Once again with the CD's...

Topic: Once again with the CD's... (Read 15574 times) previous topic - next topic

Once again with the CD's...

2005-08-12 02:12 am

I have been trying over the past couple of days, to get my noteworthy songs on CD. I think I have read every single FAQ on this, and still i'm unsuccessful in my attempts. I managed to turn my .nwc files into .wav files, but I can't burn my .wav files on a CD-R. I turned the .wav files to .wma files, but that doesn't work either. Is there a simple process i can follow to get my nwc songs onto a CD, playable on a stereo, and stop the meaningless waste of CD-R's? I know this has been covered a lot, but i still need help, desperately!

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #1 – 2005-08-12 02:45 am

Hi Josh,
if you've successfully created .wav files from your NWC music, then the next step should be easy.

The most common mistake I've seen is people burning a data CD instead of a music CD.

You will need to checkout the capabilities of your CD burning software, somewhere there will be an option to create a music CD.

This is important as the CD format is quite different between a music CD and a data CD.

The other problem I've seen is the good 'ol CD player in the stereo can't read burnt CDs. Not uncommon, in fact we used to often hear of Sony CD players not reading burnt CDs. I've been told this was a deliberate crippling policy to try to combat piracy. Dunno if its true, but my Sony has no trouble with burnt CDs or DVDs (which is good as my son is a budding film maker) so if it was the case it was short lived.

Another alternative is MP3. If your CD player can handle MP3s then you could convert your wav files to mp3 and burn them as data instead of audio...

Lawrie

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #2 – 2005-08-12 02:54 am

i'm 100% sure i'm trying to burn an audio CD, and I'm 100% sure the cd player i'm using can read burnt files. i feel like i tried everything.. i don't know what else to do. could it be possible my computer just isn't capable of doing this?

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #3 – 2005-08-12 03:07 am

Hi again Josh,
perhaps some fundamental tests...

1) can your PC read the CDs you've burnt at all?

2) does your computer read the music CD's you've created as music CDs or does it show you files instead of tracks?

3) can you burn a data CD that can be read on another computer?

4) can you copy a music CD E.G. a commercially produced CD that you already own?

4a) If so will it play back in your stereo?

If you are burning at full speed, perhaps you should slow the burning speed down. We've found that some burners simply won't perform at the speeds they say they will.

Also, what OS are you running and what burner software?

Lawrie

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #4 – 2005-08-12 03:53 am

once you've got them as *.wav files play tham on window's media player, add them to the media library, add them all to a single playlist then go to copy to cd or device and stert them copying.

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #5 – 2005-08-12 09:09 pm

After I burn a CD with my .wav songs on them, My computer does read them as music files.

I have burnt a data CD before that can be read by other computers.

Yes I've ripped music from Commercial CD's

And I'm not too sure what you mean in 4a. The commercial CD will play in my stereo, and if i burn the songs from the commercial CD they will also play on my stereo.

And how can i find out what OS i'm running?

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #6 – 2005-08-12 09:33 pm

If OS means operating system, then i'm using windows XP home edition.

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #7 – 2005-08-12 09:39 pm

Start, Run, 'cmd' will open a command window. Then, type 'ver' to give the exact version number - if you ever need it.

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #8 – 2005-08-12 09:40 pm

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #9 – 2005-08-12 10:16 pm

Hi Josh,
a) After I burn a CD with my .wav songs on them, My computer does read them as music files.

Umm, I 'm really trying to find out if you are creating an audio CD or a data CD with audio files. This sounds like the latter which is not what you need.

b) I have burnt a data CD before that can be read by other computers.

Good! Means your burner is working OK.

c) Yes I've ripped music from Commercial CD's

Not what I asked. What I meant was that all the burner software I've seen have an option to copy a CD. That is make an exact duplicate, with no ripping involved...

d) And I'm not too sure what you mean in 4a. The commercial CD will play in my stereo, and if i burn the songs from the commercial CD they will also play on my stereo.

This sounds like a different answer to the copy [c] question.

I know you're 100% certain you've been burning audio CD's but a) really sounds like you're actually creating data CD's with wav files stored as data rather than as music tracks. Please forgive me if I'm misinterpreting your answers.

From reply #8 I know you're running XP home. Are you using the XP "copy to CD" features or are you using the actual burning software that would have come with your burner? E.G. Nero, ULead, Prassi etc.? Also which type? E.G. full release or "lite" release etc.

The reason I ask is I've never been happy with the results from the Windows burning functions. I would prefer you tried the specific burner software if you are not already using it. I'm sure you'll get a better, more predictable result. As for the product/release information, if I'm familiar with the specific product I should be able to give you "step by step" directions to try.

Lawrie

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #10 – 2005-08-12 10:29 pm

I'm pretty sure I'm not burning Data CD's because I'm using Windows Media Player to try and burn the .wav songs onto a CD, and I don't even think Data CD's are an option with that program.

