Playing MP3s in an '07

I am trying to play some MP3 CDs in my car and I have discovered that some will play perfectly and others skip and jump, or just won't play. I am trying to figure out why. I am assuming it has to do with the encoding method for the MP3, but I really can't figure out why one plays or another won't.

 

For instance, I ripped a CD last night at 192kbps using winamp's MP3 encoder and it didn't work in the car. On that same CD I placed a folder with some more music that I ripped last month on a different system (also at 192kbps) and it played flawlessly. I haven't looked to see if VBR works or not.

 

I am just wondering if anyone has discovered any encoding methods to stay away from or would know what can and can't be played on the CD players in these cars, or maybe what is a better MP3 encoder to use.

have you tried searching? cuz i know of a sticky in the interior section.

I looked in the stickies and didn't find anything. I am going to try to figure this out. I will post what I find. I am thinking it might have something to do with using Joint stereo vs. Stereo encoding (or maybe not, we'll see)

Well Stereo encoding instead of Joint stereo seems to have cleared some of the problems up, but all the songs still have a glitch about 10 seconds in and then they play fine. and then some of the songs flat out sucked still (nothing but pops and glitches). This needs more time to work out. Has anyone else had this problem.

My guess is that it has more to do with the type of media and the speed that you're burning at. What type of CD's (brand and CD-R or CD-RW?) are you using? Have you tried burning them at a slower speed? I haven't had any problems with MP3's at all different bit rates, including VBR. I only burn my cd's so that all the music files are in separate folders on the disc. Are you only having problems playing MP3's from the main directory of the cd or from within folders as well? (I don't know if that has anything to do with it or not...just a shot in the dark)

More likely a problem with the files and burning/encoding than with the player, I have burned numerous mp3 cd's with 0 issues.

The issue I have is that some MP3s will just not play. I mean they play but it's all messed up. Popping, skipping, etc.... just plain useless. I have tried encoding different ways and sometimes a whole folder plays fine, then the next folder will be messed up. (a folder that played messed up once always plays messed up, and a folder that played fine always plays fine). Some of these MP3 CD's I used to play in my old car with a 4 year old pioneer head unit and they worked fine. So I know that they work in my other car. Why not in the legacy? I will try burning a CD with a different burner at some point... but I really don't think it's the burner. We'll see. Has anyone else had any issues?

All my stuff is ripped VBR with EAC using Lame. I haven't had any problems on CD, but I use my external MP3 player most of the time.

Did you try different types of CD-R's? I had the same problems but they cleared up when I switched media and burned a little slower. I haven't had any problems since.

I'm going to try that this weekend. Hopefully it solves the problem. I plan on driving to Austin over labor day and would like to be able to load her up with 6 MP3 CDs and not have to bring a bunch of CDs.

The issue I have is that some MP3s will just not play. I mean they play but it's all messed up. Popping, skipping, etc.... just plain useless. I have tried encoding different ways and sometimes a whole folder plays fine, then the next folder will be messed up. (a folder that played messed up once always plays messed up, and a folder that played fine always plays fine). Some of these MP3 CD's I used to play in my old car with a 4 year old pioneer head unit and they worked fine. So I know that they work in my other car. Why not in the legacy? I will try burning a CD with a different burner at some point... but I really don't think it's the burner. We'll see. Has anyone else had any issues?

 

It has to be something you're doing or the media you're using. cheap media can make a difference.

 

I use TDK or HP Lightscribe discs, and I've never had a problem. I use media player to rip my cds. Usually to 192kbps or 256kbps. Again, no problems here. Some players are going to be more fickle than others, try changing up what you're doing.

I've been using nero to burn all my cd's for the past 5 years. I've never had a problem i couldn't fix using nero.

