Burning CDs

[zerlina]

Hello to all,

I am trying to burn a 90 minute audio file to a CD. The maximum length that can be recorded to a CD-R is only 80 minutes. Is there anyway, I can compress my 90 minute audio file (I know I will probably lose quality) so that it will fit on the CD? OR, is it possible to divide the audio file so that I can burn it onto two different CDs?

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thank you!

[BoliverAllmon]

keep it as a mp3 and just play it in mp3 players.

boliver

[presto agitato]

.Is there anyway, I can compress my 90 minute audio file (I know I will probably lose quality) so that it will fit on the CD?

Yeah. You need to convert your Cd files (WAV ) into MP3 and then with the help of a software such as NERO you can make your CDs.

[Nordlys]

If you convert to mp3-file, you loose quality.

Use FLAC. Then you can get a smaller file, without loosing quality.

[xvimbi]

If you convert to mp3-file, you loose quality.

Use FLAC. Then you can get a smaller file, without loosing quality.

mp3's have the advantage that they can readily be played on many devices. Choose the bit-rate such that your music fills the full 80 min available on a CD and you'll have a minimum of quality loss. Alternatively, AAC, Apple's format, gives better results, but isn't quite as widespread as mp3.

Finally, what about burning your music ona DVD? And finally, finally, does it need to go on one CD?

[piano_learner]

Zerlina,

All compression methods are lossy despite people trying to convince you that one is 'better' than another. You can encode an Mp3 at different compression rates, the trade off being a larger file for higher quality. The bit rate for an uncompressed CD is 1.4 Mbit/s and most Mp3's people download off the web are encoded at 128kbits/s which is approximately 11:1 compression. I have converted my CD collection to Mp3's at 256Kb/s (5:1) at they sound as good as the original. If you get a good MP3 encoder you should be able to select the compression rate. Go for the HIGHEST bit rate possible, as you only need a small amount of compression. Aim for 320Kbit/sec or higher if available.

[Brian Healey]

Converting the file to mp3 will make the file smaller, but it won't make it any shorter. It will still be 90 minutes, meaning the length is still too long. Besides, it will have no effect on burning a cd, because audio cds only use CD-A files (similar to WAV). A burning program will just take your mp3 file and convert it right back.

Converting to mp3 will only work if you burn it as a data cd (or mp3 cd). However, the downside to that is that you can only play it on a computer or a cd player that plays mp3 cds (and the majority don't). If you want to play it in normal cd players, you're going to have to split it into 2 cds. Download yourself an audio editing program, and split the track, or cut a part off and paste it onto a new file.


Don't Jimmy me Jules,
Bri

[xvimbi]

Converting the file to mp3 will make the file smaller, but it won't make it any shorter. It will still be 90 minutes, meaning the length is still too long.

The "80 min CD" is really a misnomer. Regular CDs have a capacity of 700 MB, which translates into 80 min of CD-quality (aiff) music, hence the name. Converting to 128-bit mp3 would allow to put about 700 min of music on a single CD. That would make a "700 min CD", but nobody would call it that way. Agreed, it's better to talk about capacity rather than time.

[Brian Healey]

Exactly. You can fit 700 min worth of mp3s on a cd (burned as a data cd), but you won't be able to play it on the majority of cd players. When you burn a traditional audio cd, mp3s automatically get converted back to cd-quality CD-A files, meaning that a 90 min. mp3 will not fit.


peace,
Bri

[folkert]

If you want to listen to the music on a conventional cd-player than you have got to split te audio file.. 80 minutes is all what fits on the cd. Well, you could consider 'overburning' but that will gain you only another 5 minutes or so.
The best thing you could do is split the audiofile with an audio editing program (I don't know any, I suggest you search the net), or look for 90 minute cds.. I know that they exist, alltough they are quite rare.

[zerlina]

Thank you to all for your help. I think I'll just go down the route of splitting it between two CDs.....it seems the easiest. Does anyone know if there's a free ( ) audio editing programme I can download? Thanks and best wishes to all!

[piano_learner]

Hi Zerlina,

You could try Adobe Audition (formerly Cool Edit)

https://www.adobe.com/products/tryadobe/main.jsp#product=92

The tryout version may allow you to to do what you want and it is free. However you must do whatever you want within 30 days!