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Windows chopping up my MP3s

  • 28-03-2004 1:39pm
    #1
    Zaphod B
    Closed Accounts Posts: 418 ✭✭


    Ello,

    I have a pretty sizeable music collection, mostly consisting of MP3s, and have had no problems playing these or recording them to CD until yesterday. Yesterday I tried to burn a compilation onto a CD using Roxio Easy CD Creator, and it displayed a total CD length of about 30 mins. This looked a bit off to me so I looked at the track details and found that about half the tracks displayed the wrong track length. There didn't seem to be any constant pattern - for example one song which was 5:35 became 2:20 and one which was 2:55 became 1:16.

    I assumed this was just a problem with Roxio until I went into the folder where the MP3s were stored and checked the file details which Windows displays when you select a file. The wrong file length as shown in Roxio also appeared here for the same tracks. I opened the files in Windows Media Player and this too displayed the wrong track length. Funnily enough if I let the track play it plays all the way through to the correct length. If on the other hand I click on the Media Player status bar to go to a part of the song it goes to a completely different part of the song to that displayed on the status bar, e.g. the bar will say it's 20 seconds in while in fact it's a minute into the song.

    I don't have this problem with Winamp at all; Winamp not only plays the whole song but also displays the correct track length. Unfortunately that doesn't help my CD-recording situation. I have no idea what started this since I've installed nothing new in the last few days.

    For those who might say I should just use the original media, fair point but you try carrying nearly 100 CDs around with you - personally I don't like carrying that much expensive material that breaks that easily - and many originals are already badly scratched; I want them at least readable.

    Finally I know it's possible to copy tracks from one CD onto another without the MP3 format being involved and I'll now be doing so despite the... annoyingness of having to run about grabbing my CDs and constantly popping them in and taking them out, correcting song details etc. So it's not the end of the world. More than anything else, this song-length thing is just plain irritating. Any ideas?

    Edit: I've googled it again and it seems I'm not alone. Apparently it's an issue with Windows Media Player, which is presumably affecting my CD-recording software too. Not that that helps me much. Would removing WM and replacing it with an older version help? Come to think of it, is it even possible to get older versions or do they insist on updating every single copy in the world like software developers seem to do every time they bring out a faulty new version?

    Erm somehow I forgot to include ANY details about my set-up. I'm still running Windows Media Player 8 (hence my confusion over how this started since I haven't updated it) and on Windows XP with the latest Service Pack.


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