 

I'd try using a different program to burn the cd's with.

well I burned one at 32X instead of 48x and so far all the songs have worked (even some that previously didn't work). so basically the exact same songs burned on a CD at 32x instead of 48x worked. Who knows if it actually has anything to do with the burn speed. I haven't listened to all the folders on the CD yet so we'll see if they all worked. But at least now I know it wasn't an encoding issue. And by the way I always use nero too.

well I burned one at 32X instead of 48x and so far all the songs have worked (even some that previously didn't work). so basically the exact same songs burned on a CD at 32x instead of 48x worked. Who knows if it actually has anything to do with the burn speed. I haven't listened to all the folders on the CD yet so we'll see if they all worked. But at least now I know it wasn't an encoding issue. And by the way I always use nero too.

 

 

MANY, MANY people have advised, told, emphasized, etc, that for AUDIO cds, burn speed matters (lower = more successful). Some people swear by 2x or 4x for audio cds.

 

This is, for all purposes, a DATA CD, and I haven't heard that burn speed matters for that. However, that's assuming "PC CD drive -> PC CD drive". Perhaps the CD player manufacturer cheaped out on the drive (esp. since it's a couple of years old now), and doesn't tolerate noise as well (I'm assuming that a 48x burned disc may actually be slightly different physically in terms of average pit size, or inter-track gap, or start/end of track gap, etc than a 32x or 16x burned cd).

 

I just threw some mp3s I had onto a CD and burned at 32x (I think that's all the cheap no-name media was good for) and it's been working just fine..

 

HV

Ok...I listened to the second half of the CD today and alot of the second half was messed up. It's always entire folders. Not just one or two songs. A whole folder will play glitchy. Then another folder will work just fine. And it can be a folder with random songs ripped at different times and from different places. So now I have concluded that something in the burning process causes an entire folder to play bad... Oh and the whole CD plays just fine in my Maxima... so... yeah... combination of bad CDs/Burning/CD player... I dunno... I am annoyed about this because I was all excited about getting the 6 disc mp3 cd player because I thought I could load up the car with music and go for days without having to change it all... now I just get pissed every time I burn a CD to play in the car. My 4 year old pioneer HU only ever had problems with a couple of songs ever... My new Legacy HU craps on entire folders of music on every mp3 CD I have put in yet.

I have a question regarding this - I just burned some CD's for my '08 and when pushing the "text" button, it still indicates it as a track #. Am I doing something wrong?

Ok...I listened to the second half of the CD today and alot of the second half was messed up. It's always entire folders. Not just one or two songs. A whole folder will play glitchy. Then another folder will work just fine. And it can be a folder with random songs ripped at different times and from different places. So now I have concluded that something in the burning process causes an entire folder to play bad... Oh and the whole CD plays just fine in my Maxima... so... yeah... combination of bad CDs/Burning/CD player... I dunno... I am annoyed about this because I was all excited about getting the 6 disc mp3 cd player because I thought I could load up the car with music and go for days without having to change it all... now I just get pissed every time I burn a CD to play in the car. My 4 year old pioneer HU only ever had problems with a couple of songs ever... My new Legacy HU craps on entire folders of music on every mp3 CD I have put in yet.

 

Have you tried a different brand of CD's? I have a friend whose truck is very picky about what brand of CD is used for some reason. Certain ones are fine and others either play fine or are all messed up. If that's not it, then maybe it actually is something to do with the CD player itself. Do regular (non-mp3) burned CD's play fine on it?

I have a question regarding this - I just burned some CD's for my '08 and when pushing the "text" button, it still indicates it as a track #. Am I doing something wrong?

 

If you hold the Text button down it will let you cycle through the display of Folder names and File names (once it changes, you have to let go and hold it down again to go to the next display option). After that, it will always keep displaying whichever you choose until you change it again manually.

You need to select the option to burn track titles on the burner program. Otherwise it will not burn the text info.

I'm going to try a different brand of CDs and I am going to try a different computer. We will see if I can get to the bottom of this. This weekend I will try it.

I figured I should let you all know I figure it out (for the most part). I burned 6 CDs using my other computer (same batch of blank CDs) and they all worked 100%. So either it's my burner or it's Nero. I am going to assume it's my burner because I had tried using windows CD burner as well before. So yeah... anyone wanna buy a DVD/CD burner? Give you good deal!