Need help burning a simple music CD

Newbie Forum
#1

I am posting this question here because I am not sure whether I need to change my software, media, hardware, or hardware settings. (Not to mention it is a pretty newbie question…)

I have a collection of MP3s, and I just want to burn some of them into a simple CD, that will play without skipping tracks. The ones I am burning tend to skip tracks on my little CD player.

My preferred burner is my DVD burner (BenQ 16x DL)
I also have a cheap Best Buy Special 52x CD Burner (which has proven unreliable)

I’m using Memorex 52x Multi-Speed CD-R media (and I can get new media)

I’m using Windows Media Player, and my only complaint is I can’t figure out how to “adjust” or “slow down” the burn speed.

So is there a way I can slow down the burning? Will I have more luck if I use fewer songs per disk? Should I buy different CD burning media?

Thanks so very much in advance!

#2

Try Burrrn - it’s a nice little free app for burning audio discs from all kinds of music files.

Your skipping could be due to the burn speed, or the media…as you’ve mentioned, try reducing the burn speed (not sure where it is in Burrrn, as most of the time I use Nero for this). I’ll fire up Burrrn and see if I can find the setting for you…

Good media is always a plus…if you can, try some Verbatim CDRs. :slight_smile:

Edit: Yep, in Burrrn the write speed adjuster is easily found, I’m burning an audio CD with it @ 16x right now from a bunch of mp3s :slight_smile:

#3

Ok, got BURRRN loaded. That was easy!

Two questions…
(1) If 20 songs fit on a CD, would it help reliability at all if I only chose to put 15 on a CD?
(2) Burning a CD with a DVD burner, should I assume the 16x is the CD burning rating, and not the DVD burning rating?

Thanks so much!

#4

  1. I would imagine so, as with less songs, you’re not coming as close to the edge of the disc, which is often where deterioration can occur.

  2. Yep, I believe the 16x is the speed your CD will burn at (the one I just did was with my BenQ 1650 DVD burner).

Enjoy, and I hope it helps! :slight_smile:

Edit: just to add, despite what I said for #1 above - some CDs I’ve backed up from my personal collection fill the disc pretty much to capacity, and I’ve not noticed any problems yet. The above was a “just in case” answer :wink:

#5

Thanks!

So I’m out to get some Verbatim CDRs! By the way, the problem isn’t the last song on the CD, but its just a general problem that some tracks take a while to get started, and sometimes skip. Could this be solved with fewer songs on the CD?

Thanks, and one final question…

In Windows Media Player, I have checked: “Apply volume leveling to music when it is burned”. Does Burrrn have something equivalent? (Is that the dither?)

This is something I know I desperately need, because when I play the mp3s on my computer, some are significantly louder or softer than the others. On my computer I actually have to set my volume for each mp3 I play!!!

Thanks again!

#6

That definitely sounds like your brand of discs, coupled with high burn speed - you’ve already reduced speed, that’s good…next step as you say is to get some better media! :slight_smile:

And yep, there is a setting in Burrrn for that (let me just fire it up again and have a look)…OK, I never had to use it, but I’d guess yeah, that’s what you want. I see it’s already checked by default, and I think you just adjust as necessary. :slight_smile:

#7

Are you saying I need to adjust the volume of each track somehow, or is that dither going to level the volume for each song for me?

My B&M has zillions of CD/DVD media. Just any “Verbatim CDR” should work?

Also, once I get the media and set the burn speed, will it help anything if I reduce the number of songs per CD?

Thanks so much for the lightning fast replies!!!

#8

As I say, I’m not too sure about how it goes about track volume adjustment - if you have some CD-RWs handy, maybe you could experiment a bit (sorry I can’t be of more help on that one!).

Saying that, both “album Adjustment” and “track adjustment” under the ReplayGain tab are both checked by default, so as a guess I would say fine-tuning might be needed to get things the way you want them?

And yeah, any Verbatim CDRs should be just fine. If you find ones that say “Made in Japan”, it’s a bonus :wink:

As far as sound quality/playback goes, reducing the amount of tracks on the disc should have no effect…so I’d just put as many as will fit onto a disc. :slight_smile:

Edit: I messed up, ReplayGain isn’t enabled by default - in the main Burrrn window (where you set the speed etc), near the bottom, place a check in the ReplayGain box, under Pre-processing. :slight_smile:

#9

I just want to say with the Verbatim Media, and the Burrrn software, I just burned the best CDs I have ever burned… No skipping or pausing changing songs, just solid quality. Also no problems with different volumes on different tracks.

Any chance you could also recommend some good DVD media? Is Verbatim DVD-R going to be just as good?

Thanks so much!!!

#10

Wooooohoooo! :clap:

You’re welcome, BTW :)…and for DVD media, yep - what I tend to use is “Made in Taiwan” Verbatims (although, as with the CDRs, if you get “Made in Japan”, consider it a plus!). The BenQ likes them a lot :iagree: