Hey everybody. Recently I burned some mp3s to CD as a data disc. They play at normal speed in my PC, but in more than one DVD player I have, they play too fast, a bit like after inhaling helium or like Alvin and The Chipmunks.

I've researched this problem far and wide, but haven't found a working solution. My guess is that it's something in the burning program settings, but the settings appear to be normal in the program I use. Does anybody know about this problem and how to avoid it?

Hi stonesman87,
sounds like a settings problem indeed. Perhaps you could remove the program and then reinstall it. Might work. Does the problem exist with other cd burning programs as well?

Matti

Yo Matti,

Yeah, I've looked at the settings (it's a mainstream burning program), but there are no clues as to what causes it in there either. The settings are too straightforward to appear to contain any buried problems.

Burning mp3s as a data disc is really efficient because you can of course fit far more on a disc than as an audio CD. I'll try uninstalling and reinstalling some time soon when I have a moment.

And, hmmm ... a long shot - I wonder if some brands of CDs might give different results. Will keep thinking about it, starting with logic - there must be a simple explanation somewhere, particularly when the manual for the player sets out that you can play mp3s on it, which brings me to that part of the story - yeah, I've already asked the manufacturer - they couldn't pinpoint the source of the problem either.

I've seen mentions of this problems in some forums on the www, but no working solutions mentioned.

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stonesman87
Recently I burned some mp3s to CD as a data disc.

Burn it as an audio disc not a data disc.

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stonesman87
Hey everybody. Recently I burned some mp3s to CD as a data disc. They play at normal speed in my PC, but in more than one DVD player I have, they play too fast, a bit like after inhaling helium or like Alvin and The Chipmunks.

I've researched this problem far and wide, but haven't found a working solution. My guess is that it's something in the burning program settings, but the settings appear to be normal in the program I use. Does anybody know about this problem and how to avoid it?

I can be wrong, but maybe there is a problem with the sample rate of your MP3's ?
Are your MP3's at the sample rate 44,1 ?

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blakeeik

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stonesman87
Recently I burned some mp3s to CD as a data disc.

Burn it as an audio disc not a data disc.

I second that, this is a very likely reason for the problem. I should have read your question more carefully .

Matti

Well, I've done some exhaustive testing of different settings, and every one plays Alvin speed instead of proper speed.

Burning as an audio disc isn't an option. You can only fit 80 minutes onto an audio CD, whereas a data CD will fit much longer in mp3 format. If only the mp3s would play at normal speed in the CD/DVD player .....

I stopped burning MP3's to disc awhile ago...since what I mainly listen to nowadays are old jazz & blues tracks I put them on flash drives, hit shuffle and away I go...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-04-24 08:02 by rovalle.

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LiveAtHidepark

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stonesman87
Hey everybody. Recently I burned some mp3s to CD as a data disc. They play at normal speed in my PC, but in more than one DVD player I have, they play too fast, a bit like after inhaling helium or like Alvin and The Chipmunks.

I've researched this problem far and wide, but haven't found a working solution. My guess is that it's something in the burning program settings, but the settings appear to be normal in the program I use. Does anybody know about this problem and how to avoid it?

I can be wrong, but maybe there is a problem with the sample rate of your MP3's ?
Are your MP3's at the sample rate 44,1 ?

Yes, in simple terms, they're all 44.1. On my PC, they play fine off the disc. Off the disc in more than one CD/DVD player I have, it's Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Are you using a particular set of MP3s or does it still occur with any MP3s?

Variable bit-rate MP3s can cause problems sometimes, software often reports the wrong duration for example. Not all software writes valid MP3 headers, which can cause problems. But most software MP3 players work around these problems quite effectively, older CD/DVD players might not be quite so smart.

I would try to convert some files into constant bit rate (CBR) MP3s at 320 kbps with a good encoder, like Trader's Little Helper which uses LAME, and see what those files play like.

And really, if your players won't play them properly, then they won't play anything properly.

I would use Imgburn (a free program) to burn your mp3 files and see if that works.

set the cd player to 33rpm instead of 45rpm, that should fix the problem.

Hey everybody, thanks for the suggestions. It turns out that a little word in the mention from JimmyShelter did the trick - the word "convert". All the tracks I'm working with in this small project are already 320 kbps, but I "re-converted" them. The file sizes are all slightly smaller, whatever the significance of that is, but they all play normally, not a sign of Alvin to be heard.

So Jimmy, thanks pal



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2019-04-28 02:29 by stonesman87.

