MP3 renderings can't be burnt to CD?

WaveLab
#1

First off, still learning about WL7E. It’s really proving itself to be an awesome plus to my world, I love it. That said I am confused by something that just came up? I have rendered many mastered songs at this point to a Wave file and once they are burnt to a CD they play as you would expect. Awesome. Today however I took a wave file that I had rendered to MP3 from WL and tried to burn it to a CD. it couldn’t be burnt. :confused: So what am I doing wrong?

I can take my mastered tune (in a WAVE file form) and convert it to MP3 after the fact in PCM Converter so all is not hopeless, but I don’t understand why the MP3 file I made can’t be burnt to a CD. What am I missing?

Also one other question? I can move my Steinberg and Wave plugins into WL7E, sure. Can I also use the WL plugins in Cubase? Thanks for any help.

#2

Hello,
I can’t verify because have no CD right now, but this should work. In the Wave Editor, just drag the mp3 files in the dialog box and burn. If I’m wrong, sorry in advance.
Burn mp3.png

#3

It depends on what you want burned: a data CD containing the mp3s as files, or a CD-Audio according to red book standard that can be played in any CD-player. If the first, do what Markino suggested. If the latter, line the mp3s up in a montage track as separate clips and burn Audio CD from there. (They will be converted first, cause WL only works with uncompressed audio) Not sure about the limitations of LE though…

#4

Thanks you two. And I see the problem then. When I play the MP3 file in WL, it plays as a 16 bit audio file which explains Arjan’s thought - WL can create data files, but works in audio file mode.

And that is helpful to understand that if I burn a montage from MP3 files as data, things will remain in MP3 as data. Which assumes these burns will play in a standard CD player that recognizes MP3? I haven’t tried this but I am doubtful the CD will play. …Because, my my simple WMP (Windows Media Player) can burn MP3 files from other sources, yet it cannot burn the MP3 files from WL. (I chose MPEG 3 as the file type, was this the wrong choice?) The WMP has no problem playing the WL file, BTW.

For that matter, the WMP can play the PCM wave files from WL, but I cannot play the burned to CD files from WL in a typical CD player. I gather that this is because the tracks are not finalized coming from WL, that another process is needed, hence my use if the WMP.

All answers appreciated!! And what about the communal use of the WL plugins in Cubase?

#5

You have to understand the concept of CD-Audio according to the red book standard. This is a CD as bought in shops since the eighties, with the only difference that it is burnt on a CD-R or CD-RW. Practically all CD-players can play these. Then many CD-players these days can play data CDs, containing usually MP3s, but often also WMA, OGG etc.

  1. WL can burn data CDs, also with only photos on it, or .exe files or whatever. So, also MP3 - which is still data.
  2. Any audio that you work on in WL, is transformed to PCM which means all samples are accounted for - no compression there. As soon as you see a waveform it is no longer MP3 or WMA or anything. When you save as MP3 (MPEG layer III compression) it should be playable in MP3 players - I don’t know what WMP does and does not play or burn.

Then you are probably burning data CDs from WL with .wav files on them. That is not CD-Audio (see above). Finalization is always done by WL, unless you tell it to leave the disk open to create a non-red book CD, or want to add audio later. This will be asked in the burning dialog.

#6

OK, Arjan, I understand better. I really didnt understand that the WLE7 burner was an independant burner combined with a program to edit wave files. Um, I know that must sound crazy to those of you that know WL but I’m new to it.

And now having seen the error of my ways, I am able to use the burner in a more productive way. But here’s a question? Arjan, are you also saying - reading between the lines - that the WL burner will automatically know that I am burning MP3 as data? I just burnt a 1.75G Jimi Hendrix collection all in MP3 on a DVD, but would WL have burnt a 800mb CD as data if I dropped the appropriate 800mbs worth of MP3s into the folder? Seems logical of course, that since the burner is independant it would just burn MP3s as data. But I have to ask this because, in comparison, some players will burn the MP3 files as music files.

Mark, not to discount your help here, your picture was a big help, too. Thanks both of you for walking me through this.

#7

Yes, MP3 is always burnt as data, since any audio edited in WL (also if it was imported as MP3) will be treated as PCM wave. See 1 and 2 in my previous response.

#8

Thanks for this Arjan, I see the light. WL7E is an awesome investment and becoming more so with each passing day. :smiley: