# Mp3 cd not working on a mp3 car cd player?



## landlord (6 Feb 2011)

I burned 2 mp3 cds on my computer the other day for our Mazda car cd player. The cds work correctly when I play the music on the computer. However they will not work when i put them in the car cd player. It automatically ejects them after 20 seconds or so and says "check cd". 
Written on the audio system itself is "mp3". Also the car manual says it accepts mp3 cds "compact disk recordable" which these are. 
Any ideas?
thanks....


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## DrMoriarty (6 Feb 2011)

When you finished burning them, did your software give you the option to "close" or "finalise" the disks? This is important if you want to play them back on devices other than a computer.

Alternatively, it may just be the brand of CD-R you're using. My car stereo doesn't like TDK disks, for some bizarre reason, although it happily plays cheaper generic CD-Rs bought in supermarkets.


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## landlord (6 Feb 2011)

yep when i finished burning it did finalise the disk and after testing it today in a friends car it did work. His car said in writing on the audio system "WMA MP3" but my car only says MP3.....would that make a difference.


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## DrMoriarty (6 Feb 2011)

It might, but in your original post you said you'd burned .mp3 files rather than .wma (see here for the main differences). Check the format on your computer by right-clicking one of the files and choosing "properties". If they're .wma files, then try burning a new disk with .mp3 files only. If they are already .mp3 files, then it sounds like the problem is with the brand of CD-R you're using ...try a different make of blank CD.


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## landlord (8 Feb 2011)

DrMoriarty said:


> It might, but in your original post you said you'd burned .mp3 files rather than .wma (see here for the main differences). Check the format on your computer by right-clicking one of the files and choosing "properties". If they're .wma files, then try burning a new disk with .mp3 files only. If they are already .mp3 files, then it sounds like the problem is with the brand of CD-R you're using ...try a different make of blank CD.


 
I used software to convert all the music to mp3 format from Wma. That didnt seem to make a difference.
I have done some research on line and in a few techy shops and everyone is telling me the same thing. The cd brand shoudnt make that much difference, but the WRITE SPEED makes all the difference. Apparently you should never make mp3 music cd using more than a 4 x write speed. So I am trying that as I write this......will report later.


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## MANTO (8 Feb 2011)

Also ensure you are burning an Audio CD and not a Data CD.

I use Roxio and never have an issue: www.roxio.com


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## DrMoriarty (8 Feb 2011)

MANTO said:


> Also ensure you are burning an Audio CD and not a Data CD.


 Eh, no — if the car stereo is .mp3-compatible it will play .mp3 files burned to a _data_ CD. As many as 100 or 150 songs will fit on a standard 700MB CD-R in this format. 

An audio CD is like a shop-bought music album — your stereo will certainly play it, as will an "ordinary" CD player, but only 80 minutes' worth of music will fit onto it.

The tip about the slower burning speed is a good one, but that still may not be your problem. I suspect a problem with the format of the .mp3 files — what software did you use to convert them from .wma? Have you tried burning those original .wma files onto a blank CD-R and playing that? Most .mp3-compatible players can also handle .wma files, even if it's not explicitly stated on the unit.

Let us know how you fare with the slower burning speed.


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## MANTO (8 Feb 2011)

DrMoriarty said:


> Eh, no — if the car stereo is .mp3-compatible it will play .mp3 files burned to a _data_ CD. As many as 100 or 150 songs will fit on a standard 700MB CD-R in this format. .


 
Thats what I thought, I used to use Windows Media Player with no problems, the last few times I tried to make an audio CD they refuse to play in the car (mp3) or CD player?

Maybe its my software? - have no problems with Roxio though. 

http://www.ehow.com/how_7444762_cd-won_t-play-data-disc.html


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## landlord (9 Feb 2011)

ok no luck with burning the disk at a slower speed ( 8x ).
Also tried pc worlds own brand or CD R disk, also the make Imation CDRW and no luck. I am using cyberlink power to go software and under burning task selecting music disk, then under disk type selecting CD and under content type selecting WMA disk, then burning at the slowest speed 8 x .

Just for information I tried one of my very old (burned about 5 years ago on an old computer) Verbatim CD R mp3 music disks and that worked. i cant remember what software is used to burn disks on my old computer.
At least its not the audio system playing up.

Would this suggest its the software thats the problem or the brand of disk?

thanks for the help.


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## DrMoriarty (9 Feb 2011)

landlord said:


> At least its not the audio system playing up.


No, but it sounds like it's a bit more finickity than your friend's.  
Avoid using CD*RW* discs, though, they're not designed for this but are intended for erasing and *R*e*W*riting data. Most stereo systems won't read from them.

No harm in trying a different software. I've used CDburnerXP which, despite its name, works with Windows 2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista/2008/Win7. There are others listed here.


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## SparkRite (9 Feb 2011)

landlord said:


> I am using cyberlink power to go software and under burning task selecting music disk, then under disk type selecting CD and under content type selecting WMA disk,



Well there is one error ie:type WMA.

Just burn it as a *standard data* disk, make sure all files are indeed MP3 and also have  ".mp3" as the suffix.

Try with the standard 650Meg CDR  and not extended 700Meg CDRs just to rule out any hardware problem with the player not liking the extended CDs.

This should work for you.


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## Latrade (10 Feb 2011)

landlord said:


> I burned 2 mp3 cds on my computer the other day for our Mazda car cd player. The cds work correctly when I play the music on the computer. However they will not work when i put them in the car cd player. *It automatically ejects them after 20 seconds or so and says "check cd". *
> Written on the audio system itself is "mp3". Also the car manual says it accepts mp3 cds "compact disk recordable" which these are.
> Any ideas?
> thanks....


 
I know this is coming back to the obvious, but that to me sounds like the cdplay actually doesn't read data cds.

What model and spec is the car and stereo? I think there's been this problem with Mazda in that the facades and manual for the stereo talk about MP3 cds, but there's small print indicating it's only on certain models.

If it isn't that, then along with other suggestions is that some car stereos don't like too many folders or groups. Ideally just one long play list or if you're putting albums on, the albums in individual folders. Too much deeper and too many folders in folders and it can be difficult to read.


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## landlord (15 Feb 2011)

SparkRite said:


> Well there is one error ie:type WMA.
> 
> Just burn it as a *standard data* disk, make sure all files are indeed MP3 and also have ".mp3" as the suffix.
> 
> ...


 

This suggestion worked !!!!!
I burned a STANDARD DATA  disk instead of a music disc on a cd rw disk.
Also the songs that were in wma and not mp3 did not work.
Can anyone suggest some "free" software for converting wma to mp3.
I googled it and downloaded and converted AVS audio converter 6 and despite it saying it was free, after it converted the songs, every song started with the words "this is an evaluation edition"...???


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## SparkRite (15 Feb 2011)

landlord said:


> This suggestion worked !!!!!
> I burned a STANDARD DATA  disk instead of a music disc on a cd rw disk.
> Also the songs that were in wma and not mp3 did not work.
> Can anyone suggest some "free" software for converting wma to mp3.
> I googled it and downloaded and converted AVS audio converter 6 and despite it saying it was free, after it converted the songs, every song started with the words "this is an evaluation edition"...???



Here is one that is also a CD ripper, claims to be "Freeware"

[broken link removed]


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