iTunes won't burn!

[KatieR]

Hi,

I've been having some issues with my notebook and burning a cd from iTunes. I thought it might be the hardware/software on the notebook itself but thought that I would check here as there is a veritable pool of IT talent on the forum.

I set up a playlist in iTunes then go to burn. It goes through the motions of burning, even makes the right noises! But then at the end of the burn, the disk is still blank. :confused:

I've checked all the settings and they are all set okay, nothing is set to burn to a hard drive or anything like that. Every now and then a playlist will burn okay like magic, but then it's back to being annoying.

Can anyone help?.... please?

[Tiggerbabe]

What speed have you got it set at, to burn things?

[KatieR]

What speed have you got it set at, to burn things?

I've tried a number if different speeds... full speed... about 8x, 2x... it varies, depending on if I feel like having another crack at making it work. I just end up frustrated and having to walk away.

[Caz]

Just to double check with you.. if you are trying to burn songs onto a CD that you have downloaded from Itunes it may not work because Itunes downloads songs in MP4 format and CD's and music players recognise MP3 format and not MP4 format so this might be worth checking

:flower:

[ducasi]

Just to double check with you.. if you are trying to burn songs onto a CD that you have downloaded from Itunes it may not work because Itunes downloads songs in MP4 format and CD's and music players recognise MP3 format and not MP4 format so this might be worth checking
Not quite – *some* CD players can play MP3 CDs – most can't, they still need traditional Audio CDs which can be created from any music format.

Katie, can you tell us the burning preferences you have set in iTunes? Are you burning audio CDs, or MP3 CDs?

[Zebra Woman]

Just a thought.....

Katie, are you burning CDs with the intention of DJing? If you can get itunes to burn you something :rolleyes: then you may be interested in my problem.

I have had trouble using audio CDs burned by itunes on professional (Numark) CD decks.

My first few CDs burned by itunes played on my computer,on my hifi, in my boomblaster, and in my car no problem.

Then when I tried to play them in a DJing situation, in a Numark cdn-205, the CDs were not recognised and I had to switch the deck off and on again to get it to release each CD. Almost all my CDs burned by itunes were rejected! I had to DJ for an hour and a half using just 6 CDs that I had burned using Musicmatch months earlier - that was a challenge.:eek:

I have managed to repeat this fault on two decks - one in Daventry the other at Blaze. I suspect it may be the fact that when I burned from itunes CD text was switched on, I am still researching, but as not all decks reject the CDs it is a longwinded process. Modern decks seem to cope with mp3 and CD text more willingly.

Any ideas froom the geeks?

My current solution is to use itunes for organising playlists etc, but burn CDs using my original trustworthy Musicmatch.

ZW

[ducasi]

ZW – some older CD players just can't cope with some recordable CDs. It's more likely that the key difference between the Musicmatch CDs and the iTunes ones was the CDs you were using, rather than the program that burnt them.

And as I said earlier, most CD players can't play MP3 CDs, though many newer ones can.

[TheTramp]

I have to say that if I had anything to do with it, iTunes would burn. For all eternity! :wink:

[Beowulf]

ZW – some older CD players just can't cope with some recordable CDs. It's more likely that the key difference between the Musicmatch CDs and the iTunes ones was the CDs you were using, rather than the program that burnt them.

And as I said earlier, most CD players can't play MP3 CDs, though many newer ones can.

But it does also depend on the software. If a disk is not "finalised" properly it may play in 75% of the CD drives out there but there's always one that it doesn't work with.

I don't use Itunes personally (I'm with Trampy on this one), but is there a "close CD" or "Finalise CD" option??

Make sure it's single session and not multisession and Closed/finalised and it SHOULD play on MOST CD players

[ducasi]

But it does also depend on the software. If a disk is not "finalised" properly it may play in 75% of the CD drives out there but there's always one that it doesn't work with.

I don't use Itunes personally (I'm with Trampy on this one), but is there a "close CD" or "Finalise CD" option??

Make sure it's single session and not multisession and Closed/finalised and it SHOULD play on MOST CD players
iTunes always finalises CDs, I think. At least, it does on my Mac. :)

I can't see a way of burning a non-single-session, non-finalised CD.

[Beowulf]

I can't see a way of burning a non-single-session, non-finalised CD.

Ah ok.. as I said I don't use Itunes. And for CD burning I'm a die hard Nero man !!

[KatieR]

Not quite – *some* CD players can play MP3 CDs – most can't, they still need traditional Audio CDs which can be created from any music format.

Katie, can you tell us the burning preferences you have set in iTunes? Are you burning audio CDs, or MP3 CDs?
The burning preferences are set to Audio CD, the other other Burning setting is the speed which is currently set to 12x


Just a thought.....

Katie, are you burning CDs with the intention of DJing? If you can get itunes to burn you something :rolleyes: then you may be interested in my problem.

W
I DJ mainly from my laptop, I'm saving up to invest in some DJing software (any recommendations??) the burnt CDs are just for my car.

[Zebra Woman]

iTunes always finalises CDs, I think. At least, it does on my Mac. :)

I can't see a way of burning a non-single-session, non-finalised CD.

CDs were definitely finalised.


ZW – some older CD players just can't cope with some recordable CDs. It's more likely that the key difference between the Musicmatch CDs and the iTunes ones was the CDs you were using, rather than the program that burnt them.

And as I said earlier, most CD players can't play MP3 CDs, though many newer ones can.

