# Recording music (wav. files) onto DVD discs



## dt804a (Apr 13, 2006)

Can music (wav. files) be burned onto the regular DVD-R discs one purchases in stores?

Judging by capacity specs, I understand that DVDs may contain 5 music CDCs. In the interest of saving shelf space, I'd like to copy my CD collection onto DVD's. My MAC (OSX 10.3.9) seems to only allows data, not audio, to be recorded onto DVDs, and therefore I cannot do the transfer I want on my MAC. Is this an indication that audio cannot be recorded on DVDs at all, or is it just my MAC? 

In this connection: if music (in WAV format) can be burned onto DVDs, 

(i) how do I go about doing so?
(ii) do I lose quality, relative to my CDs? 
(iii) will I be able to play the DVD disc I make on any computer or stand-alone DVD player?

Thank you.


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## Moby (Mar 19, 2002)

You won't be able to copy CD Audio to DVD in the same format, DVD audio is different to CD audio. DVD players playing DVD audio is a different kettle of fish to them playing CD audio which nearly all do. A lot of players will play mp3's from a DVD though. You are better off converting your CD collection to mp3's, then burn those to DVD as standard data, not audio. This way you will get about 50 albums/CD's to 1 DVD. You will have to check what your DVD player can play to determine whether it can play mp3's (most newer ones can) from a DVD.
You can convert your CD's to mp3 at different qualities. You would need the ears of a bat and a serious stereo system to tell the difference between a good quality, high bitrate mp3 and normal CD audio in my opinion. Or maybe I have the ears of a worm.


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## dt804a (Apr 13, 2006)

Thank you, Moby for this info. I was under the impression that MP3 was far inferior to WAV, but your reply suggests otherwise. Incidentally, I am talking solely about classical music, and I wonder whether what you say applies here too.

Joseph


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## Digidave (Jun 5, 2005)

dt804a said:


> Thank you, Moby for this info. I was under the impression that MP3 was far inferior to WAV, but your reply suggests otherwise. Incidentally, I am talking solely about classical music, and I wonder whether what you say applies here too.
> 
> Joseph


Just to clarify your statement here. MP3 format is inferior to a wave file. When you create an mp3 file, what you are doing is, taking information out of the file(compressing). This info is usually not heard by the human ear. When you use a ripping program to put the files onto your computer it will ask what bitrate you would like to use. The lower bitrates will produce a smaller file size & you'll get more songs onto a DVD, but you give up quality. The higher bitrates will produce larger file sizes & you'll get fewer songs on a DVD but the quality will be better. The trick is to get the right combination. I'm not a classical music listener but knowing what I do about it. I would suggest using a variable bitrate. Most rippers will have this option. What it does is adjust the bitrate to the music. Meaning, when the music is slow & easy like just a piano playing, the bitrate will adjust down because not as much info is needed for the quality that you want. Then when the music gets really "busy", like a full 86 piece band going full bore, the bitrate will adjust up because more info is needed for the quality that you want. I would suggest creating files at the highest quality. With most ripping programs this would create files between 192bps(Bits Per Second) & 256bps. What I use for ripping to my harddrive is Audiograbber. You can check it out here.

http://www.audiograbber.com-us.net/

If you need help setting it up, I would more than happy to help.


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## dt804a (Apr 13, 2006)

Hi, Dave,

First, thank you for your reply.

From what you and Moby wrote in response to my question, I can only surmise that there is much for me to learn. I will, therefore, take some time out to study the entire issue of audio recording on CDs and DVDs. If you know of a good online source for novices, pls let me know either by posting here or by e-mailing me at

[email protected]

Since learning the ins and outs may take time, I would also like to consult you on the best way for me to go about achieving what I am trying to do. I wonder whether I could e-mail you a series of specific questions. If so, could you pls send me your e-mail address (mine is given above).

Thank you again for your time - I truly appreciate it.

Joseph


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## blaqDeaph (Nov 22, 2005)

dt804a said:


> Thank you, Moby for this info. I was under the impression that MP3 was far inferior to WAV, but your reply suggests otherwise. Incidentally, I am talking solely about classical music, and I wonder whether what you say applies here too.
> 
> Joseph


Correct, think of it this way, the bitrate for WAVs is around 1411kbps, whereas for MP3 usually 128-256kbps. See the problem? And yes, you can hear the difference if you've got a good pair of headphones, especially with the range of sounds that classical music requires. If you want to copy your music to your DVD, you should choose to do so in a Lossless format like APE or FLAC. This will preserve the original CD quality.

Not to mention that most newer players will either play MP3s from CD/DVD, or Audio from CD, but not CDA (CD Audio Format) from DVD.

Heres basically the process (you can consult the program help files for more information, or feel free to post here or PM)

1. Download Exact Audio Copy (EAC) to rip the music from the CDs into WAV
2. use LAME or another free MP3 encoder to encode the WAVs into MP3 WITH VARIABLE BIT RATE, this provides *MUCH* better quality than normal MP3s, although they are still inferior to WAVs. The reason why you still choose MP3 is that it's probably the most widely readable audio format.
3. Use Nero or a CD Burning program to burn the MP3s AS DATA. If you want to try burning to a DVD, make sure that you burn them as DATA.
4. Stick into your player and let it play the MP3s. You can store as much as 3-4 VBR albums in 1 CD.


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## dt804a (Apr 13, 2006)

BlaqDeapth - 

I thank you for your detailed instructions.

At this point, I think that I will stay with the CDs and forget about moving them onto DVDs, even if the shelf-space considerations are becoming serious. Judging from the answers to my question, the task of transferring the CDs seems to be daunting. Nonetheless, I thank you for your time and effort on my behalf.

Joseph


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

If you want to insure that you retain all the quality of the original CD's, try one of the lossless compression schemes, APE or FLAC come to mind. This will not compress as much as MP3, but you don't lose anything in the process, the quality is the same as the CD source.


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## dt804a (Apr 13, 2006)

John,

Thanks for the tip. The problem I encounter is trying to find out which formats my CD/DVD player and computers (a MAC and a PC) will accept. The tech data do not specify, and this is a major headache. By trial and error I found out that my CD/DVD player will accept WAV files by not WMA, while my computers play both. I have not experimented with the formats that you, Mobay and others mentioned.

All in all, I think that I'll stick with CD's because the procedure is so straightforward.

Joseph


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Well, it depends on whether you are trying to pack the maximum amount of data on a single disk, or build disks to play. If you want to play them, the CD is going to be the most compatible with a wide variety of players.


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