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Topic: AARGHH! Why can't I burn a CD without gaps?!? (Read 16811 times) previous topic - next topic
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AARGHH! Why can't I burn a CD without gaps?!?

I know this must be a very basic question, but this is my first time trying to burn on this computer, and I've spent too long today just trying to figure out how to burn a concert onto CD without gaps and without it taking forever (can't find any recent tutorials - please link me if there are any).

I have a Dell laptop with Windows XP and just want to burn this show onto a CD without gaps (and have it set for future burns). Is there any instructions on how to do this, or comparisons among the different methods? I've tried numerous programs:

Windows Media Player - Was able to burn it, but there are those 2 second gaps between tracks. A while ago when I was home for the holidays setting up my parents computer to burn CDs, I downloaded a plug-in that allowed WMP 9 to burn gaplessly. At that time I think I read that there was no way to do this for XP. Is this still true?

EAC - can't get any songs to appear in the playlist to write, even the ones I ripped with EAC/LAME. Can you burn w/EAC? Is there instructions for this? (I see many references to 'images' and cue sheets but I'm new at this and don't know what these are - I can't find a tutorial like the excellent ones on ripping w/EAC.)

Music Match - I got the show to appear in the playlist to burn but the CD ended up being all blank tracks around 3 seconds long. What am I doing wrong?

Burrrn - It was taking forever for it to get through the tracks (like at least 15 minutes a track) - I left and came back and there was an error message indicating that the write was unsuccessful. What am I doing wrong? Seems like this is the most popular free program - are there instructions for this program?

Winamp - This did burn the CD, but was slow - it indicated that it was burning at "1X" even though I selected "2X", which is the max for the free version (tried it twice to make sure I selected "2X" - it still indicated "1X" while burning).

Foobar - I guess this doesn't work without Nero (?).

I know that this is real basic stuff for this place, but although I am not any kind of computer expert I have an engineering degree and if I am having this must trouble I can't be the only one. If this is all explained somewhere please point me in the right direction.

ANY HELP GREATLY APPRECIATED.

AARGHH! Why can't I burn a CD without gaps?!?

Reply #1 –
Quote
EAC - can't get any songs to appear in the playlist to write, even the ones I ripped with EAC/LAME. Can you burn w/EAC?

Yes, you can burn with EAC if your drive is supported. By "playlist", do you mean the "CD Layout Editor" - which is accessed by "Tools > Write CD-R"?

AARGHH! Why can't I burn a CD without gaps?!?

Reply #2 –
You need to specify what it is you want to burn, its source and its format, before any meaningful recommendations can be made.

AARGHH! Why can't I burn a CD without gaps?!?

Reply #3 –
If the gaps are present, then I am pretty sure you are burning in Track-At-Once mode, but it should be Disk-At-Once - only in that mode you will get gapless CD.

Ivan.
Error 404; signature server not available.

AARGHH! Why can't I burn a CD without gaps?!?

Reply #4 –
Quote from: Never_Again on
You need to specify what it is you want to burn, its source and its format, before any meaningful recommendations can be made.


I am trying to burn a show I got through someone posting a You Send link (mp3). I would like to have the tracks indexed, without the 2 second gap that some programs put between the songs (I can live with the split-second gap that is on the CD I burned from Winamp (sounds more like low 'click' than a gap). The free Winamp is pretty slow though.

Quote
If the gaps are present, then I am pretty sure you are burning in Track-At-Once mode, but it should be Disk-At-Once - only in that mode you will get gapless CD.

Ivan.


Can I do this and keep the track indexes? Which program are you referring to?

I tried EAC again this morning and I got the songs to appear (Write CD) using the Format section (or whatever the one is to the right of Cue Sheet (not at home computer), as oppoesed to the cue sheet section); however, when I tried to burn I got an error message telling me to "load cue sheet". What do the cue sheets do? Are these the text documents that I get after burning with EAC? (they don't appear when trying to Insert Cue Sheet). I wouldn't have one of these for this show anyway since I didn't rip it.

