Burning MP3 CDs

[JMB1911]

I'm in the need of some new software to burn MP3 CDs that I can play in my car's stereo system. I currently use iTunes but in order to get the CD formated just right it's a multi-step process and very convultuted.

The first problem is the stereo in my car does not support playlists, it plays files in alpha-numeric order. When iTunes creates a MP3 CD it renames the output file with it's playlist position number which takes care of that problem, however iTunes can not(or I have not figured out how to) create folders on the CD which I want because it makes it a lot eaiser to navigate to a specific song. The thrid problem is most of my music is encoded in 320kbps. For my CDs I would like to be able to have the files recoded into 128k so I can have more on the CD. (confused yet?)

Here's the procedure.
1)Create a master playlist in iTunes with the songs in the order I want
2)Burn that playlist to DVD because it's to big to fit on a cD
3)Copy the MP3s on the DVD into a folder on my desktop
4)Create subfolders to group the songs how I want them
5)Reencode the files using CDex so everything will fit on single CD-RW
6)Burn the reencoded files to CD using Nero.

Is there anyway to make this eaiser?

 

[airdata]

I've just used nero or roxio in the past and simply dragged + dropped all of the files into the cd thing.

It's been a while though, but my new civic supports mp3/wma so I need to burn some cds!

 

[JMB1911]

But nero doesn't rename the files to include the position number which means I would need to do that manually to 100 or so files. That would much longer than my current process

 

[Slugbait]

But nero doesn't rename the files to include the position number which means I would need to do that manually to 100 or so files. That would much longer than my current process

This doesn't make sense...Nero can't rename anything, it's a burning program. And you've already said that iTunes created the playlist position number.

Sorry for my confusion, I just don't know anybody who uses iTunes instead of EAC. I know there must be iTunes people out there, but I assume most probably use Macs.

The thrid problem is most of my music is encoded in 320kbps. For my CDs I would like to be able to have the files recoded into 128k so I can have more on the CD. (confused yet?)

Extraordinarily confused. Why do you want to listen to music that is (almost) FM-quality? Do you have super crappy speakers, 14W of power, and always drive with the top down whereas you can't hear the difference?

 

[lxskllr]

Infrarecorder, and I expect many other programs will put the files on the CD in order of inclusion. I'd STRONGLY encourage you to not re-encode your music. 128k isn't terrible when you're going from a lossless source, but re-encoding it from another lossy source is a disaster.

 

[JMB1911]

This doesn't make sense...Nero can't rename anything, it's a burning program. And you've already said that iTunes created the playlist position number.

Sorry for my confusion, I just don't know anybody who uses iTunes instead of EAC. I know there must be iTunes people out there, but I assume most probably use Macs.

Extraordinarily confused. Why do you want to listen to music that is (almost) FM-quality? Do you have super crappy speakers, 14W of power, and always drive with the top down whereas you can't hear the difference?

Right, but iTunes can not create folders on the output disk so I need to copy the files from the Itunes created disk to my desktop, create the folders the way I want them, then put the songs into each folder, then move everything into Nero and burn it. I don't want to use 2 or 3 programs to do this job. I want 1 program.

Yes
No
Exactly
And I don't want to change CDs while I'm driving. At a lower bit rate I can put everything onto 1 disk and be done with it. My car stereo is not one of those gettho blasters where I'm blasting everything for the entire world to hear.

 

[billyb0b]

cdburnerxp

works on vista and 7, and obviously xp

itunes is bloatware

 

[JMB1911]

cdburnerxp

works on vista and 7, and obviously xp

itunes is bloatware

Tried that. It appears to do the same thing as Nero.

What is so odd about the way I want my MP3 CDs that there is no software to make them that way with ease?

 

[JimKiler]

Tried that. It appears to do the same thing as Nero.

What is so odd about the way I want my MP3 CDs that there is no software to make them that way with ease?

Can't you use Nero to burn a data CD? drag the folders that itunes auto creates instead of the songs that way you have the songs and the folders. when i rip music with iTunes everything goes into folders of artists/album. That is what you want right?

 

[JMB1911]

Can't you use Nero to burn a data CD? drag the folders that itunes auto creates instead of the songs that way you have the songs and the folders. when i rip music with iTunes everything goes into folders of artists/album. That is what you want right?

