[newbie] Questions about burning audio CDs

Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

Hi,

I never burnt any audio CD before, but I would like to make several
ones from radio programs in order to study them for my work during
the holidays. I have 10-12 very big mp3 files, and I wonder if each
can fit on one CD. When I buy a CD, there usually is 60 min. on it,
so I am not sure wether I can put these files on it or not.
On the other hand, the MP3 files are not that big (it is the first
time I have to handle with multimedia files, and I thought such
files would be much bigger), so maybe it is possible. Here are
the details I can give to you. Since I am not sure if 'Mb' is
the same than the french 'Mo', remember than what I call 1Mb
is 1,000,000 bytes (a data CD usually can contain 700 Mb).
[other questions below]

Here are the sizes and lengths of all my files.
Of course I would like to minimize he number of CDs.
How many CDs do you think I need ?
As you can see, there is a large file (120 min. of time).

13Mb 27:18
13Mb 27:32
13Mb 27:46
13Mb 27:31
13Mb 27:40
48Mb 101:10
41Mb 87:13
40Mb 83:22
27Mb 58:18
20Mb 42:02
28Mb 59:21
13Mb 28:58
40Mb 83:22
32Mb 68:20
57Mb 119:36
31Mb 64:59
29Mb 60:29
37Mb 88:51

Second question : may I use the CDs I usually use for my datas (ISO-9660) ?
Or do I need to buy specific kinds of CD for that (I want to listen to
these files mostly in my car during the long ways I will run) ?

Other questions will probably come when you answer to me.

Regards,

--
Thomas Baruchel

Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

>Here are the sizes and lengths of all my files.
>Of course I would like to minimize he number of CDs.
>How many CDs do you think I need ?
>As you can see, there is a large file (120 min. of time).
>
>13Mb 27:18
<snip>

An audio CD stores 80 minutes of audio in a format closely related to
a 44.1KHz 16-bit stereo wav file. It doesn't matter what the size
or quality of a source MP3 is, just how long it plays for.


>
>Second question : may I use the CDs I usually use for my datas (ISO-9660) ?
>Or do I need to buy specific kinds of CD for that (I want to listen to
>these files mostly in my car during the long ways I will run) ?

You don't need a special type of CD media. But you may have to
experiment a little to find a brand of media and a burning speed that
suits your car player.

Putting it simply - pressed CDs have a high contrast between the
blacks and whites that indicate digital 1 and 0. Burnt CDs have a
lower contrast. They are right on the edge of the specification for
a playable audio CD. Unfortunately car players can be particularly
picky. Don't be surprised if the very cheapest media cause
problems. And even if your burner DOES offer a 32X burn speed, don't
use it. Pick a mid-range speed of the ones offered.

(Years ago, the advice was to burn at the LOWEST possible speed. This
is no longer recommended. Modern media is optimised for higher
speeds.)