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Paul Stephen C. · Mar 27, 2003, 06:35 PM

Hi Everyone,

I recently got my long awaited 17" iMac (1GHz, 1Gb Apple memory) and I've got to say right off that it's a dream machine. I waited for ages for the right time to upgrade from my creaky Power PC Performa, so you can imagine my joy!

But..

I've tried to make compilation CDs from MP3s, only to find that my iMac will play them, but my other CD players (Hi Fi and portable) do not see the burned CDs. "no disk" is all I get. A real bummer.

I'm new to MacOsX, and I love it to bits, but this is a serious problem for me, as I want to digitize analogue tapes/vinyl in the future - no bloody good if CD players don't see my burned CDs.

Any suggestions?

Paul

Mark E · Mar 27, 2003, 06:45 PM

probably a stupid question, but have you played burned CD's on the other cd players before? did they play?

also, double check that you're burning audio cd's and not mp3 cd's with itunes (go to the preferences menu, then burning).

-Mark

Dex13 · Mar 27, 2003, 07:20 PM

Also sometimes, some cd players won't recognize alot of cd-r's. It depends on the age of the cd player and the format it support(s).

bradoesch · Mar 27, 2003, 07:30 PM

You are using CD-Rs and not CD-RWs, right?

Paul Stephen C. · Mar 28, 2003, 04:50 PM

Thanks for your comments everyone.

Mark E: yes, I have played burned CDs on the other CD players (from a friend's PC, not using iTunes).

I am setting iTunes prefs to audio CDs, so hopefully not just making a CD collection of MP3s!

Dex13: One CD player is pretty old (a SONY about 8 yrs old with "8 times oversampling/16 bit digital filter" written on the box!). The other is an inexpensive portable.

bradoesch: Ha! This may be the problem - I hadn't realised until now the limitations of CD-RWs. I'll buy some CDRs tomorrow and try again.

Should've read Mac Help first, where is says: "It is best to use CD-R discs for recording audio CDs, because most standard audio CD players cannot read CD-RW discs. For longer-term storage and reliability, use CD-R discs."

Mac Help also says about recording audio CDs: "Insert a blank disc. Choose an application from the Action pop-up menu and give the disc a name. Drag what you want to burn onto the disc icon. After the data has been copied to the disc, drag the disc to the Burn icon in the Dock"

What action pop up menu? - is this the Disc Utility (which doesn't open automatically)?

dampeoples · Mar 28, 2003, 04:57 PM

here is the action menu it's referring to, using Jaguar. I think there may be a preference in iTunes somewhere to set concerning inserting a blank CD.

Mark E · Mar 28, 2003, 05:33 PM

yeah, sounds like cdrw's are the problem... i think only relatively new cd players can play them. i've got a technics seperates player from about 2 years ago, and it won't play cdrw's... plays CDRs fine though.

-Mark

Paul Stephen C. · Mar 28, 2003, 08:07 PM

Hi dampeoples:

Thanks for the screenshot of the action menu. I looked in iTunes prefs but didn't see any obvious (and it would have to be!) way to bring it up. Maybe it'll work when I get a CDR in.

Hi Mark E:

I confess my CD player is a much loved, but rather old, Sony from the early 90s! Though I do have a new (cheap) portable which I got for hillwalking purposes (anti-jiggling delay).

I'm hoping the problem is due to using CDRWs rather than CDRs. As I confessed before, I didn't read Mac Help, so I bear some of the blame (though not all - we are supposed to be able to Rip, Mix, Burn, aren't we? - eg load, sort, drag & drop, burn, play?).

I'm a Mac person because I don't want to feel that I need to know the technology very well. I don't mind finding out stuff, but I've liked Macs 'cos they do what I want them to do intuitively. I realise that this is, of course, a great excuse for not reading the FM, but there you go!

Maybe if I got a manual with my iMac...... on second thoughts, no!

Paul Stephen C. · Mar 28, 2003, 08:12 PM

Off topic:

This isn't really a big issue for me but...when do you stop being labelled as a "Junior Member"?!!!

My member is somewhat offended!

dampeoples · Mar 28, 2003, 11:05 PM

Originally posted by Paul Stephen C.:
Off topic:

This isn't really a big issue for me but...when do you stop being labelled as a "Junior Member"?!!!

My member is somewhat offended!

hehe, I think it' s30 posts. My member forced me to visit the lounge and chat until it was upgraded.

Sman55 · Mar 29, 2003, 05:08 AM

I also have problems with the new imac 17 inch with writing cd-r disks. I have several cd players at home and have been burning cd-r's for years with no problems at all - ie. they were read by all the various makes of cd player I have at home. Now when recorded on the Imac they will not play on any Aiwa equipment. One aiwa cd player is only a few months old. I also have an old sony cd player and they work fine on that.

Must test it on the car player - cause that will be bad news if it doesn't work on that - just did - it works fine.

Paul Stephen C. · Apr 2, 2003, 05:24 PM

My problem was using CDRWs to record audio CD compilations from iTunes.

It's no problem if you use CDRs - which all CD players can read (I think).

Overconfidence in the iMacs ease of use prevented me from doing the obvious - ask iTunes help "how do i burn audio CDs?". The answer was embarrasingly simple.

So it wasn't my fault at all for not RTFM - it was Apple's for making their computers so darn easy to use!

I *knew* it wasn't my fault!!

P

bradoesch · Apr 3, 2003, 05:08 PM

Originally posted by Sman55:
I also have problems with the new imac 17 inch with writing cd-r disks. I have several cd players at home and have been burning cd-r's for years with no problems at all - ie. they were read by all the various makes of cd player I have at home. Now when recorded on the Imac they will not play on any Aiwa equipment. One aiwa cd player is only a few months old. I also have an old sony cd player and they work fine on that.

Must test it on the car player - cause that will be bad news if it doesn't work on that - just did - it works fine.

What speed are you writing the discs at? For some reason using a slower write speed greatly improves compatibility with CD players. I assume your iMac writes CDs faster than your previous burner did.

Sman55 · Apr 4, 2003, 10:23 AM

The full speed - whatever that is. I'll try it slower and see what happens......

Dennis

bradoesch · Apr 4, 2003, 10:29 AM

Originally posted by Sman55:
The full speed - whatever that is. I'll try it slower and see what happens......

Dennis

I wasn't really specific. Try 4x and see how that goes. If that still doesn't work, try 2x.

Paul UK · Apr 4, 2003, 02:14 PM

You should always burn cd's at low speeds, no more than 4x, in my experience high speed will always work on a computer but either wont work / or makes loud screeching noises on a standard cd player (mostly).

Anomalous · Apr 4, 2003, 03:31 PM

Originally posted by dampeoples:
hehe, I think it' s30 posts. My member forced me to visit the lounge and chat until it was upgraded.

I thought it was 50 posts. Isn't it -

0-49 Junior Member
50-99 Member
100-249 Senior Member
250-499 Veteran Member
500-999 Elite Member
1,000-9,999 Addicted to MacNN
10,000+ Clinically Insane

?

Sman55 · Apr 7, 2003, 03:57 PM

Tried four speed and 2 speed but Aiwa cd players still wont play the disks. All other players seem fine though.

Dennis