AIFF to Audio CD Burn in Lion...not working

"I put together a 14 song CD compilation (624.7 MB) all songs in .AIFF format (as they came on the purchased CD's - I am not talking torrents or AAC files.)"

I'll try to help. Lots of suggestions, no particular order!

I can't comment on any kind of "copy protection" that may exist with the files you have -- I have yet in life to encounter an aiff audio file that has copy protection built into it.

I _have_ run into some audio files -- usually mp3's, not aiffs -- that Toast cannot play (or burn) correctly. However, iTunes plays and burns such files just fine. Sometimes, if one tool isn't working for you, just try another.

If you keep having the same problem after trying several different burning tools, then perhaps it's time to consider your source material.

Just to be sure -- the aiff files you have are in 44.1khz, 16-bit format, is that correct?

You can verify this by opening iTunes, then create a new playlist and put the files to be burned into that playlist. Then, click on each file (one at a time) to select it, then hit "Command-i" to bring up the "info" dialog.

In the "Summary" tab, you should inspect the following:
Sample rate -- should be 44.100 khz
Sample size -- should be 16 bit (for an audio CD)

These are standard parameters for aiff files that can be burned to audio CD's and will play on virtually all players.

I'm kind of thinking that perhaps you have not "extracted" the files properly from the original CDs, and that the interference you're hearing is a result of that.

For example, if you create a Toast playlist, can you play the files in Toast (before you attempt to burn) without distortion?

You may need to "re-extract" the source audio files from the source CD's. What tool did you use to _originally_ extract the audio files?

A simple, usable, and _free_ tool for extracting, converting, and playing audio can be found here:
http://www.mikeash.com/software/qtamateur/

Here's something to try (try it using just one of the aiff files you have that won't "burn right"):
1. Download the QTAmateur utility.
2. Open one of the aiff files in QTA
3. Does it play correctly in QTA?
4. If so, do this
5. Choose to "export" the file. Choose "wave" as the output format
6. Give the file a new name (perhaps same as the old with ".wav" at the end), and save it wherever you like
7. You will now have a freshly-made wav file. This, too, is an uncompressed file and I believe both Toast and iTunes can burn it to CD.

Any better?

Hope something here is useful...

Some older CD players have problems with some blank CD media.

"Still not working in car stereo or older CD player at home."

Does the same CD (that won't work above) play OK on the computer?

Or, does it not play at all?

If it plays on your Mac -- but NOT on the older CD player or in the car (how old is the car?), that would indicate that perhaps both these players could be too old to play "burned" CDs (rather than "commerically-pressed" CDs, which are created in a different way).

Commerically-pressed CD's aren't "burned" -- the "pits" on them can be read with older, less precise lasers that are found on older CD players.

These same players can have problems trying to read "burned" CDs, because the dyes used on the discs require a stronger, more precise laser in order to be read properly.

Could this be it?

"Static on both car and home CD player, worse on home CD player. They both play it but poor quality. I"m hoping the change from Sony to Memorex will be the fix. I"ll pick some up tomorrow. "

No, no, no NO!

Don't buy Memorex, this is the WORST media out there!

Suggestion:
Go to newegg.com, and get either a 50-pack or a 100-pack of "Verbatim" CDR media.

I've burned hundreds of these without problems.

The fact that you're having problems on the computer's CD player (as well as your others) indicates to me that there still is a problem with your "source material".

Did you try downloading the QTAmateur app (mentioned above), and convert the files to "wave", and then try burning them that way?

http://www.amazon.com/Verbatim-80MI...?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1325003361&sr=1-23


try a 10 pack first. it would suck to have 99 left and no solution.

"Burned disk plays fine on MacBookPro w/ Lion. Static play on 2006 car stereo and old CD player (w '72 Marantz tuner/receiver & 80's Klipsch speakers - and oh yeah....it rocks the house!) .
I did not re-download in WAV. I have good AIFF files. Do you really think that would make a difference?"

Hmmm.... probably not.

If the burned CD plays correctly on the MacBook Pro (but not on the older players), that would indicate that the older players you have _might not_ be able to play "computer-burned" CDs.

Do you have any other CD players anywhere that you might try a sample CD on? Players that you know to be "newer"...?