Should an MP3 CD be finalized?

When burning MP3s to CD (to play in a car's CD/DVD player), is it necessary to finalize that CD?

 

Hi PVsurfer,

Music & DVD's usually are finalized, iTunes finalizes my CD's at the end of the burn. I would imagine, finalizing keeps other stuff off the disk, or you don't copy file *.* to that Abbey Road CD.

Take Care
Rico

 

Only CD-writers are able to read CD's that are not finalized.
I don't think that the player in your car can read anything that is not finalized.

Finalizing actually means adding the Table Of Content to the CD.

 

Hi Rico~

Of course, I understand that benefit of finalizing a CD, but I was wondering if the CD is not finalized when burning MP3s, will the the CD still play in a car CD player?

The reason for my asking is that I might only consume a small amount of CD space during a burn and would like to add more MP3 at a later time.

~pv

 

i dont think a car cd player will play an unfinalised disc
lodore

 

Thanks wilbertni - that's the answer I was hoping not to get.

 

You would be able to add another session to your CD. Just create a multi-session CD.

Also, try if your car player accepts CD-RW rewritables.

 

Thanks - here I go, learning something new again! Hmm, I wonder if Ashampoo Burning Studio 6 has provisions for that?

 

Ashampoo Burning Studio has 'Update an existing CD/DVD/Blu-ray Disc' in the Files menu.
Maybe it creates multisession CD's by default.

 

ABS' Help indicates that it has multisession capability, but I don't see how to effect it... So far my experimenting seems to indicate that it's not the default setting (as you suggested).

 

I am sorry, but that is so not true. Regular CD (DVD) readers can also read unfinished discs. Unfinished disc contains one or more finished sessions which can be read. Session is closed automaticaly by software when the burning is finished and is unchangeable. The disc is closed manualy by user and prevents further writing to the disc. These are two different levels of closing.

Are you making an audio CD from MP3 files, or are you making a data MP3 disc? Audio discs MUST be closed (they can't be multisession discs), and cannot be recorded to rewritable CDs. Data MP3 don't require closing and they are perfectly usable when only session is closed. I don't know if a car MP3 players read rewritables, I would use regular CD for data MP3. You can easily add a new session later.

Cheers.

 

Ashampoo burning studio has a radar box on the second or the third prompt window of a burning process that alows you to close disc or leave it open. I just used it!

 

I was thinking of burning my MP3 files (on my hard drive) to an MP3 (data) CD... I really don't see any advantage to creating an Audio CD from my MP3's, do you?

But I'm still not clear on how to create a multisession MP3 (data) CD (using ABS6).

 

No, not really, in that process an MP3 is deflated back to WAV but the quality of an MP3 remains the same (128, 192, etc. and not 1440 like in normal WAV).

I am not really sure what ABS6 is. Take the blank CD, and after selecting the files for burning and clicking on next, in Ashampoo's next screen select "change options" button. There you can select whether you want a closed disc or not. You don't want, so leave the box unticked. There are other options there also. Now burn the CD, and you should be able to play it without problems. Hint: don't use the maximum speed of your drive for burning, lower it a bit as an extra precaution against possible incompatibility of your drive with the CD media you're using.

Regards.

EDIT: Sorry, it's my brains: Ashampoo Burning Studio.

 

With a blank disc you choose "Create new CD" from the main menu, and if you want to add something to the same disc later you choose "Update existing CD" and import existing session.

 

Why don't you try an unfinalized cd with your cd player. Best way to see if it works to tell you the truth, and if it doesn't work, it isn't like you wasted the cd or anything...

Alphalutra1

 

When I first Create New CD in ABS6, is there any place that I'm supposed to indicate that I want this to be a multisession CD, or does it just assume that?

 

I would if I could - but I won't have the car until next week.

 

Yes, ABS creates multisession by default. That's why I said "leave the box unticked". When you decide later, when you add more sessions to the disc,
that you want to close the disc, check the box in "options".