Seems like EAC is not as optimal for burning as for ripping (am I wrong?). Any ideas on how I can get it to work with Burrrn, or MusicMatch or WMP for that matter?

thanks again for any help.

AARGHH! Why can't I burn a CD without gaps?!?

Reply #5 –
You need to post more info, we can't read your mind. File info, are you burning a cue sheet, etc. What error message do you get in Burrrn?

AARGHH! Why can't I burn a CD without gaps?!?

Reply #6 –
Quote from: Gambit on
You need to post more info, we can't read your mind. File info, are you burning a cue sheet, etc. What error message do you get in Burrrn?


I'll try again from home and post the burrrn error message (I actually meant to post originally but I lost it before I could).

Not burning from a cue sheet, as I tried to explain above. I don't know how to do that (as I mentioned above, I don't have a cue sheet for this file. If the cue sheets are the documents you end up with when you burn w/EAC, those do not appear when I try to retrieve a cue sheet to burn in EAC either).

Apologize if I'm not being clear.

AARGHH! Why can't I burn a CD without gaps?!?

Reply #7 –
This is a note on the burrrn site - are there two programs I need to download? It looks like there is only one thing on the site (Burrrn 1.14 beta2 ).

"Important Note:
- You need both versions (stable and beta) for updating with latest Burrrn build. Also, you have to overwrite the executable (Burrrn.exe) from stable version with executable from beta."

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Burrrn.htm

this is the error message I am getting in Burrrn:

Sense Code: 0x73 Qual 0x01 (power calibration area almost full) Fru 0x0
Sense flags: Blk 0 (not valid)
cmd finished after 7.541s timeout 180s
ERROR: Power calibration failed.
ERROR: Use option --force to ignore this error.
ERROR:
ERROR: Writing failed.

Also, when I try to get the songs in the playlist for 2 of 3 concerts I'm trying to burn, they don't show up (ADD > highlight tracks in folder > OPEN > nothing shows up in playlist. One of them does, for some reason).

Also, how to set to 'disc at once' on music match or WMP? 

really appreciate any help. This is really frustrating and I feel like an idiot, but I have no idea what I might be doing wrong.

AARGHH! Why can't I burn a CD without gaps?!?

Reply #8 –
I'm just guessing here:

It sounds like you have one MP3 that you would like to subdivide into a bunch of tracks.  I would decode it to wav, cut them into pieces the size of each track, and then burn in disk at once mode. 

Theres probably an easier way though.

AARGHH! Why can't I burn a CD without gaps?!?

Reply #9 –
Quote from: Mike Giacomelli on
I'm just guessing here:

It sounds like you have one MP3 that you would like to subdivide into a bunch of tracks.  I would decode it to wav, cut them into pieces the size of each track, and then burn in disk at once mode. 

Theres probably an easier way though.


they are already divided into tracks. (it worked fine w/the free winamp but it took a long time. also worked fine in WMP but it added the gaps).

AARGHH! Why can't I burn a CD without gaps?!?

Reply #10 –
download burrrn directly from its website. It looks like your CD may have been a poor quality CD-R. Also, in the settings for burrrn, make sure you select the correct drive. The last piece of advice is to try to check the SPTI box. Good luck.

AARGHH! Why can't I burn a CD without gaps?!?

Reply #11 –
I found a similar issue on CD-Freaks here: http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=144692

Which has a post showing a FAQ on the Nero website here: http://ww2.nero.com/nero6/enu/FAQs_Product...r-Messages.html

The important part of the FAQ is this (at least pertaining to your problem):

Quote
...If you receive the "Power calibration error" or "Power calibration area is (amost) full" error message, the cause will be either poor media, poor power, or a defective recorder...

I would say the cheapest option would be to test different, better quality, media. Good Luck!

AARGHH! Why can't I burn a CD without gaps?!?

Reply #12 –
well I saw this here

"Burrrn is an easy to use tool to burn audio CDs from various file formats, including wav, mp3, mpc, ogg, aac, mp4, ape, flac, ofr, wv, m3u, pls and fpl playlists and cue sheets. It offers a simple drag and drop interface, and automatically uses the proper encoder (included) to convert the files, which eliminates most codec problems and confusions. (Turn off the CD text option, unless you are using it, otherwise you will receive an error)."

