MP3 discs won't play on car stereo

[rkol]

I used to have no problem burning mp3 discs on iTunes and playing them in my car. Now when I burn a disc, it will play in the computer, will play on my blue ray, but won't play in either of my cars. The display just says "disc read" but never gets beyond that.

I have read about this problem in several other forums and have tried all the solutions I've seen there, but none have worked. I've tried upgrading from Verbatim discs to Memorex, and I have tried slowing the burn speed from Maximum to 16x and 8x. Nothing works.

I have made certain that MP3 disc is selected rather than data disc.

Any other ideas?

 

[Fishrrman]

Do your -older- mp3 discs (the ones that USED TO play in your car) still play in the car player?

If the answer is no -- check the car player.

If the answer is yes….

- Have you changed the -format- of the mp3 files in any way?

One way to check this is to pick an mp3 file that DOES play in the car. Open it in iTunes on the Mac, and do a "get info" on the file (command-i). Examine the characteristics of the file -- bit rate, etc.)

Compare this against a "get info" on one of the more recent files that DOES NOT play in the car. Are the specs the same?

As an experiment, take ONE song, and encode it into several DIFFERENT mp3 formats. Vary the bit rate, encoding details, etc. Then burn these files to disc, and try it in the car. Do any of them play? If so, that's the file format you want to use.

BTW, I -DO NOT- recommend Memorex media. Use Verbatim, better by far….

 

[rkol]

Problem solved

That did it. Thanks! The bit rate on the old disc was 128 and my iTunes had since been shifted to 160, probably as a default since I don't remember ever switching it. Putting it back on 128 resulted in a disc I can now play in the car. Thanks again.

 

[Fishrrman]

"The bit rate on the old disc was 128 and my iTunes had since been shifted to 160, probably as a default since I don't remember ever switching it. Putting it back on 128 resulted in a disc I can now play in the car."

OK, that worked.

But I never liked the 128k bit rate, music sounds "too compressed" to me.

I would suggest an experiment (similar to what I mentioned above):
- Select one song
- Try creating several different "versions" of the song in mp3 format
- Try 128k, 192k, and 256k formats
- It may be necessary to "tinker" with the other parameters of the mp3 file, such as "smart encoding", etc. I would suggest that "Channels" be set to "Stereo" and that "Stereo Mode" be set to "Normal".
- Create a "test disc" with various formats, trying for the highest bitrate that will play.

I'm wondering if 256k (since it's a "multiple" of 128k) would work?