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Topic: audio CD burning - best settings (Read 11905 times) previous topic - next topic
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audio CD burning - best settings

Sorry but I'm having a problem understanding some settings in Nero as I'm trying to burn a high quality Audio CD (lossless wav files).

What do the following mean and what's the best settings I should use:

Normalize All Audio Files - It's UNCHECKED, should I leave it unticked?
No Pause Between Tracks - UNCHECKED


CDA File Strategy is set at DISKPACE STRATEGY (default)

Cache track on hard drive before burning - CHECKED
Remove silence at the end of audio tracks - CHECKED

Determine Maximum Speed - UNCHECKED
Simulation - UNCHECKED
Write - CHECKED
Finalize Disc - CHECKED
Verify Written Data - CHECKED
SecurDisc Surface Scan - UNCHECKED
Buffer underrun protection - CHECKED
Use multiple recorders - UNCHECKED (I don't need this I guess)

and what about Disc/Session-at-once VS Disc-at-once/96 - which one should I use?

audio CD burning - best settings

Reply #1 –
It depends what you want to do?

If you want the files the same as on your disc then I wouldn't check normalize. No pause depends what the original audio is like, if the tracks run together originally then you want No Pause or you'll end up with a 2 second gap between each track. I think you need to do disc at once to use that anyway. I'm not sure you need to cache either especially if the track is on the hdd anyway. Remove silence will also snip data from the originals.

Like I say it depends what you want to do.

audio CD burning - best settings

Reply #2 –
Quote from: probedb on
It depends what you want to do?

If you want the files the same as on your disc then I wouldn't check normalize. No pause depends what the original audio is like, if the tracks run together originally then you want No Pause or you'll end up with a 2 second gap between each track. I think you need to do disc at once to use that anyway. I'm not sure you need to cache either especially if the track is on the hdd anyway. Remove silence will also snip data from the originals.

Like I say it depends what you want to do.


They are tracks from various artists basically. I want them to sound like they do now on my PC. They are lossless FLACS and I converted them to WAV so I can put them on CD to use in my car.

I want the same, perfect, untouched, original quality. So what do you recommend now that you know what I want to do?  tell me what each settings should be. Thanks.

audio CD burning - best settings

Reply #3 –
Quote from: whysoserious on
They are tracks from various artists basically. I want them to sound like they do now on my PC. They are lossless FLACS and I converted them to WAV so I can put them on CD to use in my car.

I want the same, perfect, untouched, original quality. So what do you recommend now that you know what I want to do?  tell me what each settings should be. Thanks.


So you burn those WAV files onto the CD and it will be the same as the PC. I and others do it all the time. I usually set the maximum writing speed to the minimum it will do  24X but it works fine at 48X. I use Roxio but at work I was usind a freebie called burnaware and it too, worked fine. Or are you one of the lucky one that the car can play FLAC directly? My car will play WMA lossless but not FLAC.

G²

audio CD burning - best settings

Reply #4 –
Quote from: Glenn Gundlach on
Quote from: whysoserious on
They are tracks from various artists basically. I want them to sound like they do now on my PC. They are lossless FLACS and I converted them to WAV so I can put them on CD to use in my car.

I want the same, perfect, untouched, original quality. So what do you recommend now that you know what I want to do?  tell me what each settings should be. Thanks.


So you burn those WAV files onto the CD and it will be the same as the PC. I and others do it all the time. I usually set the maximum writing speed to the minimum it will do  24X but it works fine at 48X. I use Roxio but at work I was usind a freebie called burnaware and it too, worked fine. Or are you one of the lucky one that the car can play FLAC directly? My car will play WMA lossless but not FLAC.

G²


Nero is what I have though, and I need the settings. Thanks though.

audio CD burning - best settings

Reply #5 –
I don't use Nero...

Yeah...  The things that will affect "sound" are normalizing, and silence removal/pauses/gaps.

Normalizing will adjust the volume of each track so the peaks are exactly 0dB (the "digital maximum").    The problem with that is that the peaks have very little correlation with perceived loudness, so making the peaks equal won't make the volume equal... It could make it worse!

Since your tracks are from different sources, for the gaps/silence you'll have to experiment with the various settings.  Or if you want full control, you can edit the tracks together as one big WAV file (adjusting the silence between tracks as desired), then use a  Cue Sheet to set the track markers.  (I assume Nero can use a cue sheet.)    Using a similar procedure, I've made few "mix" CDs with the tracks crossfaded. 

If you don't have an audio editor (some versions of Nero come with one) Audacity is FREE.  I'm a long-time GoldWave user ($50 USD after free trial).


Quote
They are tracks from various artists basically.
If the volumes are not well matched, you may need to adjust the volume(s) (again with an audio editor). 

Technically/mathematically, volume changes are not lossless.  But (reasonable) digital volume changes are transparent.  It's done all the time and basically considered non-lossy.  If the volumes on your CD are not matched, it will sound better if you make adjustments.

But many times, a quiet-sounding song has "maximized' 0dB peaks.  That means you can't boost the volume without clipping (distortion).  So, you generally need to adjust-down the loud songs rather than boosting the quiet songs.

It's best to adjust the volume by ear.  WaveGain can do it automatically (same algorithm as ReplayGain & MP3ain), but it may not work as well as human judgement, and you may end-up with none of the tracks normalized/maximized.

The best procedure is:
- Normalize all tracks.
- Choose the quietest-sounding (already normalized) track as your reference.
- Adjust the other tracks down (by ear) to match as needed.

Quote
and what about Disc/Session-at-once VS Disc-at-once/96 - which one should I use?
Disk at once.    (Track-at-once allows you to add to the CD later.  But, "standard" audio CD should be burned in one-shot, then finalized.)