So I turned off the CD Text and miracle of miracles it worked and I could burn a CD without gaps. (however, 2 of the shows, with separate MP3 tracks, still do not show up in the playlist to burrrn. they also can't be dragged into it. weird.). Would have been nice to have a warning on the brrrnm site that the default settings will give an error if you try to burn a CD that doesn't have CD text (I'm assuming that was the issue), but for the price I can't exactly complain. It's a great program.

Now to figure out the deal with the dither/noise shaping. I have a feeling I should turn it off completely to burn compete albums. More searches to do.

AARGHH! Why can't I burn a CD without gaps?!?

Reply #13 –
EAC burning is based on cue sheets. You can drag wav files into its CD Layout Editor. but you have to create a cue sheet (if only temporary) with File/Edit CUE Sheet.... See Cuesheet Heaven for info on cue sheets. Also, chances are that they may have a ready-made cue for you, or you can generate one with their freedb search.

And do try researching and putting more thought into formulating your query. If it takes you five posts to specify info as basic and essential as that the concert consists of separate tracks, it will take as many posts X posters' number to arrive at the solution.

AARGHH! Why can't I burn a CD without gaps?!?

Reply #14 –
You can use iTunes - just go into Preferences: Advanced: Burning and change "gap between songs" to none. Make sure it's set to Audio CD (it should be)

AARGHH! Why can't I burn a CD without gaps?!?

Reply #15 –
Quote from: Never_Again on
EAC burning is based on cue sheets. You can drag wav files into its CD Layout Editor. but you have to create a cue sheet (if only temporary) with File/Edit CUE Sheet.... See Cuesheet Heaven for info on cue sheets. Also, chances are that they may have a ready-made cue for you, or you can generate one with their freedb search.

And do try researching and putting more thought into formulating your query. If it takes you five posts to specify info as basic and essential as that the concert consists of separate tracks, it will take as many posts X posters' number to arrive at the solution.



thanks everyone.

re: above - thanks for that Cue Sheet link. I've been looking for a cue sheet FAQ. I don't mind doing my own reasearch at all (in fact I enjoy it), but it's frustrating when I can't find the info (and REALLY frustrating when something simple is not working and I have no idea why - like the burrrn CD Text issue.)

about the second paragraph - I was trying to give as much info as I could - it didn't occur to me that that (separate tracks) might be misundersood (is it not apparent that there are separate tracks based on my complaining that there were gaps between songs?)

anyway thanks again. I'm sure I'll have more questions.

[edit] - oh yeah - I have one already:

When the 2 second gaps are removed (or, more accurately I'm guessing, not added) when burning, does this make the burned CD exactly like the original (assuming it was ripped properly), which would mean that gaps on the original CDs are incorporated into the tracks; or does this remove any gaps that may exist in the original and therefore not exactly the same? I apologize if this is common knowledge among this board.

AARGHH! Why can't I burn a CD without gaps?!?

Reply #16 –
What happens with gaps (the negative countdown between tracks) on a CD when you rip it depends on what software you use. If you use EAC there are many different options on how to handle gaps but they are usually incorporated into the previous or the following track. If you want to make an accurate copy of a CD you will have to use a cue sheet which tells the burning software what part of a track is really a gap.

AARGHH! Why can't I burn a CD without gaps?!?

Reply #17 –
Burn gapless audio-cds is as easy as hell...

Bear a couple of things in mind:

1) You have to burn a CD always "DISC-AT-ONCE".
2) You have to make "0" pause when merging songs.
3) Some software auto-set 2 sec. pause, but then you must CHANGE that.
4) If the software can't do that, move to another that can.
5) The pause time is always for the BEGINNING of a song, not the end.
6) That is if you want 2 tracks merged, the 0 pause will be on the second track.
7) The first song on a CD will ALWAYS have a pause of 2 seconds.
8) Make sure the source is an ACCURATE rip. Burning crap MP3's will mostly like to have silence inserted in the end of songs.

