Why won't a FLAC file burned to CD play?

[metalhead64]

I'm new to converting audio files have have ripped my CD's to FLAC. I'd like to burn a few FLAC files back to CD so to keep my original CD's in pristine condition. I managed to burn a CD but it wouldn't play in my CD player. I'm assuming the FLAC file isn't compatible with a CD player. What format does a FLAC file need to be converted to before burning to a CD?

Or is there something else going on?

Thanks!

[mville]

Re: Why won't a FLAC file burned to CD play?

I'm new to converting audio files have have ripped my CD's to FLAC. I'd like to burn a few FLAC files back to CD so to keep my original CD's in pristine condition. I managed to burn a CD but it wouldn't play in my CD player. I'm assuming the FLAC file isn't compatible with a CD player. What format does a FLAC file need to be converted to before burning to a CD?

Does the CD player read CD-R discs (check your CD player manual specification)?

CD-R disks are not the same as CD-DA discs (google to understand the differences).

[metalhead64]

Re: Why won't a FLAC file burned to CD play?

Thanks, let me check.

OK, I tried an older burned CD-R disc and it played in my current CD player. I grabbed a blank CD-R disc and burned a FLAC file to it. It won't play in the same player used before but will play in my computer if I select foobar2000 as the player. Seems to me the FLAC file is the problem. Any ideas?

[garym]

Re: Why won't a FLAC file burned to CD play?

Thanks, let me check.

OK, I tried an older burned CD-R disc and it played in my current CD player. I grabbed a blank CD-R disc and burned a FLAC file to it. It won't play in the same player used before but will play in my computer if I select foobar2000 as the player. Seems to me the FLAC file is the problem. Any ideas?

FLAC files are not CD audio files (PCM). Most CD players won't play FLAC or mp3, etc. unless they are designed for that. Try converting your FLAC to WAV and then burning to CD-R. Better yet, find CD burning software that creates AUDIO CDs. Then you can simply select the FLAC files (or any other codec) and tell it to burn those to CD as an audio CD. Then these will play in any CD player.

***And even better, get yourself a digital player use this instead of a CD player. That's what most people that rip their CDs are doing rather than converting back to CD-Rs.

[mville]

Re: Why won't a FLAC file burned to CD play?

OK, I tried an older burned CD-R disc and it played in my current CD player. I grabbed a blank CD-R disc and burned a FLAC file to it. It won't play in the same player used before but will play in my computer if I select foobar2000 as the player. Seems to me the FLAC file is the problem.

An optical disc player has software (firmware) that allows it to read certain file system formats AND certain file formats.

Your CD player needs to be able to read the CD-R disc format AND needs to be able read the file format, which in this case is flac. Hence, my suggestion that you check the CD player manual specification to determine which file system and file formats are supported by the player.

If the CD player DOES supports reading CD-R discs, supports playback of the flac file format and you are able to play a CD-R containing flac files on your PC using foobar2000 but not in the CD player, then I suggest you contact the CD player manufacturer for an explanation or to report a bug.

[metalhead64]

Re: Why won't a FLAC file burned to CD play?

FLAC files are not CD audio files (PCM). Most CD players won't play FLAC or mp3, etc. unless they are designed for that. Try converting your FLAC to WAV and then burning to CD-R. Better yet, find CD burning software that creates AUDIO CDs. Then you can simply select the FLAC files (or any other codec) and tell it to burn those to CD as an audio CD. Then these will play in any CD player.

***And even better, get yourself a digital player use this instead of a CD player. That's what most people that rip their CDs are doing rather than converting back to CD-Rs.

Converted to WAV and re-burned and it worked! I'm confused about WAV now. Did a brief search on it & as I understand it's lossless like FLAC. Are there any advantages to WAV verses FLAC? I thought FLAC was the way to go.....

I understand your point on just using a digital player. Most of the time I will but would like to have a few CD's to use when it's more convenient. Plus I can distribute CD copies to several vehicles and not worry if lost or broken.

