I have read one place that it is best to create tracks and export them one at a time. Then proceed to create a CD in DAO mode. The manual leads me to believe that that process is not necessary. It leads me to believe that a ‘label’ per split is all that is necessary.
I have a long voice recording still in .aup format. I am wanting to create tracks so that any CD player can advance through the tracks to a track of choice.
Thus, my question: What method, of the two mentioned above or any other methods that might exist, is best to achieve a quality burned CD that has selectable tracks?
I have a long voice recording still in .aup format.
How long? The maximum length of an Audio CD is about 78 minutes.
Assuming one long performance not to exceed 78 minutes.
The Readers Digest version of this:
Place a label at the beginning of each segment you wish to appear as one selectable “song”. Don’t forget the first one.
File > Export Multiple. Export as WAV format, NOT MP3. Audacity will make a pile of individual sound files whereever you told the export to put them. It doesn’t matter what you called them. Windows will insist on listing them alphabetically.
Gather up all the files and dump them into the CD burning program of your choice. That program should let you arrange the order of the files any way you wish — usually by clicking and dragging — and they will stick that way. Burn an Audio CD.
A note. There is no AUP format. You’re referring to the AUP Audacity Project instruction file. It’s a text file whose job is to tell Audacity what to do with all that stuff in the _DATA folder of the same name. That’s where the actual sound is (in special Audacity arrangement)
The AUP file and the _DATA folder MUST be in the same location or folder for the show to open. Do Not Separate Them.
DAO keeps the burning laser running without it turning off between tracks and usually turns off the standard 2 second gap between tracks.
DAO can sometimes be worth enabling even if you don’t want gapless playback between tracks because it can avoid a click between the tracks that could possibly occur.
If you want DAO and/or no gap between tracks then you need to create any inter-gap tracks you want when editing in Audacity.
I understand where both of you are coming from and appreciate correction on the .aup issue.
Audio CDs do not carry song titles.
Do you mean that a song title will not be displayed on the digital screen of a CD player? I’m not really concerned as to whether it does or does not. Just curious about you pointing it out.
If you play a standard Music CD on a computer, the computer will go on-line to look up the song titles and any other information. It will appear that the titles are on the CD. However, if you put that same CD in a car CD player or an older portable CD player, you are likely to get TRACK-1, TRACK-2, TRACK-3, etc.
There is a way to burn a special CD that does have song titles, but some burners don’t support that standard and some players won’t play it. It’s an option called “CD Text.” If you do that, the room for music decreases. That’s why the original designers left it out.
The going-on-line business can be funny. If you sing and burn your own Music CD, the computer may insist your songs were performed by a famous artist. I’m not Melissa Etheridge. Really.