The decks weren't new that's for sure. In this case I don';t think the pronblem is in the brand of CD. The unusable itunes CDs were exactly the same brand (Verbatim) as the ones that worked and had been burned by Music match. After that I did lose confidence in the Verbatim and have since switched to Sony. To test the theory I burned some Sony CDs using itunes, I tested them at Blaze and the fault still existed, a Sony CD burned by itunes didn't work.


The burning preferences are set to Audio CD, the other other Burning setting is the speed which is currently set to 12x


I DJ mainly from my laptop, I'm saving up to invest in some DJing software (any recommendations??) the burnt CDs are just for my car.

I hate to say it but IMO the nicest looking DJ software seems to be the one that is exclusive to Apple - it's called Megaseg.

Sorry everyone :blush:

ZW x

[Tiggerbabe]

I hate to say it but IMO the nicest looking DJ software seems to be the one that is exclusive to Apple - it's called Megaseg.

Sorry everyone :blush:

Don't be sorry, I agree :D

[Zebra Woman]

Don't be sorry, I agree :D

I knew you would Sheena :rolleyes:

:hug:

[KatieR]

Just to double check with you.. if you are trying to burn songs onto a CD that you have downloaded from Itunes it may not work because Itunes downloads songs in MP4 format and CD's and music players recognise MP3 format and not MP4 format so this might be worth checking

:flower:

Will they actually burn onto a cd though? If this could be the problem, then why does iTunes have music in a format that can't be burnt through its own software?

I'm confused...:confused:

[ducasi]

Will they actually burn onto a cd though? If this could be the problem, then why does iTunes have music in a format that can't be burnt through its own software?
iTunes can burn all the music it manages to CD – either as an Audio CD, or as an "MP3 CD" (and as a "Data CD", but that's more for backup.) The problem is that if you create an MP3 CD with some tracks that are not actually MP3, then player than can play MP3 files won't be able to play the files not in MP3 format. Does that make sense?

Anyway, iTunes 7.3.1 came out last night, so maybe upgrading to that will fix the problem.

Good luck.

[Zebra Woman]

iTunes can burn all the music it manages to CD – either as an Audio CD, or as an "MP3 CD" (and as a "Data CD", but that's more for backup.) The problem is that if you create an MP3 CD with some tracks that are not actually MP3, then player than can play MP3 files won't be able to play the files not in MP3 format. Does that make sense?

Anyway, iTunes 7.3.1 came out last night, so maybe upgrading to that will fix the problem.

Good luck.

I have had other issues when mixing itunes files with mp3 on audio CDs -

I found that when I burned audio CDs from itunes with a mixture of itunes purchased tracks and mp3 tracks - the volume level was extremely low for the itunes tracks compared to the mp3. Plus each time I experimented with setttings to try and fix the problem I would use up one of my 7 chances to burn the purchased track.:tears: Plus the CD was possibly useless for DJing
on older equipment as it was made by itunes (see my earlier post).

I have found a solution to the volume level problem, not ideal.

I burn all the itunes purchased songs onto a CD then rip them back into itunes and save them in mp3 (256 sample rate) format with a slightly different filename to the original. From then on I always use the mp3 files for burning audio cds. I'm sure I've lost quality here and it is a palaver.

Is there a better way?

[straycat]

Just a thought.....

Katie, are you burning CDs with the intention of DJing? If you can get itunes to burn you something :rolleyes: then you may be interested in my problem.

I have had trouble using audio CDs burned by itunes on professional (Numark) CD decks.
etc


Burning things - always a bit of a minefield. I have one CD player at home that will happily play the first half of any hour+ long burnt CD, but usually starts playing up after that point, and will just give up on the last couple of tracks.

I've burnt a lot of CDs using iTunes though, and they all play perfectly on our Numark CDMIX3 - so I'm a little at a loss on this score. I've not tried on older Numark models though, and as the CDMIX3 can play mp3 cds, it's probably using bang-up-to-date CD units.

I was burning from a Mac though - it sounds like most of the iTunes burning issues come up under Windows, which suggests that it's far from the lovely reliable option it is on the Mac.

[Dreadful Scathe]

ZW – some older CD players just can't cope with some recordable CDs.

I agree. The problem ZW is having is because the older CD players simply do not understand a modern recordable disk, I would imagine it wouldnt play ANY of these regardless of manufacturer. Remember normal bought CDs are physically stamped with pits that can be "read"; recordable CDs are made by a dye changing colour on the disc itself so are physically very different -see this picture (http://computer.howstuffworks.com/cd-burner4.htm).

Looks like playing burnt CDs will simply be impossible to play with those decks - read this article (http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/cdfaq.htm#cdprcdrs) for EVERYTHING about cd's ;)

[KatieR]

Anyway, iTunes 7.3.1 came out last night, so maybe upgrading to that will fix the problem.

Good luck.

didn't work.... :angry: :mad:

[Whitebeard]

didn't work.... :angry: :mad:

iTunes is an exasperating experience. The penultimate update I yielded to resulted in a program which from the click came up with an error condition. There was the option to report this to Microsoft, which I did with some glee, hoping it would give MS a big stick with which to beat the juice out of Apple.

I left it at that and made do with media player (I have to admit this has a rather more restricted range of music than iTunes).

Come the next update some little time later and, lo and behold, my problem was fixed, but apparently new problems were introduced for others.

I understand that MS trials new releases with beta test versions to the geeky community. Does not Apple follow this rigorous pre-testing procedure?