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stonesman87
Well, I've done some exhaustive testing of different settings, and every one plays Alvin speed instead of proper speed.

Burning as an audio disc isn't an option. You can only fit 80 minutes onto an audio CD, whereas a data CD will fit much longer in mp3 format. If only the mp3s would play at normal speed in the CD/DVD player .....

If fitting as many songs as possible is the priority,an external hard drive or a USB flash drive is the way to go.

The only requirement is a disc player that can also play files off of an external hard drive or a USB flash drive.

CD's of mp3's are basically obsolete for playback .... unless you are putting the files on an "archival grade disc" for back-up purposes.

These external hard drives are available with such large capacities that the benefit of smaller file sizes with mp3's is essentially negated. Lossless files become a better option with more storage room.

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Winning Ugly VXII

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stonesman87
Well, I've done some exhaustive testing of different settings, and every one plays Alvin speed instead of proper speed.

Burning as an audio disc isn't an option. You can only fit 80 minutes onto an audio CD, whereas a data CD will fit much longer in mp3 format. If only the mp3s would play at normal speed in the CD/DVD player .....

If fitting as many songs as possible is the priority,an external hard drive or a USB flash drive is the way to go.

The only requirement is a disc player that can also play files off of an external hard drive or a USB flash drive.

CD's of mp3's are basically obsolete for playback .... unless you are putting the files on an "archival grade disc" for back-up purposes.

These external hard drives are available with such large capacities that the benefit of smaller file sizes with mp3's is essentially negated. Lossless files become a better option with more storage room.

Sure, I do backup these ways as well. But things like some of my combo disc/video players don't have USB slots, so occasionally I make an mp3 data CD to conveniently fit more than 80 minutes' worth onto a single disc. And besides, a disc costs way less than a USB drive used up just for a single small project like the one I did.

Eventually, I found the answer I needed by re-encoding all the tracks. The originals must have contained elements that caused the effect, whereas the re-encoded ones I guess were made less complicated and play fine. Thanks again to JimmyShelter for getting me on the right track (pun intended).

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stonesman87
Hey everybody, thanks for the suggestions. It turns out that a little word in the mention from JimmyShelter did the trick - the word "convert". All the tracks I'm working with in this small project are already 320 kbps, but I "re-converted" them. The file sizes are all slightly smaller, whatever the significance of that is, but they all play normally, not a sign of Alvin to be heard.

So Jimmy, thanks pal

You're welcome mate

ID Tags can cause problems, they can be placed at the beginning or end of the file, can be quite big if images are included and can cause all sorts of hassle. Maybe that's why your converted files are smaller as well.

Anyway, glad you got it sorted

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JimmyShelter

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stonesman87
Hey everybody, thanks for the suggestions. It turns out that a little word in the mention from JimmyShelter did the trick - the word "convert". All the tracks I'm working with in this small project are already 320 kbps, but I "re-converted" them. The file sizes are all slightly smaller, whatever the significance of that is, but they all play normally, not a sign of Alvin to be heard.

So Jimmy, thanks pal

You're welcome mate

ID Tags can cause problems, they can be placed at the beginning or end of the file, can be quite big if images are included and can cause all sorts of hassle. Maybe that's why your converted files are smaller as well.

Anyway, glad you got it sorted

You could very well be right. The tags might have been the cause of more than just "Alvin". They might also have been the cause of a noticeable delay before audio would commence on any track, possibly while the player had to cut through all the "noise" of the tags which, as you mentioned, would in this case seem to have been at the beginning of the files. Now, no Alvin and immediate play with the converted and tag-free versions. Can now resume rockin' without this unexpected interruption.

Rock On!!

MP3s are quite difficult to deal with from a coding point of view.
Flac files have a 'header' set right at the beginning of the file (or at least it should be, not truly a valid flac if it isn't, but you do find them) which contains info about the whole file, bitrate, sample rate, etc.
MP3s, though, are made up of hundreds, even thousands, of 'frames'. Each frame has its own header, and they can be completely different to each other - that is how you get variable bitrates. The only real way to find each header is to search through the file until you find one, so if there is a big lump of 'tag' at the beginning it can be a while before you find the first header, even worse, you might find 'false' headers - a section of the tag/image that appears to be a header but isn't. Hence the problems. The older ID3v1 tags were very small and simple and belonged at the end of the file, if you need tags and ID3v1 will do the job then they are probably preferable to ID3v2 tags.

Noted with great interest .... normal transmission now resumed ..... bzzzzz ..... pffft .....