ok WOW.. luk has done it with imgburn 2.4..

i have not used this software in a while and after someone here mentioned it now can write cue files and do audio track names i figured id give it a shot..

now i have never liked this interface things are imo hard to find and take many steps to get the job done. but i have to say from a 1.8mb install... yes that is correct a 1.8mb install.. this program can simply do everything now. while it takes a few more steps than nero or a lot more than ashampoo it does really all one can need. so far (knock on wood) i have yet to have a bad burn. i must say i like ashampoo overall better imgburn lets me adjust a whole new world of settings i lacked in ashampoo..

even booktype for those stubborn home players with dvd+r media.

for audio with 2.4 you simply start a build then use the build cue feature to create a cue file (simple notepad file which can be wrote by you as well if you know how) this file can be modified to do all things like space between tracks, disc names and cd titles.. you can even edit all names on the disc at one time or individually. yes it is a extra few steps to make a audio cd but not to bad imo.

the one thing i wish is i had more control over which codec it uses to convert mp3 to audio. since the program will use the default one from media player i understand (though i may be wrong but this is the info i read on the forum over there) i personally like the higher bitrate lame ones but they done seem to be able to be used with this. looks like it uses directshow ones. imo they are not as good as some strictly audio codecs.

if you have not given 2.4 a try yet you SHOULD. this is an absolutely amazing piece of software... im sending luk my donation. and this will most likely replace everything else except maybe a audio editor/burner since i like to edit the mp3's and wav's..

 

I glad you finally found the door with ImgBurn. It looks basic on the outside but if you get into it theres so much it can do. That new version is great for the music. Converting a mixture of different music files is handy. You just have to have the right codec.

 

Its great to hear you like it.

 

that is a question i do have... how do i use a different codec for mp3-cd audio. i prefer the lame ones rather than the directshow ones.. is there a way i can switch them or tell it to use something different.. other than that LOVE IT.. the older versions were not as good imo

 

The way ImgBurn works is it uses directshow libraries. You can get directshow codec for lame. some useful others on that page also. http://www.rarewares.org/mp3-lame-dshow-acm.php

This is handy for controlling which codecs are used.
http://www.videohelp.com/tools/RadLight_Filter_Manager

If you want to get deeper into it look at a tool called Graphedit.
http://msmvps.com/blogs/chrisl/archive/2004/11/13/18992.aspx

 

interesting... do you know what the default is for directshow audio?? i do have k-lite mega codec installed...def think ill have to keep a one click solution for the wife she'll never figure imgburn out...

what engine does this use??

makes you realize what bloat is when this is only 1.8mb lol

 

The default audio are Microsoft such as Fraunhofer http://support.microsoft.com/kb/899113

If you installed K-Lite then that has so many, something i rather not do as it puts on so many i don't need, can slow down pc and get conflicts. The K-Lite codec pack is better these days and is an answer to alot. The problem is when you start installing other codecs over the top of K-Lite. I don't know how ImgBurn works i doubt it has its on audio codec built in and will just select the default one in windows at that time which will probably be ffdshow library or mad as you installed K-Lite. You can change this under ffdshow audio decoder in K-Lite. If you install lame you can change it to lame under mp3 there.

 

well vista lacks so many codec's its hard to play anything ... anything else besides k-lite you recc using?? i can uninstall it and go with something else. but i could not play a LOT of stuff prior to loading k-lite?

 

you installed the K-Lite if you can play everything then fine. i guess you play alot type of media then. i suggest you keep it on as anything else installed even after uninstalling is not ideal except on a clean pc. i use this http://www.cccp-project.net/ or i install manually. i dont ever use quicktime or realplayer. forget - that's not the issue, you want to use lame with imgburn right. it could be imgburn can't use lame. have you tried asking on the imgburn forum?

 

i did post there but have yet to get a response..i may try that codec pack looks nice i should be able to uninstall k-lite and use that correct?? reason i like lame is it has always to me sounded best and its compatable with some of my editing software

 

hmmmm well one issue.. imgburn works great with my lite-on 20a3, and my pioneer 215, but so far def does not seem to play nice with my sammy 203b??

 

Best to leave K-Lite on and Lame comes with K-Lite. Try that codec pack another time. Uninstalling codecs dont always get removed 100% so dont chance it. yes lame is the best. that MAD is still fine though. certain softwares have easy options in them to just select the encoder you want. talking of K-Lite i noticed it comes with Graphedit. try updating the firmware on the cd-roms as they might be updates or try another brand of disk. you can have many directshow filters but trying to get one to use a certain software is another matter.

