MP3 conversion

[IFTB]

Hi all,
Happy New Year!

Having played away with my new(and first) PC over the holiday period, I have a basic question on music downloaded from the web (Kazaa).
It downloads as MP3 which is no use to me for transfer to CD and use in car CD player etc.

How do I convert MP3 to a format which will work on (non PC) CD players?
I have Nero Burning and the Microsoft Windows Player systems installed on my PC but have not been able to find a conversion technique.

Can anyone advise me?
Thanks in advance,
IFTB

PS. I did a quick search if this topic has already been discussed here but have not found any item. Apologies if it has.

[WeatherJinx]

ITFB

Some home and car audio equipment doesn't recognise MP3, so, although you can continue to encode and keep music on your PC in this format, you will need to burn to CDs using a 'lossless' audio format, such as .WAV for the PC, or AIFF for Mac users such as myself.

First of all, check the relevant program menus to see whether Nero will allow you to convert to either of these formats. If you have no luck with that, perhaps one of the PC gurus on here will be able to help you further? Good luck!

Jx

[ORAC]

Use the Nero Wizard and tell it you want to burn an audio CD, when you drag the MP3 files into the folder it should convert them before burning. A known Nero problem is that converted MP3 files can skip badly as it will discard poor data while converting. The solution is to convert the files from MP3 to WAV first, then burn an audio CD using the WAV files instead of the original MP3 files. See the Nero help files here.

[IFTB]

Thanks for the responses.
So .wav is the file format I have to achieve (from MP3) to use CDs on car and other players?

Someone (just) told me to use Mp3Decode2.3, a freeware from EtalonSoft.
Any experiences with that programme around in ProoneLand?

IFTB

[spannersatcx]

So .wav is the file format I have to achieve (from MP3) to use CDs on car and other players?

No not strictly true, tracks on a cd are CDA, C D Audio.

You don't have to do anything to the file be it mp3 or wav or wma nero converts it for you.

Have a look at the help in nero it tells you exactly what to do.....

for those that don't have nero and are interested, or can't be bothered to look here is the help file.

Burning audio files from your hard disk
If the audio files you wish to burn are already on your hard disk then you can skip this point and continue from point 2.
If the audio tracks you wish to burn are not on your hard disk, then

copy them first to your hard disk with Windows Explorer if they are WAV, MP3, VQF or other audio formats and you do not intend to convert them to another format, or
save the tracks to your hard disk if they are Audio CDs and the files are in CDA format or if you wish to compress audio files. The chapter 'Saving audio tracks' tells you how to do this.
Insert an empty CD-R into the CD recorder.
Start a new compilation by clicking on the appropriate button or the File menu and the command New.
Click the 'Audio CD' icon - the Audio CD tab is in front. Use the tabs to specify the attributes of the compilation, such as the name of the CD, different characteristics and restrictions.
On the CDA-Options tab you can select how Nero will handle CDA files that are on a Music CD – this tab is irrelevant for burning files that are on a hard disk however.
Once you have selected your settings, click the New button on the right. You will now see the empty compilation window for CD.
If a File Browser is not open yet you can open one by selecting New File Browser from the View menu or clicking the appropriate 'File Browser' icon. To specify that Nero is started with an open File Browser, check 'Start with File Browser' in the 'General' section on the File Browser tab (File -> Preferences).

Compile the files for the Wave files using Drag&Drop editing by simply clicking on the required files in the File Browser and dragging them into the compilation window.

Click on the Write CD button or select the Write CD command from the File menu to open the write dialog box. This option is only available when the compilation window is selected, as can be seen from the fact that the title bar is blue. If the File Browser is selected (and the title bar of the compilation window is therefore grayed) the option is not available and CD writing cannot be started. In this case click anywhere in the compilation window.
The 'Write CD' dialog box now opens - it is the same as when creating a new compilation but the Burn tab is now in front.

Important: Do not deactivate the 'Disc-at-once' checkbox. If the checkbox is not active the CD will be written in the 'Track-at-once' mode which may result in hiss and crackle between tracks.

Click the Burn button to start the burning process. All the selected steps now run in sequence until writing is complete. You can monitor progress in a status window which shows the individual steps being logged as they are executed.
A typical final message would be: 'Burn process was successful with 12x (1800 KB/s)'. The CD is then ejected. The messages shown can either be saved, printed or discarded. Close the window by clicking on the Discard or Close buttons.
You can now check what has been written to your new Audio CD by inserting it again and clicking the 'CD Info' icon.
Important: If your burned Audio CDs crackle, hum or hiss, you probably have problems with the so-called 'Audio Jitter Effect'. This is due to basic problems which the hardware has when reading audio data and has nothing to do with Nero.

[IFTB]

WeatherJinx, ORAC and spannersatcx,
Thanks a lot for the advise.
I have read the linked NERO Help files and it looks straightforward.
I will give it a try in the next few days and let you know how I got on.

