CD Track Data

S

silvercn

New member
Hello - This is my first post. I am needing some tutoring on the topic of what factors are needed to make CD track by track info(song title, artist, etc.) appear when it is in a player - as with commercial CDs. Is it a factor of the burner program itself (right now using Pyro Audio Creator), the CD burner and it's features, the player, or some combo thereof? At this point the ones I burn and play simply says (in WMP for example) "Unknown album /artist and lists the track numbers..that's it.
Thanks

Charles S.
 
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I'm just getting mine finished at Discmakers...and I believe they need to register it with Gracenote for that type of info to be shown.
I already received an email from Gracenote asking me to provide all the track data and artist info to them.

Not sure if there are programs that let you directly embedd that stuff into the CD data....?

For MP3 files, you can do it yourself with most decent MP3 authoring applications....I did mine using Sony Sound Forge.
 
CD Text has been in the Red Book spec for aaaaages. I don't know many specifics but you'll probably find a lot of burning software will be able to burn it, though I can't really name any recommend off the top of my head. I know Nero can burn discs with CD text. Even iTunes lets you do it, though I really wouldn't recommend on relying on it for anything serious you plan to give to other people - I just use it for doing quick playlists for myself!

I guess CD Text was rendered slightly redundant by internet CD databases like Gracenote, as miroslav mentioned, which is why many commercial discs don't bother with it, but I think its still quite a nice touch to have for all the non-networked devices (shock horror!) still left in our lives, for example my car scrolls CD text on the dash (though give it a few years and all cars will probably have 3G net connections as well :)).
 
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mattr said:
CD Text has been in the Red Book spec for aaaaages. I don't know many specifics but you'll probably find a lot of burning software will be able to burn it, though I can't really name any recommend off the top of my head. I know Nero can burn discs with CD text. Even iTunes lets you do it, though I really wouldn't recommend on relying on it for anything serious you plan to give to other people - I just use it for doing quick playlists for myself!

I guess CD Text was rendered slightly redundant by internet CD databases like Gracenote, as miroslav mentioned, which is why many commercial discs don't bother with it, but I think its still quite a nice touch to have for all the non-networked devices (shock horror!) still left in our lives, for example my car scrolls CD text on the dash (though give it a few years and all cars will probably have 3G net connections as well :)).
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I think thought it may also depend on the standalone players....I know I've seen some that don't display anything more than track numbers, while the same CD in others will show track names.
I have a couple of standalone players that don't ever show track names of any commercial CDs I've played...a JVC consumer CD player and a high-end TASCAM CDRW-2000.

Though with so many people leaning on the Internet and using computer CD players...I guess that's why the Gracenote system came into play.
 
Yea, its a combination of both (CDs being replicated without text, and players that do not support it) which results in it often being surprising when you pop in a CD and the text appears!

What I meant was, if you can add it without it having any detrimental effects (as far as I know there are no compatibility issues with players that don't support it, but please correct me if I am wrong), then you may as well have it there for the few people that do see it.
 
I always like to add it...just in case... :)

It just bugs me that my two players don't show track names (neither does the CD player in my 2008 car :o )...so I can never check it to confirm it's all there. :(

:D

But I am able to confirm the MP3 data which shows up in Windows Media Player.
I'm sure when Gracenote adds my info, then Media Player will also show info for my CDs, and not just MP3s.
 
miroslav said:
I think it may also depend on the standalone players....I know I've seen some that don't display anything more than track numbers, while the same CD in others will show track names.
I have a couple of standalone players that don't ever show track names of any commercial CDs I've played...a JVC consumer CD player and a high-end TASCAM CDRW-2000.
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For cd text, what I've heard and find to be true is that there are 2 formats utilized for writing and reading cd text. Phillips and Sony.

Most pc aps use the Sony system. Most mac aps (except toast) use Philips

Consumer cd player's will read and display one or the other, both, or neither depending on the model.
 
miroslav said:
But I am able to confirm the MP3 data which shows up in Windows Media Player.
I'm sure when Gracenote adds my info, then Media Player will also show info for my CDs, and not just MP3s.
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Media Player shows the info for CD's because of Gracenote/CDDB. To get that info, the CD has to be encoded with ISRC codes for each song on the CD. The codes are free(?? or are they charging $35 now??). You can search on www.gracenote.com for info.

ISRC codes are not related to CD-Text. CD-Text allows your track info to be viewed on car stereos, players, etc. Gracenote for internet stuff.

MP3's can be encoded with metadata, but this is neither CD-Text nor ISRC codes.
 
Right...it's two different sets of encoding to get both CD Text and MP3 file text.

Not sure the cost for Gracenote...I paid an extra $50 with my Discmakers order to get the Gracenote, SoundScan, digistation...registration.
 
CD Test Reply From Calkwalk

Hi - I am the one who began this thread to begin with. I appreciate all the feedback !!! I also wrote the same question on a Calkwalk , Pryro forum (I use Pyro Audio Creator) and I got this response Pasted below) from apparently a staffer at Calkwalk that seems to provide some answers:

Hi Charles,

Yes, the burning program must have CD Text writing capabilities. If you are burning a standard Audio CD then you won't be able to add name and artist info to CD tracks. All versions of Pyro cannot write CD-Text directly to an audio CD. If you have a CD player capable of playing MP3 Data CDs you can retain this information. Just burn a standard Data CD with only MP3 files.

This has been a popular feature request. We hope we can implement this capability when the next version comes around. Thanks for your patience.

Thanks !!
 
Chili said:
Media Player shows the info for CD's because of Gracenote/CDDB. To get that info, the CD has to be encoded with ISRC codes for each song on the CD. The codes are free(?? or are they charging $35 now??). You can search on www.gracenote.com for info.

ISRC codes are not related to CD-Text. CD-Text allows your track info to be viewed on car stereos, players, etc. Gracenote for internet stuff.

MP3's can be encoded with metadata, but this is neither CD-Text nor ISRC codes.
Click to expand...

Up until recently isrc codes were free, but now there is a one time lifetime charge of $75 (at least in the US for unlimited access to use the code)

When you sign on with a digital distribution company like cdbaby, nimbit, snowcap or tunecore, they will issue isrc codes for free (part of their service).

You do not need a isrc code to be be added to the Gracenote database.

There is no cost to be added to gracenote, but you can get a specialized membership Content Partner Program (not sure if there is a charge for this) which will guarantee and speed up the process.
http://www.gracenote.com/company_info/FAQ/FAQs/#1g

Info on isrc:
https://usisrc.org/(S(5gqljl55dfvprw45blhgraif))/faqs_reg_fee.aspx#Q45
 
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