Burning CDs for the G - MP3's and WMA's
 

I have a 2007 G35 Sedan without navigation, but with the in-dash 6 CD changer.

I just burned my first music CD for the G. It has 170 tracks in 51 folders and totals 654MB. The tracks are mostly MP3's but there are also a good number of WMA files. The folders are by artist, and the tracks are the artist's songs that I like to listen to. I can see the folders and the tracks, and I can move through them with ease. I am really happy with the way the presentation of the information is on the screen. It looks great.

The MP3's all play fine. All of the MP3 tracks are converted from CD's that I had previously purchased.

The WMA's are all from downloads that I purchased online, mostly from MusicMatch. However, I did purchase one track this last weekend from Wal-Mart music downloads. This last track has not been backed up or copied anywhere other than this CD I just burned. None of the WMA files will play in the G, not even the one I purchased this weekend.

I have paid for all of my music and have receipts to prove it. I have not pirated anything, so this should not be a factor.

Do I need to do something to these WMA files in order to get them to play in the G? Or do I need to convert them to MP3 files? If I am to convert them to MP3's, do you guys have any suggestions concerning the best way to go about that?

I am getting ready to take the G out for an extended road trip, and the music must play! :)

Thanks in advance for any help that anyone provides.

Zorak

The G won't play WMA's. You may be able to right click on the file and select "convert to MP3". If you can't, what I have done in the past with itunes is burn a CD of music you can't make MP3s of, then import that CD's music back to computer in MP3 format.

I am not having any trouble playing WMA files on the G's SOW. What bit rate was the WMA file recorded at? All of my CD's have a mixture of MP3 and WMA files. The WMA files I have, were ripped from my CD collection at 96kbps not a great quality but good enough.

Sounds like your WMA's are copy protected using DRM. The best way to fix this is to use your desktop software to burn them to audio cd's and then rip them back as WMA's. (Make sure you rip them back in another directory so you don't loose the virgin WMA's. ) You can then make WMA data disks using the WMA's you just ripped.

Its because of this hassel that I still mostly buy CD's rather then download them

Actually it will play WMA's no problem at all. ;)

I think there is a difference between the SOW and the other audio systems. As already stated, the SOW will play WMA files, but I know that the 6 disc changer in the trunk will not. It does not play WMA or MP3. I am honestly not sure if the in-dash 6 disc player will play WMAs or not. Can someone with this system in their G confirm?

According to the manual, the in-dash CD Changer will play WMA's.

It appears that the in-dash CD changer will play WMA files, as long as they are not protected with DRM. Unfortunately, most music purchased online, usually for 99 cents a song in my experience, is downloaded in a WMA format and is DRM protected. This is true even if you purchased the music, obtained receipts and have the licenses on your computer.

I guess WMA files will play if you created the files yourself, although I am having trouble imagining why I would want to do this.

Does anyone have recommendations for sites where music can be purchased legally in an MP3 format (no DRM)?

Thanks.

A 128 kbps WMA will sound a LOT better than a 128 kbps MP3. So if you buy a CD, rip it to WMA instead of MP3. Most online stores do not sell MP3's because there is no DRM; some stores are experimenting with unprotected MP3's but few of the record labels are supporting this and they are the ones who dictate whether the music can be sold unprotected or not.

I've recently read where some songs are being sold unprotected but are tagged with the name of the person it was sold to to help reduce pirating; surprisingly some people are complaining about this. http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/itunes/is...cks-267316.php

How do you switch between folders???? Do you just hit the left and right arrows or something??

I just burned 6 CDs from one folder. Can I put each album in its own folder and then just burn those folders onto one CD? That would make my life much easier than fishing through over 100 tracks to get to one song.

First, I set up my folders on my computer as follows:

1. I put everything in the "My Music directory" - c:\My Documents\My Music\

2. I set up sub-folders for each artist in the My Music folder like this:

My Music\etc....

3. Then I put all the songs I wanted to listen to for each artist in their respective folders. I named the songs their exact names in mixed case lettering, just as I wanted it to appear on the screen.

It should work fine if you want to have another level of sub-folders underneath the artists for their albums, and then dump the songs in the appropriate album folder. However, it appears to me this might make scanning through the music a little more tiresome. I am glad I did not do that.

The information that you see on the screen comes from the folder names and file names, not from any meta-data that might be built into the music file. If you set it up right, it looks good and works quite well. if you slap your folders and files together thinking that the SOW will just read the correct information from inside the files, you are in for a disappointment.

Once I got my folders set up, I burned the CD as a data CD, using all the relevant folders and files underneath the My Music folder in mass. Just dragged and dropped the folders, which included the files right onto the interface window for my CD burning software. Since I am still running Windows 2000, the process at this stage was probably a bit more convoluted for me than what it will be for most people. But it was still pretty easy.

To solve the problem that caused me to start this thread, I followed Dafinman's advice above:
Except that I ripped them back as MP3's. The quality of the music is good, and all my files are now MP3's. I tested it out in my car a little while ago. The only problem with this approach is it is rather time consuming.

Dafinman:

I followed your advice and it worked great. Stripped the DRM right off. The only departure from your procedure that I made was that I ripped thefiles back as MP3's rather than WMA's. They sound good to me.

Thanks for your help.

Zorak.

Thanks for the info Zorak!!

When you play the CD it shows the folders on the left of the screen and the track name on the right side correct?

I can switch through the tracks but how do you switch through the folders??

Converting to MP3
 

Hey,
Just a bit of a time saver. There's a program available online called fairuse4wm. Run a search for it and you'll find it. It will convert all your DRMed WMA files to MP3 in a snap. It's great. This will save you from having to burn a cd and then ripping that.

:thewave:

Thanks for the information. I encountered it on my journey. Unfortunately, you have to have at least Windows XP to use it. I have Windows 2000. I ran across a group of people who spoke highly of it on a message board I was looking at. I am waiting for the first Microsoft Vista service pack to be released, and then I am planning to buy a new laptop and upgrade to Vista.