Which is more compatible: 90/99/100-minute CD-R or GigaRec 1.2x on 80-min TY disc?

Well, I have some slightly large MP3 files (each around 750 MB+) and they can't fit on an 80-min TY CD-R, no matter how far I would try to overburn in my Plextor Premium. I will be archiving these on to DVD-Rs, but I want to run them in my MP3 CD player, so I have to find a way to get them on to CD-Rs (and reencoding at a lower bitrate just for this is problematic, as they are already low (192 kbps)).

What's the best alternative: Buying 90, 99, or 100-minute blanks or using GigaRec at 1.2x and just hoping that the disc gets read by as many drives as possible?

Plus, I don't really need the full 100+ minutes on _every_ disc (in fact, one of my files is ~750 MB and I have only two that's over a crazy 900 MB (one being my biggest MP3, at around 1030 MB)).

Are 90-minute discs really 100-minute ones that just have an 89:57:74 TOC or do they really only run 90 minutes on the actual spiral?

Are there less compatibility problems when you use a 90-minute disc than with a 100-minute one?

Finally, if I were to get these, I need a place that ships at least to the US, but preferred if it was actually in the US or Canada.

Thanks very much if any info is given out on the subject...

Yes 90 minute CD-R will be more compatible than 100 minute CD-R.

I believe an overburned / 90 minute CD-R would be more compatible than a GigaRec CD-R but you won't know until you try them in your MP3 CD player!

you could try to use another format like mp3 pro, wma or maybe an mp3 vbr

If you dont care you can split the mp3 into tracks, and burn 2 cds with them. You dont need to recompress, there are some programs that can handle mp3 data directly without recompression

I think I'm going to give a 10-pack of 90-minute & 100-minute CD-Rs a go. GigaRec @ 1.2x works just fine with my MP3-CD player, but oddly, not in my Plextor Premium: even with Taiyo Yuden discs! :-( Could there be a problem with my drive?

Your first suggestion isn't good at all if you want to hear the original content. It's lossy as-is. Why make it even moreso? I could try make a CUE file and feed it into MusiCutter to create a new set of files directly split the MP3 at a decent point in the live event, like a pause in the audio...

I think myfreelog thought you had created these mp3's yourself and that you had the source.
However i doubt your mp3 cd player can play mp3pro files anyways, well it would probably play them as mp3pro is backward compataible but it would sound crap as it wont be able to decode some of the information.
I prefer ogg and AAC HE anyways. Or if you want lossless monkeys audio is da bomb.

Adam I dont think that even 100min CDR's are going to fit those 1gig plus files?

If 80min CDR's are about 700MB then that would make 90min CDR's about 790MB and 100min discs about 880MB. I really doubt that you'll get to 1GB even if overburn is possible on these things.

I use FLAC for my lossless archival. Better than Monkey for my purposes (hardware support at some point (heck, some hardware supports it already), pretty versatile tagging system, Cuesheet support).

MP3pro files will play in aan MP3 player, but the upper half (above 11025 Hz for a 44100-Hz file) of the frequency band will be cut off.

Well, it turns out that my 2nd-largest MP3 file is around 900 MB. I'm currently not going to deal with that 1-GB file. I believe I can get these sub-900-MB MP3s onto some TY CD-Rs with GigaRec or using 90- or 99-minute blanks if GigaRec doesn't give me good compatibility.

PS: BTW, 90-min CD-Rs hold about 791 MB (810'000 kB) & 99-min CD-Rs, burnt out to 99:59:74, hold about 878.9 MB (900'000 kB). GigaRec, at 1.2x on an 80-min CD-R, can get me pretty close to that 99:59:74 (around 96 min, little more if overburned).

if i were you i would just use 700mb medias and split the mp3s with an audio editor like audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net

Here's a few things to consider:

Very few drives will be able to read a disc with 100 minutes on it, regardless of whether this is done with GigaRec or with a 100-min CD-R.

Many drives will not be able to read a disc with more than 90 minutes on it, regardless of how the 90+ minutes was accomplished.

Most drives will not be able to fully read a CD-R burned with GigaRec x1.3.

Some drives may not be able to fully read a CD-R burned with GigaRec x1.2.

Some CD-R are not suitable for GigaRec >x1 because of low quality.

The only way you can be certain is to burn a disc the way you want it, and then test it all the way through in the drive or drives you're going to play these discs in.