[mville]

Re: Why won't a FLAC file burned to CD play?

Converted to WAV and re-burned and it worked! I'm confused about WAV now. Did a brief search on it & as I understand it's lossless like FLAC. Are there any advantages to WAV verses FLAC? I thought FLAC was the way to go.....

I understand your point on just using a digital player. Most of the time I will but would like to have a few CD's to use when it's more convenient. Plus I can distribute CD copies to several vehicles and not worry if lost or broken.

Are you burning audio CDs (CD-DA) or just simply burning wav (or flac) files to CD-R discs? There is an important difference here.

I'm guessing you are creating CD-R discs, but from what you have said, you'd be better off creating audio CDs, for player compatibility.

[metalhead64]

Re: Why won't a FLAC file burned to CD play?

The discs I had available were CD-R and yes I was burning FLAC (which didn't work for me) then WAV (which did work).

My intent was to use the burned disc in either the oem CD player in my GMC Denali or an Alpine CD player in my car. I only tested the burned disc in the GMC. I originally became interested in saving my CD's in FLAC to obtain the best quality audio from my Android phone. The quality from my phone isn't as good as CD which is OK for casual listening. Sometimes I want to really turn up one of my favorite bands which is why I wanted to burn a CD for better quality. Maybe the quality difference is the equipment I'm using or maybe I'm over thinking it.......

Anyway, thanks for the advice!

[garym]

Re: Why won't a FLAC file burned to CD play?

WAV, FLAC, ALAC, etc. are all lossless, so they are the same, sound quality wise, and one can convert from one to the other in a bit perfect way. Advantages to FLAC are better tagging standards, the digital files automatically include CRCs so the FLAC files can be easily tested for corruption, and of course they take up about 1/2 the space. But as you've discovered, many CD players can't play FLACs.

My advice. Rip CDs to lossless (FLAC). Create an mp3 mirror from the FLaC files for playing on your Android phone (maybe use LAME at -V2 or -V3). And for things you want to rip to CD for playback in ANY CD player, I'd simply use a CD burner to burn the FLAC files to an *audio* CD (on a CD-R). These *audio* CDs will play in any CD player.

[garym]

Re: Why won't a FLAC file burned to CD play?

Are you burning audio CDs (CD-DA) or just simply burning wav (or flac) files to CD-R discs? There is an important difference here.

I'm guessing you are creating CD-R discs, but from what you have said, you'd be better off creating audio CDs, for player compatibility.

clarification: The difference is not simply the use of a CD-R. One can burn data files to a CD-R (mp3, aac, FLAC, etc.) or one can burn *audio* files to a CD. The latter can be sourced from FLAC, WAV, mp3, m4a, etc. but the burner is then converting to standard CD format so that the resulting CD-R is seen as a redbook CD rather than a CD-R containing "data" files. This said, there are *some* CD players that will read data files from a CD-R (like FLAC, mp3, etc.) and play these discs in addition to regular audio CDs.

[mville]

Re: Why won't a FLAC file burned to CD play?

clarification: The difference is not simply the use of a CD-R. One can burn data files to a CD-R (mp3, aac, FLAC, etc.) or one can burn *audio* files to a CD. The latter can be sourced from FLAC, WAV, mp3, m4a, etc. but the burner is then converting to standard CD format so that the resulting CD-R is seen as a redbook CD rather than a CD-R containing "data" files. This said, there are *some* CD players that will read data files from a CD-R (like FLAC, mp3, etc.) and play these discs in addition to regular audio CDs.

Correct garym.

I was trying (my best) to point out to metalhead64 (and other users), without getting too technical, that there is an important difference between using a blank writable CD to create a Redbook audio CD (CD-DA, the standard format of Artists Music CDs we buy) OR simply burning a collection of files to a blank writable CD and the implications of the two formats.

As has been pointed out here, many older CD players and car players will only read Redbook audio CDs successfully.

