Hey,
I’m kinda new to the SD, so I’m sorry if this is an old question, but I gotta know.
On my computer, IBM Aptiva E545, it’s got a CD Readable/Re-writable drive. So I burned this music CD, and when I went to play it on my stereo it wouldn’t work. It only plays on my computer. What gives? Can anyone help me? I would love to make CDs, but this is a slight problem if I’ve gotta drag my desktop everywhere.
Thanks,
Graham
Were you sure to burn .wav files onto your cd. That is the file type that a cd player reads.
And I don’t want to get any flak about the ethics of burning music cd’s, I just answered the friggin question.
Just wanted to add many (most?) stereo CD players cannot play CD-RW disks. You can maximize your coaster to CD ratio if you:
Use good software to do the burning.
(Goldenhawk CDRWIN is great, Adaptec Easy CD is not so good).
Burn onto CD-R disks. (Not CD-RW)
(They are different media.)
Use 74 min disks instead of 80 min disks.
(Overburning)
I have had good results following these 3 guidelines, although they are not always required. In HypotheticaLand, I follow them whether I am copying CDs or burning .mp3s.
As hightechburrito said, be sure you are burning .wav files, and not .mp3 unless you have a stereo that can play .mp3 files (some new stereos can.)
Also make sure you are using the music CD maker part of your software, putting .wavs onto a data CD won’t work either.
Hmm, I always thought you were suppose to burn them into .cda (compact disc audio) format, not .wav, for it to work.
This is fairly difficult to give precise directions without knowing the software package that you’re using, but you need to ensure that you’re burning it as “Audio CD” not “Data CD” and preferably use CDR media as opposed to CDRW. They should be .WAV files that you’re burning. If you’re trying to play it on an early model CD player, it may just not work as many had reading issues.
Some random comments & helpful hints:
-“Overburning” typically refers to trying to put more data on the media than is recommended (putting 75 minutes of music on a 74 min CD). This is strongly discouraged as you can damage the burner. Most newer CD burners and burning software support 80 minute media. It is not considered overburning if your software and burner support 80 minute media and you’re using 80 minute media.
-Burning a .WAV file to CD under the “Audio CD” setting automatically changes the filename extension to .CDA. If you burn it as a “data CD”, it remains .WAV.
-Using the DAO (Disk At Once) setting will remove the 2 second gap between songs. However, if the data cannot be read fast enough (older computer, getting data over a network connection) there’s a good chance this’ll fail and you’ll have a coaster.
-Disabling virus software, FindFast, screensavers, or anything else that may be running whilst burning is strongly recommended. Leave your machine alone when burning.
-If you have a bad burn, try scandisking, defragging, and definitely rebooting. If its the first time burning this particular CD layout, run the simulation first.
-I typically burn from my C: drive and I use Nero as the burning software. Adaptec is easy to use but difficult to troubleshoot- I found I had more bad burns with EZCD creator than with Nero.
I don’t know if this should go in a separate post or if it is close enough to the OP to be asked here. What software to use and why?
I have been using Adaptec’s EZ CD creator (it came with my HP drive) and have not given much thought to trying out different programs. Nero? Goldenhawk? What makes these better than Adaptec? What can they do? Thanks.
Rhythmdvl
(my apologies If this is too tangential to the original OP)
Rhythmdvl, I used to use Adaptec’s suite but I had several issues- occasionally the “Disk at Once” option would be greyed out for no apparent reason, the help file is woefully inadequate, and I had a higher rate of bad burns (coasters) with it than Nero as well as unburnable files. Nero is very easy to use, burns just about every file I’ve tried, and, in general, is more reliable. This isn’t just my opinion- in talking to several IT departments for work as well as audiophiles (and Playstation pirates- which I do not partake in) Nero has been the program preferred over Adaptec. However, Adaptec is more widely distributed and I still use it here at work where I do very simplistic burning (software packages, patch files, manuals, etc… typically under 300 MB). I do not know enough about Goldenhawk to comment intelligently about it.
Some older CD players won’t play RW-CD’s. Generally 1998 is the turning point. Most (not all but most) CD players built on or after 1998 will play burned CD’s. The further you get before 1998 the less likely they will work. The advice given above is good (the files have to be WAV, etc.). If you’re doing all of that and it still doesn’t work try putting the CD in a newer player. If it works on that player you’ve found your problem.
I use Adaptec as well and reinforce the “leave your computer alone while burning” comment above, as well as shutting down all other apps. I haven’t seen any difference using the “test” mode at all, except for it taking twice as long.
Jeff, I know there are some CD players that will read RW discs, but I have, as of yet, to find one. When I first started burning, I tried RWs on every CD player available to me, most of the '98 or newer. No luck. Now, I burn only onto CD-Rs and have no problems playing them anywhere.
The “test” mode (AKA simulation) should determine if the burn will fail without having to waste a CD. It is not 100% effective- I’ve had burns that passed simulation but failed during the real thing but it will typically cut down on your failure rate.
really old CD players won’t read CD-R disks.
I use cdrecord, which is free software that runs under Linux and most other kinds of Unix. It doesn’t support DAO mode, although the cdrdao program is working on that (I haven’t tried it).
very few CD players will read CD-RW disks.
the data format on the disc is not .wav (.wav has a header not present on the CD), but 16-bit stereo 44100-sample-per-second .wav is pretty close. I can’t remember whether cdrecord was smart enough to strip the .wav headers or whether I had to do that myself with sox.
I have burned CDs on my old 5x86-133 while running several kernel compiles at once (really bogging my machine down, deliberately) without causing trouble for burning data CDs at 2x. The only time I’ve made coasters was when I realized I was burning the wrong thing onto the disc and aborted the burn. I’m running Linux with an HP 7200i drive on a separate IDE chain from my disks, and a dedicated 700MB partition for building disk images, so it’s not surprising I haven’t had any problems.
Adaptec is fine for doing Music CD’s what version of the software are you using? I use it, its fine. Select to make a music cd, you should “close” the cd too…
Also, put a music cd that works in the computer & find out what write format it is & duplicate that. Or just use Adaptec to duplicate that cd & see if it works.