Authoring an Audio CD ... ISO [aaarrrgghh]

rozeboosje

Guys and girls, this one is driving me DEMENTED.

I know it's easy as pie to gather a bunch of files together in a Windows Media Player "play list", and then burn them to an Audio CD from there. Couldn't be simpler.

But I do not want to burn a physical disk. I want to create an ISO file instead, so I can burn it at a later stage when I'm ready for it. Not right now.

While there are about 1000 freeware (ok, slight exaggeration) programs out there that let you make an audio compilation and burn it to an Audio CD, I cannot for the life of me find even ONE that gives you the option to, instead, save it to AN ISO OF AN AUDIO CD.

[starts chewing his SECOND leg off]

HELP ME *sob*

:mad:

Fysh

I thought that CDBurnerXP would do this, but according to this page it can't, because of a limitation in how audio CDs are encoded.

Any time I've seen audio CD dumps they've been in BIN/CUE format. Standard ISO doesn't seem to work. Probably due to the 2352 byte sectors rather than the 2048 byte sectors of a data disc.

Torqay

rozeboosje wrote: »

I cannot for the life of me find even ONE that gives you the option to, instead, save it to AN ISO OF AN AUDIO CD.

You can't create an ISO from an audio CD with multiple tracks. ISO = single track only. You can use NERO but it will save the image in its own NRG format, if you choose the Image Writer instead of your CD/DVD burner.

rozeboosje

Yup. I tried CDBurnerXP to find exactly that. You CAN, however, use it to make a combination of FLAC files into an Audio CD - something Windows Media Player can't do (natively, at least).

I found something called Phantom Drive, and another product with the name "phantom" in it, forgot what, anyhoo. Neither of them are freeware.

Torqay

If you really want to save your audio CDs as single image files then NERO is your best option. If you don't want to pay, you can use the free version NERO Lite instead. Since 2011 NERO Lite has been replaced with NERO Kwik Media which does not have an image writer. You can still download NERO Lite here (works with x86 & x64 Windows).

The NRG format is also supported by the following programs:

Alcohol 120%
CDemu
Daemon Tools
IsoBuster
MagicISO
PowerISO
Roxio Toast
UltraISO
WinCDEmu

rozeboosje

I may give that a try. But just to make sure you understand what I am trying to do: I'm *not* trying to save my audio CDs. I create a compilation of audio files, mainly FLACs, which could be burned as an Audio CD. But instead of burning it as an Audio CD, and me sitting there with the physical object in my hand, I would prefer to save such a compilation as an ISO.

Now I hear ya. CDs are cheap. I COULD just burn a CD, and then use ISO recorder to record the ISO from *that*. But why waste even one CD on this process?

So. Does Nero do that?

Fysh

rozeboosje wrote: »

I may give that a try. But just to make sure you understand what I am trying to do: I'm *not* trying to save my audio CDs. I create a compilation of audio files, mainly FLACs, which could be burned as an Audio CD. But instead of burning it as an Audio CD, and me sitting there with the physical object in my hand, I would prefer to save such a compilation as an ISO.

Now I hear ya. CDs are cheap. I COULD just burn a CD, and then use ISO recorder to record the ISO from *that*. But why waste even one CD on this process?

So. Does Nero do that?

Have you actually tried creating an ISO image of an Audio CD, then burning the ISO back to CD and checking that it will play correctly?

If the problem is the single-track nature of ISO images, you're going to at best end up with a CD that has one very long track consisting of all the songs stitched together. (I've never done this, so I could be wrong - but I'm guessing experimentation is going to be the way you answer this question).

rozeboosje

"Have you actually tried creating an ISO image of an Audio CD"

I just tried Alex Feinman's ISO Recorder and it simply said "Cannot Copy Audio CD"

Oh sweet blisterin' jeebus. Looks like you're right, Fysh.

Having said that though - even if "ISO" isn't the answer, surely there must be SOME way out there to "software" mount *something* and present it as something the OS will see as an "Audio CD". After all, in the end it's all just bits 'n bytes. If it's not an ISO, then what? Anything will do.

rozeboosje

Torqay wrote: »

If you really want to save your audio CDs as single image files then NERO is your best option. If you don't want to pay, you can use the free version NERO Lite instead. Since 2011 NERO Lite has been replaced with NERO Kwik Media which does not have an image writer. You can still download NERO Lite here (works with x86 & x64 Windows).

The NRG format is also supported by the following programs:

Alcohol 120%
CDemu
Daemon Tools
IsoBuster
MagicISO
PowerISO
Roxio Toast
UltraISO
WinCDEmu

Can you actually MOUNT the NERO "NRG" files? That might do the job, perhaps?

rozeboosje

Sorry Torqay - I just realised that that is what you meant by "The NRG format is also supported by". My bad.

rozeboosje

Sweet gawd. I just installed Nero Lite. During installation it told me it was going to install the Nero Ask Toolbar. The option was to accept the terms and conditions. The check box for that was TICKED and GREYED OUT. Clicking the "x" to close the window did nothing. I then installed it, and uninstalled the Ask Toolbar the moment it was finished. Then I started Nero, and every option I took it told me that I needed to "upgrade". I uninstalled the whole lot. I've decided I can put up with having to waste the odd CD on this. Better than having to deal with this sort of crapware. Bah humbug I say, Bah HUMbug.

Torqay

How to install Nero 10 Free version without Ask Toolbar

And you're right, creating audio CDs is not available in the free version and requires upgrade to Pro. Apparently, the Sonic/Roxio Global Image (GI) format would serve the purpose as well, but again, RecordNow! is commercial software.

rozeboosje

I think I'm going to abandon this idea as "hare brained, not worth pursuing". I thought it would be simple, but it's clear that it's anything but. Since it's not the end of the world if I can't do this, I'll get me coat ...

Torqay

rozeboosje wrote: »

I think I'm going to abandon this idea

Store your music in a lossless format (e.g. FLAC) and keep cue sheets of the discs you want to burn occasionally.

Essential tools: EAC + AutoFLAC... simply the best ripper. I also recommend Burrrn, great program to create audio CDs. All free of course.

rozeboosje

"e.g. FLAC"

snap!

Yup. That's exactly what I'm doing. I was going on a complete wild goose chase because I couldn't find any FLAC metadata editors, and the only thing I could think of was burning an Audio CD and then ripping it with Exact Audio Copy, putting the metadata in during the "rip" process. And then I found MP3Tag - they really should have given it a more intuitive name. I don't know how many times I ignored that application because it had "MP3" in the name and I needed to update metadata in FLAC files. Until I decided to read the description and realised that it handles FLAC as well as MP3. Well, that'll teach me to be a bit more observant in future XD