Cheers,

IFTB

[Jet II]

IFTB

If your using WinXP you don't need any other software - Windows Media Player automatically does the conversion for you when you select 'Copy to Audio CD'

Hope this helps.

Oh, if you are downloading music from P2P some MP3 tracks might be rejected by Nero, WMP etc - try converting them to WMA files using a program like MP3Decode - you should then have no problem transferring them to CD.

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

IFTB,

I use WMP to make Audio CDs. It is very straight forward. Just load a playlist and press the Copy to CD or Device Button and it pulls up the window with your tacks on it. Then just hit the red Copy Music button and WMP does the rest.

Take Care,

Richard

[mainfrog2]

Here's a little plug-in for Windows Media Player 9.

Once it's installed when you go to the copy to device tab of wmp9 tick on the tracks you want to record. On the right hand side of the screen is a drop down menu which will show 'Nero Burning...'
Select that then click on copy. It'll convert your mp3 files to ordinary CD audio files as it sends them to your recordable disc.

Plugin for WMP9

The copy function on WMP9 will do it but this plug in seems a bit quicker.

[IFTB]

Maybe my nationality does not rank in the top smart ones but having done ALL of the above (apart from the WMP9 plugin):

- used NERO burning straight (direct drag into burning 'window')
- used NERO burning to convert MP3 to .WAV
- used WMP straight (direct selection)
- used WMP to convert MP3 to .wmp
- used MP3Decode to convert to .wav

but NONE of them gave me a CD which works on my HiFi or my walkman!
I'm stumped.
Can it be the CD type I am using? The replay system I am using?
They do all play back onto the PC.

Any more suggestions, please?

IFTB

BTW, I did not do all the above together at once, but used all routes (I'm not Belgian)

[WeatherJinx]

IFTB

I'm sure it's got nothing to do with your being Belgian (I think you're just in denial!) Damn fine country in my opinion - laidback atmosphere and people, lovely food, superb beer and good-looking girls

A long shot, and I'm sure the Windoze Gestapo will find another excuse to sneer, but why not try burning with iTunes for Windows instead? It's a free download and a great, simple app for burning, playing organising and storing your music/audio files?

Good luck and let me know how you get on, if you decide try it!

Jx

[ORAC]

The other reason can be poor disks, some makes have a dreadful reputation for not playing back properly on CD players rather than PCs.

Go out and buy a pack of 5 or 10 of good high quality blank CD-Rs and have another go. Try and match the media to your drive, see here for matching brands.

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

IFTB,

Do make sure you are using CD-Rs and not CD-RWs. Most players, especially older ones will not play CD-RWs, even if the music is correctly burned on them.

Also, Sony is known for problems with certain colors on the bottom of CDs. Their Laser has trouble reading some colors. Do try different Name Brand CD-R Media and see if it makes a difference.

Take Care,

Richard

P.S. Did you try burning in WMP?

[IFTB]

NAC Inc,
Yes I tried WMP but also without result.
The quality of CD could be the case as I bought a pack of 5 CD-RWs at LIDL (a cheap European, non-media store).

ORAC,
Thanks for that, I will try a better brand and a CD-R this time.
Will keep you posted.

Thanks all for showing interest.
That is the good thing at this Forum, some serious advice with serious intent to help.
Thanks people.

IFTB

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

IFTB,

Using CD-RWs is your problem. I am sure that once you burn a CD-R, your problem will be solved.

Take Care,

Richard

[IFTB]

NAC Inc & All,

It was the use of CD-RW which stopped replaying the CD!!
I have now used a CD-R and NERO burning, transferring an MP3 directly in the burning window and all is fine!
Can anyone explain (in simple language, please) why that is?

One word of (hard learnt) advice: check/play the files first before you burn them. I have a bad MP3 file in the middle of my first CD and the CD stops there. No chance to delete after burning and I can not skip it either during playing. Waste of a CD really.
Bad MP3 file? Downloaded from the web but some of them start making funny noises when playing back after download.

Thanks all again for your contributions.
Another happy customer!

IFTB

[ORAC]

A CD-RW don't reflect as much light as a CD-R due to the different composition of the reflective layers. The CD-RW layer is designed to be able to be melted so that it can be wiped and re-used and cannot be made as reflective as that of a CD-R which just needs a one-off pit burnt into it.

The sensor in a computer CD/DVD drive is designed to be sensitive enough to detect the lower amount of light reflected by a CD-RW, those in audio systems normally are not.

The sensor in your CD player just can't see CD-RW disks.

[IFTB]

Thanks ORAC.
Simple and clear explanation.
That's why the CD player did not ever turn/rotate the CD-RW and skipped the stacking tray looking for a proper music CD.

Cheers,
IFTB

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

IFTB,

I am glad to hear you solved the problem. (Some people post bad MP3s with loud screeches in the middle or at the end, to try and make people stop downloading music. They know that most people when they download an MP3 only listen to the first few seconds to make sure they downloaded the right song.)

Take Care,

Richard