Mixing MP3s and CDs on audio CD
Rhino
tracks?
I have a variety of MP3 tracks on my hard drive as well as a number of
store-bought music CDs. I'd like to make some "mixed tape" type CDs that
contain a mix of MP3s from my hard drive and individual songs from the CDs.
So, for example, the first track on the CD might be Stairway to Heaven from
my Led Zeppelin CD and the next track might be an MP3 from somewhere on my
hard drive.
It seems almost unimagineable that you couldn't mix the two on the same CD.
I assume that you simply convert the MP3 tracks to CD format or convert the
CD tracks to MP3 format, then burn the CD.
What is the best approach to making such a "mixed CD"?
I have Windows Media Player 11, Nero OEM 6, and Express Burn 4.40 and would
gladly use other free downloaded programs if the ones I've listed are not
ideal.
I'm running XP Pro with SP2.
--
Rhino
Rhino
In case anyone else in the future has the same question, the answer is that
you can indeed make a mixed audio CD where the source songs come from a mix
of MP3s and songs from store-bought CDs.
The technique I figured out is that you first convert the CD audio tracks to
MP3 format then burn an audio CD containing all MP3 files. Some of those
files have always been MP3s (at least as long as you've had them) and some
started out life as tracks on a store-bought CD that you converted to MP3.
So far, it appears that both Windows Media Player 11 and iTunes 10 can be
used to import - or "rip" - CD tracks from a store-bought CD and make that
imported copy an MP3. (Other formats are also possible for both programs by
adjusting settings). You can set the desired bitrate (and hence the quality
of the MP3 copy of the song) within both Windows Media Player and iTunes.
Once all the desired songs for your mixed CD are in MP3 format, you can
simply burn an audio CD containing all MP3 files in the normal way.
--
Rhino
Tony
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Noik
I'm still not quite clear on what you're doing, burning data CDs that
contain Mp3 files, or burning audio CDs. But I think you're burning
audio CDs. If so, "ripping to Mp3" will cause an unnecessary loss of
quality. Rip to Wav, and then create the audio CD. Wav is basically
the native format of audio CDs. When you "rip to Mp3", what happens is
that the ripper extracts Wavs from the CD, and then compresses them to
Mp3. Then, when you burn to an audio CD, the Mp3 is converted to Wav,
and then written to the audio CD. So, just skip the Mp3 middleman step
and get a better quality final product. Probably no big deal, but what
the heck, it's no extra work getting the higher quality. And it's
actually quite a bit less work for the computer and HD.
Rhino
<Noik> wrote in message news:0ntkv61m6s92hoc3u...@4ax.com...
> On Wed, 15 Jun 2011 18:08:02 -0400, "Rhino"
> <no_offline_c...@example.com> wrote:
>
>>I think I've answered my own question.
>>
>>In case anyone else in the future has the same question, the answer is
>>that
>>you can indeed make a mixed audio CD where the source songs come from a
>>mix
>>of MP3s and songs from store-bought CDs.
>>
>>The technique I figured out is that you first convert the CD audio tracks
>>to
>>MP3 format then burn an audio CD containing all MP3 files. Some of those
>>files have always been MP3s (at least as long as you've had them) and some
>>started out life as tracks on a store-bought CD that you converted to MP3.
>>
>>So far, it appears that both Windows Media Player 11 and iTunes 10 can be
>>used to import - or "rip" - CD tracks from a store-bought CD and make that
>>imported copy an MP3. (Other formats are also possible for both programs
>>by
>>adjusting settings). You can set the desired bitrate (and hence the
>>quality
>>of the MP3 copy of the song) within both Windows Media Player and iTunes.
>>
>>Once all the desired songs for your mixed CD are in MP3 format, you can
>>simply burn an audio CD containing all MP3 files in the normal way.
>
> I'm still not quite clear on what you're doing, burning data CDs that
> contain Mp3 files, or burning audio CDs.
Sorry for not being clearer - and for not replying sooner. I was away for a
couple of days.
> But I think you're burning
> audio CDs.
Yes, that's right. Given the age of my car stereo and my home stereo, I feel
pretty sure that they won't have any idea how to handle a data CD - correct
me if I'm wrong! - so I'm making audio CDs.
> If so, "ripping to Mp3" will cause an unnecessary loss of
> quality.
I was careful to set the bitrate for the MP3s to 320, the highest value
available in my software. Is that still significantly worse quality than CD?
> Rip to Wav, and then create the audio CD. Wav is basically
> the native format of audio CDs. When you "rip to Mp3", what happens is
> that the ripper extracts Wavs from the CD, and then compresses them to
> Mp3. Then, when you burn to an audio CD, the Mp3 is converted to Wav,
> and then written to the audio CD. So, just skip the Mp3 middleman step
> and get a better quality final product. Probably no big deal, but what
> the heck, it's no extra work getting the higher quality. And it's
> actually quite a bit less work for the computer and HD.
Oh my! I didn't realize that. I can see why converting songs from
store-bought CDs to MP3 is just increasing the work and (probably)
decreasing the quality. Thanks for explaining what is going on under the
covers.
But what should I do about the MP3s on my hard drive if I want them on the
same mixed CD? Can an audio CD contain both .wav and .mp3 files and still be
played in an older CD player?
Hmm, I can probably find out faster by just trying it and then see if both
types of songs play okay.... I think I'll do that. I'll report back on this
thread to see if it worked.
I'd be interested in any remarks that anyone has about whether this is the
best approach for making a mixed CD containing both tracks from store-bought
CDs and MP3s on my hard drive....
--
Rhino
smh
There are two cd formats in mixed (in the generic sense of the word)
format: Mixed Mode and CD-Extra. With Mixed Mode, the first track is
data and then audio tracks. "Smart" cd players skip the data track (even
if the content is audio like in mp3) and plays the audio.
With CD-Extra, audio is in the first session and then the data in the
second session. CD players will play only the audio session and would
not even know the second session. So there is no format that will play
both audio and data (even if the data content is audio like mp3).
Does your cd player play mp3 files? If it does, then make mp3 data disc.
You can put more audio in that format on cd.