I'm having a strange problem and was wondering if anyone has experienced the same and found a solution. In my factory head unit, I can play MP3 files from burned CDs just fine. I have made several discs, and they all work perfectly. All files are either 192 bit or 160 bit MP3 files and are Constant, not Variable. However, I'm trying to get a couple of albums to play but can't.

There are 10 albums that I ripped from original CDs to 192 bit Constant MP3 files via iTunes 7.4.3.1. Again, I've had no problems before, but now I am. When I burned these 10 albums, the same 2 albums won't play. There is nothing different about these albums at all vs. the other 8. In fact, it's the same artist. What's weird is that when I navigate to these particular albums, the Head Unit will show me the song name, but won't play and will try to navigate to the next song. Then, I'll see the title of that song, it won't play, and it'll move to the next one. It will continue to loop on that album constantly until I change albums. Again, it's always the same 2 albums.

I've made probably 10 MP3 CDs before I've encountered this problem, and haven't had a problem at all with those, it's just this particular one. I've always used iTunes to rip at 192 Constant, Track-at-once, and use Nero to burn at 18x speed. I've changed the speed from 8x all the way up to 32x, used MusicMatch, Nero, and iTunes to burn, and still no luck. After about 15 burned discs that I've trashed, I give up.

In the latest burn, I tried 8x speed, Disc-at-once, and still no luck. Anyone heard of this before and know how to fix?

 

the files that you have burned from the original disks are tagged with DRM (digital rights management) codes. this prevents them from being played on a burned CD. you can get software to remove the DRM

 

Ripped cd's should not have the DRM. Use a different program to rip them and try that. EAC is a great free program.

 

The DRM thing shouldn't be the case. To give a bit of background, all CDs are Warner Brothers' remastered Van Halen CDs (with DLR), so if 1 works, they should all work. 4 of the 6 discs work perfectly, and they all came from the same box set. Strange, eh?

 

Yeah, strange. Again, rip them using a different program. Try that. Also, try burning just those tracks on a disc. No folders, just 10-20 tracks.

 

Buzz, thanks. I did just happen to try burning no folders, combining albums into folders, etc. with no luck...same problem. However, I'll now try to rip using MusicMatch vs. iTunes and I'll post what happens.

 

Buzz, that did it; thanks a lot. I would've never thought that it mattered what software is used to simply rip CDs to MP3s. And since the 10 CDs came from the same box set, I was stumped as to why only 2 wouldn't play in my truck. However, I simply deleted those 2 albums, ripped them with Musicmatch, and those 2 worked fine. Still strange, when you consider I used iTunes to rip the other 8 from the same box set. I was planning to take it back to Ford for a swap out, now I'm glad I'm not doing that.

Has anyone else heard of such a thing, where some MP3s won't play depending on the software that rips them? Is there something funny in a tag that freaks iTunes out? Just curious. I probably will just use Musicmatch to burn my discs to play in my truck going forward.

 

I would blame it on the HU not being great at decoding mp3s. Probrably a low end chip with an old codec. Hopefully they will get better. I have the problem every once in a while I will play a mp3 and it will have a static burst sound in the begining. Only happens on some tracks. I am sure I could narrow it down to the HU not liking a certain bit rate, etc as when I recode the mp3 up or down, the chirp goes away.