size (US letter) list of the disc contents. Each list contains typically well over 100 tracks. A full DVD disc would contain at least 600-700 similarly sized MP3 files.

[yap]

yes, sorry I didn't specify my requirements...

I have all my music files in uncompressed WAV format so the way I like to burn MP3 is that I select couple of my playlists drop them on to burn MP3 CD option and presto....I get MP3 CD playable in car cd player...!!!! May be I am asking too much but please let me know best and easy way to create MP3 CDs from WAV file playlists as I have to show it to my wife..!


thanks

[Alex B]

I don't know what you exactly find unclear, but here is a way to do it.

Instructions for making a high quality 256 kbps MP3 disc from lossless source files:

- Make a new playlist. Gather files from the previous playlists or from the main library. Just keep the total playback time below 6 h 10 min. (This time is shown on the bottom status bar when you have no files or all files selected in the playlist.)

- Insert a blank 700 MB disc. (It can be CD-R or CD-RW. I use CD-RW discs, so that I can rewrite them.)

- Open the Burn CD or DVD dialog in Action Window.

- Select Data CD or DVD.

- Give the disc a name. (I usually give it the name of the corresponding playlist. I have named the playlists like BURN1, BURN2, BURN3, etc. I don't delete the lists and I have used them again from time to time.)

- Tick Convert music files to MP3 only and Close disc.

- Click Options. Select MP3 encoder, untick the other two options and click Advanced. Select Bitrate (ABR Encoding) and select Target Bitrate 256 kbps. Tick Restrict encoder to constant bitrate (CBR encoding). Press OK.

- Back in the Burn dialog press Next.

- Drop the playlist into the window.

- Select options. Burn settings are depended on your drive and the playback device. I can't advice on them. The default settings are probably OK. Select None in Folder Naming. Select Custom in File Naming, paste this string there: [Artist]_[Name]_[Album]_[Track #] and tick Prefix list order to the CD filename.

- Select Show list and check that everything is OK.

- Click Burn and wait until the disc is ready.

[yap]

thank you, I'll give this a go....the problem I had when I was trying to burn Mp3 disk and MC was complaining about disk size not being enough for 200 songs at 128K on a 700MB disk.

I follow your instructions and see what comes out of it.....

[Alex B]

thank you, I'll give this a go....the problem I had when I was trying to burn Mp3 disk and MC was complaining about disk size not being enough for 200 songs at 128K on a 700MB disk.

I follow your instructions and see what comes out of it.....

I forgot to mention about that. MC calculates the size from the original files. You can pass that warning safely if you are sure that your converted files will fit.

If you have a high quality car audio system I would recommend using a higher bitrate than 128 kbps. Make e.g. two 256 kbps CDs instead. If you don't want to change discs when driving you could stop for a coffee break once in every 6 hours and change the CD at the same time. 

[Jakester]

Alex B -

I just bought a new car.  It has a 6-disk in-dash CD player but can't play MP3 files!  grrrr!   But I'm about to buy a new head unit for my boat and it will have MP3 capability.  I plan to make compilation CDs from my APE library.  Your instructions will surely help jump start my effort.  Thanks.