Copying a large MP3 audio file to 2nd CD-R once 1st CD-R is at capacity

[keypoints1]

I receive lengthy MP3 audio files, such as recorded teleseminars, that are longer than the capacity of a single CD-R (sometimes up to 2 hours or longer). They come to me as attachments to e-mails, from file transfer sites, etc. I want to put them onto CD-Rs so that I can listen to them in my car's CD player. When I try to copy such a file to a CD-R, my CD burner tells me that the file exceeds the capacity of the CD-R. Isn't there some way to copy as much of the audio file as a single CD-R will hold and then continue from the point where the first CD-R ended and pick it up from there to be copied onto a 2nd CD-R? BTW, when the file is short enough to be copied onto a single CD-R, it shows up on my car's CD player as Track 1 for the entire period of playback. I'm assuming the same thing would apply to the lenghty files.

Thank you.

[Moontrash]

the simplest thing to do is re-encode the file to a lower bitrate...i listen to a lot of Old Time Radio shows with mp3...most episodes are 30 minutes but i down convert them to 32kbps and there only like 6 to 10mb's per episode..at that rate i could fit hours and hours of these shows on 1 cdr

use an app called mediacoder

[jman98]

Moontrash - You're assuming he's burning data discs but he's actually converting the MP3 files to audio CD format and that's why he's got the problem.

keypoints1 - You have to manually do what you propose. There's no software that can do it automatically for you. To be blunt, you've posted yet another example of what I like to call "Nobody in the world but me wants to do this, so why doesn't software exist that can do it for me?" kind of problems we get at times. Yes, NOBODY but you wants to do that. Sorry, but it's true. I already know you're going to argue that surely other people besides you want to do this too. Where are those people? Why doesn't software exist to do it if there are so many of those other people?

Use an audio editor like Audacity (it's free) and split the file at about the 80 minute mark or some seconds under. Burn the 1st part to a CD. Burn the 2nd part to another CD. Or get a CD player for your car that can play MP3 files and just burn the MP3 files to CD-R as data discs, not audio CDs.

[yoda313]

There's possibly a much simpler solution depending on two factors:

Do you have an input jack on your car radio?

Do you have an mp3 player?

If the answer is yes to both simply copy the original file intact to your mp3 player and buy an inexpensive headphone patch cable that will connect the headphone out from the mp3 player to the headphone input jack on the car radio player.

If you don't have an input jack on your car radio you can get an fm transmitter to do it wirelessly - though my limited experience in that is it can be staticky depending on the quality of the model and any interference you might get.

If you don't have an mp3 player you can get one for very little at any drug store chain. Even a lowly 2gb model would suffice.

Chances are you might even have a portable cd player that runs on batteries that can play data mp3 discs. If you do you can burn the original mp3 file as is and hook that up to your car cd player (again either via a cable to the input jack or via fm transmitter).

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the other options will work as well. But these choices keep the original file intact and fully playable.

[Bjs]

Use audacity and split the mp3 in half ... convert and burn first part to the first cd and then convert and burn the second half to the second cd ... its for compatibility with older car cd players.

There are other choices

One is an fm transmitter ... connects to portable mp3 playback device and you simply tune the vehicles radio in on the frequency

[CobraPilot]

I echo those who recommend an in-car FM transmitter. I've used one for several years without noticing any static mentioned by others. Mine has a slot for a USB thumb drive and a jack for input from other devices.

I did a quick search on "car fm transmitter mp3" and found this one that attracted my attention, because it has an LCD screen that purports to show the file being played. My older model doesn't have that feature and it makes it hard to determine where you are in, say, an audio book. I once listened to a multi-hour audiobook, got to the end, and the player magically "found" an out-of-order chapter! I also liked the SD card slot option.

http://www.amazon.com/Player-Wireless-Radio-Transmitter-Lighter/dp/B0009GZH5S

There seem to be a kajillion models out there at very low prices.

I suspect you could also use one of these at home with a voltage adapter (120v to 12v) that included a car plug. That would give you maximum flexibility.

[Moontrash]

agreed jman98...i'm guessin his cd player prolly doesnt play mp3 cd's...the easiest route is whats mentioned below..an fm transmitter...i have this model...

Soundfly and it works just fine...loads of OTR shows on it....can recognize up to 2000 mp3's on it

[byteguy]

Or, chop the MP3 up into smaller bits using MP3DirecCut

http://www.mpesch3.de

Then use those to burn a couple of CDs. You can chop it based on time or pauses.

[SLK001]

The OP needs to clarify what format he is using. Is it .MP3 or is it .WAV? If it is .wav, then your options are limited. A .wav file is 44.1ksps, so you can only get 80 minutes of CD audio on a 700MB blank. Divide you audio accordingly.

If your vehicle CD player will play .MP3s (and most newer vehicles can), then you can get actually hours and hours of audio on a 700MB blank - depending on your encoding rate.

Clarify your choices and maybe you can get the help you need.

[keypoints1]

It is MP3 files, not wav files. My car will play these files when I download them to a CD-R in an audio format, but not if I download them as data files. My car is a 2000 Chevy Impala. My wife's car, a 2008 Nissan Quest, will play MP3 files downloaded to a CD-R as data files. Now perhaps someone can tell me how to convince my wife that I need to always use her car because of this. LOL

On a different note, here is a related problem. When I downloaded 2 of the MP3 files to my computer's hard drive, they showed up as being less than 30 minutes long. So, when I copied them to CD-Rs, that was how long the playback went and then it stopped. However, when I play them from my hard drive using Windows Media Player, they also show up as these short time frames, but when the marker along the bottom reaches the extreme right and it shows say 28:00, the recording keeps on playing and the marker along the bottom jumps back to a spot close to the beginning on the extreme left and the length of the recording shows almost 60 minutes in one case and on the other recording it shows almost 1 hour and 55 minutes. What could be causing this situation?

I deeply appreciate all the responses I've been receiving. Y'all are great!

[SLK001]

It is MP3 files, not wav files. My car will play these files when I download them to a CD-R in an audio format, but not if I download them as data files.

Non sequitor answer. An .MP3 file is a data file, not an audio file. Are you saying that your car will play only CD AUDIO tracks? I had a 2000 vehicle that only played CD AUDIO in its player, so I'm assuming that that is what you are saying.

If CD AUDIO is all that you can play, then you can "stretch" the audio (negatively) to fit more on the CD-R.

Here are two CD AUDIO complient files that demonstrate what I am talking about. T1.wav is the original. T2.wav is the original sped up by 50%. If your only listening option is CD AUDIO, then this is your only option to put more on the CD-R.