Home made MP3 CDs wont play, what am I missing?

[ThreeFatTigers]

System:
X·P pro (see profile for other details)
TDK 5200B with latest firmware update
Nero 6 Ultra Edition 6.3.1.10
TDK 48X CD-R media

Playback:
Aiwa XP-V710C MP3 CD-R/RW playback (walkman type)
Kenwood KDC-MP225 MP3/WMA playback (car stereo)

I've tried creating MP3 CDs several different ways: making a simple data CD, and also selecting the "Make MP3 Disc" option. I've put the files in the root directory, not in a sub, and I've tried both renaming the file names to very simple terms: 001.mp3, 002.mp3 et cetera, and I've tried various burn speeds down to 4x.

They all play back on my PC no problem, but no response from the Kenwood, the Aiwa plays but no sound, no playback control, no tracts or files to select.

Is there a trick to this that I am missing?

[ThreeFatTigers]

OK I tried a dedicated MP3 disc burning program:
Acoustica MP3 CD Burner 3.0
Same results.

Does anyone know where I can find a tutorial on how to make an MP3 disc? I've tried searching for this but cant find anything.

[troyvcd1]

I just use nero, create a DATA disk and put all my mp3 files on the main directory and this works for me.

[Faithful Follower]

Does your Kenwood plays MP3 discs?

[junkmalle]

Try CD-RW media. Also, some players can't handle very low or very high bitrates. Try something between 128 and 192 kbps constant.

[Faithful Follower]

Again, does your Kenwood supports MP3 discs?

[ThreeFatTigers]

Playback:
Aiwa XP-V710C MP3 CD-R/RW playback (walkman type)
Kenwood KDC-MP225 MP3/WMA playback (car stereo)

Yup it plays back MP3s

Now the bit rate....hrmm, that may just be my problem.

The Acoustica program can on the fly analyze and convert bit rates as well as remove VBR, and convert to WMA. I'll have to make some more CDs and experiment with those settings. One cool thing is it automatically adds a number to the front of each title and also preserves the file order that you've set up (which I couldn't figure out how to do in Nero).

[yoda313]

Hello,
I have a audiophase portable mp3/cd player. I set all of my mp3's to 128bit and it plays just fine. My only problem is I don't use cases when I travel because of space issues and they get scratched up a lot. Just use the cd standard 128 while encoding and you shouldn't have any problems.

Also, are you using regular mp3 or mp3pro? If its mp3pro I doubt most portables will play them.

Kevin

[junkmalle]

In theory, MP3 Pro is compatible with MP3 (it encodes a regular MP3 stream and a second high frequency stream in the same file). But of course, practice and theory are often at variance!

Another possible problem occured to me: some players can only handle 44100 Hz, 16 bit MP3 files. If the files are different than that (say, 22050 Hz or 8 bit) they may not play properly.

[ThreeFatTigers]

Success!

The original MP3s I was working with were voice type and encoded at 32kps (though they sound top notch). I took some other music MP3s I had around that were encoded at 128k and used Nero with the "Make MP3 Disc" option and they played fine in the Kenwood.

After taking my 32kps files and using Acoustica software to convert them to 128k and burn to CD, nothing I had could read the CD, not even my PC which treated it like it was blank. Only non-converted files burned with this software could be read by the PC only. So nothing I've created with this Acoustica software worked in any MP3 CD player. I updated the CD recorder drivers for that software but haven't tried it again.

I ran to Best Buy and bought Magix's "MP3 Maker deluxe 2005" and used that to convert to 128kps and burn to CD. That played just fine in the Kenwood. I also mixed it up with some encoded at 56k but they sounded worse than the originals. So somehow my original MP3s were encoded in a way that was not compatible with the Kenwood, even though the Kenwood web site reports my unit is compatible with all bit rates, VBR, all sampling rates and MP3Pro.

I then took those converted files and burned them with Nero using the "Make MP3 Disc" option, and this also played fine in the Kenwood.

So the original encoding was the problem, and apparently I needed to burn using an MP3 disc creation software like the Nero option. Nothing I've tried so far will play back in the Aiwa.

Thanks a lot for the help