I could do then but then the songs play in a order I do not want because the CD player plays in alpha-numeric order.(it does not understand playlists)

Song C, Song B, Song Z, Song A will play Song A, Song B, Song C, and Song Z unless the files on the CD are named
001 Song C,
002 Song B,
003 Song Z,
004 Song A

iTunes takes care of the rename automatically but it does nothing for a folder structure or re encoding files on the output CD. There is no way I'm going to manually rename 100 or so files and risk screwing up the files on my hard drive. Doing so will take a 2+ hour process(not including time spent to remix a playlist) and turn it into something that takes full day to do. I'm trying to making things simple. Create the playlist, click burn and be done with it.

 

[akugami]

I think what the OP wants is an app that will not just burn the MP3's but also organize them in a specific list on the CD at the same time according to a certain playlist. I don't think there are any apps that will do that.

I'm not sure there is software to do that. Plenty of apps to burn the MP3's. Plenty of apps to organize your MP3's but one that is doing the specific things you ask for? Not that I know of.

Best Thing I could come up with on a search was this but I don't know if it will maintain the playlist order. It's possible it just puts them on the CD in alphabetical order which wouldn't do what you want.

 

[JMB1911]

I think what the OP wants is an app that will not just burn the MP3's but also organize them in a specific list on the CD at the same time according to a certain playlist. I don't think there are any apps that will do that.

I'm not sure there is software to do that. Plenty of apps to burn the MP3's. Plenty of apps to organize your MP3's but one that is doing the specific things you ask for? Not that I know of.

Best Thing I could come up with on a search was this but I don't know if it will maintain the playlist order. It's possible it just puts them on the CD in alphabetical order which wouldn't do what you want.

Exactly and iTunes "Sort by Album" feature is completely useless for my purposes because 1) Not all of my music has those details 2)That's not how I want my music organized. I might one a song from 1 album to play before a song from another album and the song after that is from the same album the first some was from.

That's just how I roll and I've been rolling that way for 6 years. I'm not changing because Apple says I have to.

 

[HeXen]

i hate itunes organization. I simply purchased a better HU, one that had USB slot and got an 8 gig mini USB drive to hold all my lossless music on. just drag music to a folder on it to copy and i'm good to go.

 

[JMB1911]

CDBurnerXP is completely usesless for my purposes. The website even states this.

http://cdburnerxp.se/help/Audio/mp3cd
Defining the order of the tracks

You cannot define the audio track order for MP3 CDs.
This is because data discs simply have no “order”. Just as the files on your hard drive, you cannot say which file is “first” and which one is “last”.
Instead, the playing device (that is, your CD or DVD player) can sort the files on the disc in any way you prefer, because the MP3 tags are also burned to disc. For example, you can have your MP3 player sort the tracks by artist or title. That is, if your player supports that feature.

Unfortunately, many players seem to sort files only by file name (alphabetically). If you want to ensure a particular playback order on such devices, prefix your files with numbers, for example “01_”, “02_”, and so on.

I know this and iTunes does that automatically for me. Why can't any other program do this? What is so hard about what I'm trying to do here?

If iTunes were able to make folders based on the grouping column instead of only the Album colum I think I would be good to go.

 

[JMB1911]

Media Monkey Gold will do everything I want and how I want it done but it's not free.:'(

 

[postmark]

You should be able to use the non gold version of media monkey. I think it burns at a slower speed, but it should still work for you.

 

[TSDible]

Media Monkey Gold will do everything I want and how I want it done but it's not free.:'(

How much is your time worth?

Compare that to the cost of Media Monkey...

 

[gsaldivar]

Is there anyway to make this eaiser?

Get a real car stereo with a line-in for your iPod or phone.

Problem solved.

 

[uberman]

Media Monkey Gold will do everything I want and how I want it done but it's not free.:'(

I just want to give you a bump for that!

Media Monkey Gold is awesome. I used to use version 7.x of Music Match Jukebox. That was awesome too. Later models weren't jukeboxes, but designed to sell you music. I still own Music Match Jukebox, but its no longer supported so it won't ID Tag when ripping to MP3.

Like some else said he should get a car stereo with an inline input so he can just plug his MP3 player inline.

BTW: The last Sony Car Stereo I bought hid the inline plug on the back of the unit. Maybe he has an inline feature in his car stereo.

 

[gsaldivar]

The last Sony Car Stereo I bought hid the inline plug on the back of the unit. Maybe he has an inline feature in his car stereo.

And if not, it makes much more sense to just get an interface box rather than waste time/money on CD burning software...

http://cgi.ebay.com/JVC-KS-PD100-IP...315897512?pt=Car_Speakers&hash=item5ae0a3f2a8

 

[0roo0roo]

yea mp3 cd is better than old cd, but still a chore not worth bothering with in the end.