Sorry for misunderstanding. But yes, I have the copy option and that works as well. and yes that copy does work when i play it in my stereo.

I am using the burning option on windows media player.. No special burning software came with my computer.

Is there any burning software I can get either for free or low cost?

Do you think it would be better to start this from the beginning, because I don't even know if I've done everything completely right..

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #11 – 2005-08-12 11:07 pm

Hi Josh, that was quick... OK, lets keep going...

I'm pretty sure I'm not burning Data CD's because I'm using Windows Media Player to try and burn the .wav songs onto a CD, and I don't even think Data CD's are an option with that program.

I've seen Media Player get it badly wrong and burn data structures that work fine on your PC but not on a CD plyer in your stereo because they are not actually audio CDs. I suspect this may be what's happening. If you right click the CD in "My Computer"/Explorer and "Open" it rather than "Play/Autoplay" it, what files or error messages do you see. This is to try to determine absolutely what is happening.

If it is a proper audio CD you should see "Track01.cda" etc.

If it is a Media Player screw-up you'll probably see a bunch of " .wma " files, a "Playlist.wpl" and possibly a "HIGHMAT" folder.

Sorry for misunderstanding. But yes, I have the copy option and that works as well. and yes that copy does work when i play it in my stereo.

Excellent, burner itself is working OK and you can burn correctly formatted audio CDs.

... No special burning software came with my computer.

This is surprising. All the PC's we sell are provided with burner software by our manufacturer (we don't bother assembling, its cheaper and we get a better warranty if we let our supplier do it!) Could you check to see whether there is a CD hiding somewhere that hasn't been installed that has burning software on it?

Is there any burning software I can get either for free or low cost?

Nero has a trial version: http://www.nero.com/eng/Trial_Versions.html

As does Ulead: http://www.ulead.com/bn/runme.htm

Found this using google, don't know anything about it... http://www.burn4free.com/

If you have a hunt around the net (insert fav. search engine here) is your friend, you may find something to your liking.

Even so, I'd still check to make sure there isn't a CD hiding somewhere... Even OEM drives come with burner software licences from the burner manufacturer. If yours didn't, check with your PC supplier, I think they _may_ have (possibly inadvertantly) short changed you.

Do you think it would be better to start this from the beginning, because I don't even know if I've done everything completely right..

I think we may be on a roll now, lets see how we go.

Lawrie

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #12 – 2005-08-12 11:35 pm

Ok.

I put in one of the CD's I burnt with my wav. file on it, and right clicked, then pressed open, and it did say "Track 1.cda".

I asked my dad, about burning software coming with our computer, and he said it came already installed on the computer. unfortunately, i removed it (eep!) because all i ever use is windows media player.

What's the use in using different burning software anyway? Are there pros and cons of different softwares?

And thank you for all your help so far. I'll try Nero and Ulead.

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #13 – 2005-08-12 11:58 pm

I used nero to burn my .wav files onto a CD, but once again when I put it in my Stereo, It said "Disc Not Finalized". I don't think what burning software I use is the problem.

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #14 – 2005-08-13 12:36 am

I'm not sure...

... It said "Disc Not Finalized"

This sounds like you are ejecting the CD before the burn is finished!

Normally the burner software will eject the CD itself when it is complete.

However you also said: I put in one of the CD's I burnt with my wav. file on it, and right clicked, then pressed open, and it did say "Track 1.cda".

This is a correct result... Perhaps you could put that CD into another PC (if you have one available) and try. This is because XP _might_ be looking at the buffer folder rather than the CD itself. XP does some weird things.

Lawrie

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #15 – 2005-08-13 12:40 am

I always let the CD finish before I eject it. It ejects automatically when finished...

and i don't have another PC available right now..

Ahh this is so frustrating.

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #16 – 2005-08-13 12:51 am

BRAINSTORM!

Are you using 80 minute (ie 700 Meg) CDs?

Some CD players cannot read the larger format. Often you can override the CD size in the burning software too.

Lawrie

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #17 – 2005-08-13 12:53 am

yes i'm using 80 minute/700 MB CD's. How would I override it? I don't understand.

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #18 – 2005-08-13 01:03 am

Depends on the software, but you can usually tell it that the CD has a maximum capacity of 74 minutes...

I've just quickly checked in media player and can't find anywhere to adjust it - lousy micro$oft product.

Nero does. It's somewhere in the device setup... Don't have a copy to check at the moment and I don't want to install the trial on my system as I don't want to risk breaking my current config. In any case, I have a DVD burner and they can be "different". Have a hunt around - check the help files - look for setting maximum CD capacity.

This is _not_ and absolute guarantee that we've found the problem but I think we are certainly on the right track.

Lawrie

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #19 – 2005-08-13 01:37 am

I haven't been able to find this option. Do you have any further instruction on how I might be able to find it?

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #20 – 2005-08-13 02:21 am

I haven't been able to find this option. Do you have any further instruction on how I might be able to find it?

I'm sorry Josh, it may no longer be there. I just checked with my son's PC and while he has Nero express the only option is to enable overburn which we definitely don't want.

My Ulead software seems to not have the option either...

I'm now a bit stumped. One thing you could try is to see if you can get hold of some 74 minute blank CDs... Actually that encourages a thought. Just how much are you putting on this CD, only the one file or are you filling it up?

If only one, see if you can put 2 or 3, even if you only copy the same file several times. Or perhaps you could rip a couple from another CD and try to burn those.

If you're filling it up, try putting less on it, maybe you're going just over the limit of your CD players ability to read it.

Another thing, you said earlier that you've successfully copied a commercial CD. Was that during this series of tests? What I'm getting at is was the copy on the same media as you are trying to use now? Unlikely as it may seem, sometimes certain blank media types cannot be read by CD players in stereo systems. I've also seen CD-R being OK but CD-RW not working.

Has anyone else thought of something I've missed? I'm currently out of ideas.

Lawrie

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #21 – 2005-08-13 02:33 am

I've been trying to put only one song onto the CD. And it's only 19 seconds itself. so i tried putting more songs (the same type of media) onto a CD, and it still doesn't work. and when I said i had successfuly compied a disc before, it was not the same type of media... Do you think now it would be easier to start over? I wouldn't be surprised if I made a flaw before we started all of this.

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #22 – 2005-08-13 02:47 am

Hi Josh,
essentially, every time you burn another test CD you are "starting over".

Considering the copied CD was to different media type, it might be worthwhile to copy another commercially produced CD (one you own and want to have a backup of) to your current media type - just to be sure your CD player can actually read it at all.

Assuming the above worked OK, if you have some other wav files (from a different source altogether) try creating a CD with some of these and see how you go.

Lawrie

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #23 – 2005-08-13 03:05 am

I took two of my mp3's and changed them to .wav files, and that worked fine on my CD player. And then I downloaded a .wav file, and burnt that, and that worked as well... To me it seems like the problem happened before i got my .nwc file to a .wav file. that's what i mean by starting over. If we can't find the problem from where I have things now, would you be willing to help me from the VERY beginning.

Thank you for spending all this time on me.

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #24 – 2005-08-13 03:20 am

Hi Josh,
I took two of my mp3's and changed them to .wav files, and that worked fine on my CD player. And then I downloaded a .wav file, and burnt that, and that worked as well... To me it seems like the problem happened before i got my .nwc file to a .wav file. that's what i mean by starting over. If we can't find the problem from where I have things now, would you be willing to help me from the VERY beginning.

OK, it looks like I've been barking up the wrong tree.

Can you actually play the wav file?

I have a Creative Audigy sound card. It came with Creatives' Wave Studio software. When I need to create a wav file, I set this recording then hit play in NWC. When the song is finished I hit stop in Wave Studio and voila I have a wave file I can save.

It is necessary to have a reasonable recording level set in "Volume Control" (from the system tray/control panel)

I can also edit and play back in Wave Studio. Do you have something similar?

Recreating your wav file shouldn't be necessary if you can playback the current one however it is a worthwhile excercise.

Thank you for spending all this time on me.

You are most welcome.

Lawrie

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #25 – 2005-08-13 03:32 am

Yes i can play the wav file on my computer.

I used the sound recorder to create the wav. file. I set the default recording device to "Back Line in/Mic, Front Line in" and that picks up whatever sound is playing on the computer. So i record the nwc file just like you described but with different software.

I had creative wave studio on my old computer, but not on this one. This computer's not capable of downloading Creative Sound Blaster Live.

So it seems I have an appropriate wav file, but where do we go from there?

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #26 – 2005-08-13 03:51 am

Hi Josh,
Everything seems like it should work!

2 things to try:

a) create a new wav file (just in case...)

b) copy either the new wav file or the original to itself (or maybe do it to both) within recorder a couple of times to make it longer.

Another possibility is the actual format of the wav file - if it is odd - IE not 44.1 kHz 16 bit for example - or some format not properly recognised by the burning software that can cause problems.

This "output" format would be controlled by by your sound card.

Lawrie

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #27 – 2005-08-13 04:07 am

THANK YOU SO MUCH IT WORRRRRKS IT WORRKKKKKSSS THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HELP I DON'T KNOW WHY IT DIDN'T BEFORE BUT IT DOES NOW THANK YOU I'VE WANTED TO KNOW THSI FOR SOOOOOOOO LONG THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!! =D =D =D

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #28 – 2005-08-13 04:10 am

That's great Josh, glad I could help...

Lawrie

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #29 – 2005-08-14 04:44 am

I think you've got a fan there cobber!

Re: Once again with the CD's...

Reply #30 – 2005-08-14 05:06 am

Could be