[garym]

Re: Why won't a FLAC file burned to CD play?

Correct garym.

I was trying (my best) to point out to metalhead64 (and other users), without getting too technical, that there is an important difference between using a blank writable CD to create a Redbook audio CD (CD-DA, the standard format of Artists Music CDs we buy) OR simply burning a collection of files to a blank writable CD and the implications of the two formats.

As has been pointed out here, many older CD players and car players will only read Redbook audio CDs successfully.

yep, it gets confusing for the novice at this stuff. Because they could also be looking at blank CD-Rs labeled "for audio" vs labeled "for data". In reality, these are the same (just blank CD-Rs) and one can burn either DATA or create a redbook CD on these blanks. But the label could certainly confuse the uninitiated.

[metalhead64]

Re: Why won't a FLAC file burned to CD play?

Thanks for the help!

[helder]

Re: Why won't a FLAC file burned to CD play?

I'm new to converting audio files have have ripped my CD's to FLAC. I'd like to burn a few FLAC files back to CD so to keep my original CD's in pristine condition. I managed to burn a CD but it wouldn't play in my CD player. I'm assuming the FLAC file isn't compatible with a CD player. What format does a FLAC file need to be converted to before burning to a CD?

Or is there something else going on?

Thanks!

its quite easy,,,,i dont know why is such a fuzz knowing to resolve such a easy task. purchase nero burning software and thats it. every time you burn a cd, you have to burn it as audio with 16 x speed and not data. go to nero express, choose music and then audio cd,,,then drag and place your flac files in the box and when it reaches the cd capacity amount of information,,,like 80 minutes, its time to have a tick on no space between tracks, if you want to have the tracks to have a passage from one track into another,,or choose the m3u files to do that,it does place all of the album tracks in order from your original album but you still have to cut space to make the sound continous,,,just like pink floyd the wall album. you dont need to tick normalize all audio files from the same album that you are copying since they have the same recording levels,,,but if you are going to make compilations from different albums,,then you have to choose that option as well, since you want them to become dstabilized within the same audio range,,otherwise you will have different audio levels within the same compilation,,,some loud and some less louder.then click next and choose the pc dvd drive recorder and then click on the left middle arrow to open the extra window from nero and choose maximum speed has 16 x if cdr are average or crap,,,or 4x if cdr are really good quality, since it will burn at low speeds on a cd that has capacity for that rotation spin. some nero editions dont take less than 16 x speed for burning, like nero 16, also leave untick the disk section at once and bellow that tick only write and also tick the remove silence at the end of cda tracks. nero will automatically convert any files to cda and wav files...so the sound quality it will be the same from the original,,unless you are using 24 bit flac files,,,then it will convert into a smaller sound, maybe 16 bit code,,not to sure. it is worth buying the software. dont forget sometimes some older neros, the ones after nero 6 and bellow nero 16 will burn way better than the new ones,,and dont forget this: sometimes your cd player is not compatible with the actual cdrs or the problem might be in the burner lazer from the dvd drive itself that might be not compatable with some cdrs or cd players. the best i tried using is pionner bluray drive burner,,,they are the best to burn cdrs. this was my experience. so dont do it like me,,,dont complaint about the cdr or nero since the problem might not only be due to those 2 fellows but also in your cd player or the dvd drive burner.hope this one helps. i am extremelly happy with nero,,,the best 30 euros purchase i did in many years to come, since i can do my own compilations to listen at home. any person who follows this method do please send me a a quick note on how it was for you.

[garym]

Re: Why won't a FLAC file burned to CD play?

nero can burn an audio CD, other programs exist as well. The key bit of info is that copying a FLAC file to a CD-ROM will *not* turn that CD-ROM into an audio CD that plays in a regular CD player.

Curious: Why the need to play back a copy of the CD once you have the FLAC files? Do you have something connected to your home stereo that can play FLAC (and car stereo, etc.). Just curious....