AARGHH! Why can't I burn a CD without gaps?!?

Reply #18 –
Quote from: Bourne on
Burn gapless audio-cds is as easy as hell...

Bear a couple of things in mind:

1) You have to burn a CD always "DISC-AT-ONCE".
2) You have to make "0" pause when merging songs.
3) Some software auto-set 2 sec. pause, but then you must CHANGE that.
4) If the software can't do that, move to another that can.
5) The pause time is always for the BEGINNING of a song, not the end.
6) That is if you want 2 tracks merged, the 0 pause will be on the second track.
7) The first song on a CD will ALWAYS have a pause of 2 seconds.
8) Make sure the source is an ACCURATE rip. Burning crap MP3's will mostly like to have silence inserted in the end of songs.


Does 'disc-at-once' have different names for that setting in different programs? I don't see it on all burning programs.

If you turn off the 2 second gap, what does disc-at-once do beyond that?

burrrn does not insert gaps, so I am happy with that program.

thanks for the help/patience with yet another newb.

AARGHH! Why can't I burn a CD without gaps?!?

Reply #19 –
Well, I don't know, I just use Nero and tried some similars, yes, they have the setting, usually is a switch with, either Track-at-Once or Disc-at-Once drop-down menu.

If you set the pause time to 0 instead of 2, that means there won't be gaps in REAL MERGED song... but if a song is happen to fade out and be 2 second silence, yeah, then there'll be a gap but it's a gap from the waveform, not from the software that has created or omitted.

Burrrn does not insert gaps? But how if I need to insert it manually on the WAVs? I then will have to rely on an non-existent yet to be hacked cuesheet? I find burn cool, but it could be better if it did some ISO Cd's.

No problem, I have messed a lot trying to achieve this and wasted quite a few CD's.

AARGHH! Why can't I burn a CD without gaps?!?

Reply #20 –
I'm guessing since you originally posted this in the MP3-General section, you're trying to burn MP3's gaplessly, which isn't actually possible because MP3's don't compress gaplessly.

Of course, you can do a lot better than 2 seconds. That's a standard gap that has been added by your software for maximum compatibility with players.

You can disable it. In iTunes, the option is available through the preferences menu.

I use Foobar, but as you noted, Nero is required. Foobar defaults to gapless.

Of course, there will still appear to be brief silences between the tracks when you 'succeed'. That's not the fault of any burner, but rather the format you've chosen.

I too use and like MP3's, so I'm not bashing them. If you want gapless + lossy, Nero AAC can do it, and so can Vorbis.

FLAC is gapless and lossless. Lots of other formats also support the level of accuracy required for gapless rips.

Hope that helps.

AARGHH! Why can't I burn a CD without gaps?!?

Reply #21 –
my LAME HA Settings rips are indeed gapless....

AARGHH! Why can't I burn a CD without gaps?!?

Reply #22 –
LAME CAN do gapless, you just need a decoder that supports using the enc_delay and enc_padding tags in the LAME header.

AARGHH! Why can't I burn a CD without gaps?!?

Reply #23 –
You want gapless so be sure to use both software and hardware that support it.  The shareware free Burrrn is an excellent audio burning app.  AFAIK it is only burns in the  DAO (disc at once) mode so there will be no 2-second gaps inserted by this software.  On the other hand you must be sure that your DVD-R drive is DAO capable and in that mode, otherwise there will be a hardware inserted pause between tracks.  My current USB BD-R drive is DAO compatible, but my previous one was a cheap one direct from China which even though it had a Sony drive did not support DAO and at the time I did not realize it or why it was putting gaps in my discs.  SO, BE SURE YOU USE BOTH SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE IN THE DISC-AT-ONCE MODE.

AARGHH! Why can't I burn a CD without gaps?!?

Reply #24 –
Quote from: Audiofilez on
You want gapless so be sure to use both software and hardware that support it.


The almost 10 year younger version of the OP I'm sure would have appreciated this post.