 

okay problem with sammy fixed works perfect with sammy 203b now.. had to change settings for the drive in vista.... i have 4 odd's and this was the only one i had issues with.. imo everyone praises this drive i personally think the lite-on and pioneer make better discs than the sammy does.. and i have 2 of them (203b and 203n).. they both give me so-so results where even the lite-on gives me great discs all the time..

still need to figure out how to switch to lame though.. hmmmmm

let me simply say again 2.4.1 is awesome. i love this thing ESPECIALLY for the laptops since its so small and fast. i am now using this and ashampoo on my desktop and i think that combo rocks. i also installed burrrn but im having issues with it burning coasters..not sure why after they are burned and it says they are it appears they are blank but i can not wright to them again? odd...

 

well i do have to say the audio cd's created with this do not sound nearly as good for some reason as nero/ashampoo/cd-da did. personally cd-da produced some of the best sounding cd-r's i have had yet.. the audio discs made with imgburn sound wierd imo.. sorta muffled with no excitement to them. i know this is prob the codec its using but until i can figure out how to use somehting better like lame ill be having to use 2 separate programs i geuss.. to bad because everything including text is sooooo easy with this new version..

 

If you're decoding MP3s (from MP3 to WAV), the codec makes little (if any) difference.

 

well im not sure why then most people told me to use a different codec..

.. i can honestly say cd audio sounds better burned with ashampoo (and others) then imgburn.. any thoughts??

 

To encode, not to decode.

ABX results? Unless you've had a bad burn, the pits (0s and 1s) are created equally if you're using the same media and burner.

 

same burner same media.. same player same tracks on the same pc?? the imgburned one almost sounds like there is a piece of material or something over the speakers hard to describe but muffled kinda

is there any kind of normalization feature involved maybe.. i know the one in ashampoo sucks i always turn it off?? not sure yet if imgburn has anything like this

 

Whoever invented the need for so many codecs should be proud of themselves, because if nothing else, it sure makes it complicated for many users. It's almost as bad (at least for me) as chasing down drivers for various hardware componants on 98/Me.

Anyone have a clue why the concensus was ever agreed on to fashion so many different aspects for user use of simple video and/or audio formats?

Just like Windows uses tons of file extensions for different many file activities, hmmm, i guess i just answered my own question.

More OT: I'm gonna give this a try but i am a long time user of Nero mostly, but if something proves itself better i'm not beyond going with the flow either. LoL

 

Yup, installing codecs can be painful.

Different needs of bandwidth and space requirements (web transmission, storage, archival, only voice), different technologies, different vendors (commercial interests), proprietary stuff, etc.

zfactor,
Do a test. Don't do the decoding on the fly. Decode the MP3s to WAVs manualy first with different codecs and burn them using cue sheets (to avoid timing problems and have the same disk layout) and without normalization or replaygain.
You should have 4 disks:
- Disk 1: WAVs decoded by codec xx and burned by app aa.
- Disk 2: WAVs decoded by codec xx and burned by app bb.
- Disk 3: WAVs decoded by codec yy and burned by app aa.
- Disk 4: WAVs decoded by codec yy and burned by app bb.
Now, test the disks.

 

i dont see settings for normalization or anything like that in imgburn though..are they there?

 

None AFAIK.

 

luk has given me a link to a small program to allow me to change the directshow codec over to lame for mp3.. i have yet to try it though. also since correcting the dma for the sammy 203b i have yet to have a single coaster from imgburn and i have not burned nearly 50+ discs.. if i can figure out this audio issues i will have to say this is the single best program i have installed in a LONG time.. hopefully switching to lame will help.

i am thinking it may be a issue with the codec anyway because i have some editing software installed and also sony's soundforge and im wondering if there could be a conflict between the k-lite codec pack and the other codec's..

using nero or ashampoo they have their own codec's built in and can do the conversion from within the program.. where imgburn strictly uses directshow so if there maybe is a codec conflict then it may be causing the issue. now to somehow try to uninstal k-lite fully to see... that is always fun

 

@zfactor

If it's mp3 you want to convert then using a codec won't make a difference as the mp3 has already been compressed by a codec from its original source which could be a bad one or ok but not great. So you can't make it better quality than the original mp3. If you making you own mp3's then use lame to get the best quality but if mp3 already made from another source then you don't have any control over the quality. I didn't pick up on that the first time if that is what you doing. If you unpack the mp3 to another format like wav then it still be the same quality as the mp3 just a bigger file. Personally i encode mp3's with a bitrate no less than 192.

Imgburn is primarily a cd burning program of sorts and this music recording part is new. It sounds Imgburn music conversion is suspect if the sound is not good. If you just want to use cd burning for music whats wrong with using Ashampoo?

 

because ashampoo will not let me do track names and titles. the "online" database stinks imo.

i think ive figured it out still playing with this program. ill def post when i know for sure.

but as far as mp3 goes i do both. we record our own stuff often and i use lame for the editing programs. so i wanted to be able to use to to it with imgburn..