Suppose I have two music CDs. In both cases, I really like only 1/2 of each CD. These bands go great together, and I’d like to put the two halves I like onto one CD. Is this possible? In general, is there a way to manipulate files off store-bought music CDs? Or, is there some form of “read protection” to stop this?
Lastly, is there an indirect way I could do this? I mean, is there a way the CD could play on my PC, and PC could record it into some form or another of an audio file. Then, I could burn all these files, created indirectly, onto one CD. Although more work, this wouldn’t be bad alternative, but is it possible?
I think almost every CD-burner sold today comes with software that will do what you describe. But in case you don’t have the software for some reason, check out the products at http://www.nero.com . They have a demo available to download, but the software is not free.
Yep, Heresiarch! I figured it out! This was my first time trying this with my new CD burner, so thanks a lot for your help!
At first, I was simply moving files representative of the actual tracks, but NOT the tracks themselves. Also, I didn’t know if my software would let me do disc swaps, or how it would handle the fact that the songs I wanted were on two different CDs. Everything worked out fine…thanks!
Ut-oh! Why does the PC’s CD player pause at the end of each track? Instead of advancing automatically, I must bump it up to the next track. Can this be fixed? Maybe it’s the way I burned the CD, perhaps? Did I forget to set some option? (Along these lines, how does it know these are music files, and not just ordinary data filed?) - Jinx
I should clarify…“pause” at the end of any one track. I don’t mean pause as in the normal brief silence between tracks. I mean the my PC’s CD player (read only drive) acts like the “pause” button was pressed when the song is over.
Also, this disk SHOULD be recognizable in any CD player. But, I tried this disk in a conventional CD player, and it won’t recognize the disk. I WAG I might have accidentally selected the wrong formatting? I will have to look into this further…
It might help if you told us what software you were using.
When you look at the files listed on the cd, what is the file extension? That would help us tell you if they are data or audio files.
My cd burner software has options of burning an audio cd, a data cd, or a cd with audio and data. If yours have similar options, make sure you are using the “audio cd” option as it is the easiest way to make sure you are using the right format.
Also, you need to be sure you closed the cd after burning it. Once the cd is closed, you can’t go back later and add more files. However, conventional cd players will not recognize the cd if it is not closed. Some software does this automatically, and some will have you do it manually (or you can set the preferences to do it either way).
Some conventional cd players are more picky (for lack of a better word than others) about recognizing burnt cds. I’ve made cds for a friend of mine and her stereo will not recognize them. Her cars cd player will, the cd player at work will, etc. Have you tried your cd in a different conventional cd player?
Finally, every so often, one of the songs on my cd will not advance to the next song. I’m not sure why, it just happens. It’s infrequent though, so if it happens at the end of every song on the cd it may be the way your computers cd player is configured (that is, you’re selecting the track to play, not the whole cd).
Go to www.cdrfaq.org and start reading.
~
-Not to be a smart-ass or anything, but really, everything you need to know or may wonder about concerning CD-R’s is already covered there.
Doug, no offense taken…I’ll check out the site. In general, that’s why I like the SDope so we can share experiences and good links to worthwhile info.
As I mentioned, I’m just breaking in to burning CDs. I’m surprised it’s so damn difficult. I mean, imagine if creating a floppy would have been this hard! Where would we be today? Although America is pro-competition, I wish NIST would have been able to set some standards by which the industry would follow. At least the ASTM, I believe, set some standard for a universal format on music CDs so store-bought CDs don’t manifest such difficulties! As I mentioned, I’ll just have to double-check that I was using that ASTM format, for starters…
ASD, I am using the software which came with my USB2 Backpack CD Read-Write drive. The software is called “SpeedyCD”. The software does let me use a “radio button” to select the option of either music or data files. I don’t think it’ll let me do both. Also, as I said before, I have to go back and see what format I picked. I think there’s something called Joliet vs. ASTM #### (or ISO ####?) I don’t have the user manual handy to give you the exact names, but these formatting names should ring a bell with you, I WAG. Lastly, I only tried the disk in one CD player (besided the PC itself). I’ll have to experiment with other CD players around the house and in the car.