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Topic: How to write CD/track names (CD-Text) to disc w/EAC? WMP shows Unknown (Read 8138 times) previous topic - next topic
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How to write CD/track names (CD-Text) to disc w/EAC? WMP shows Unknown

Just burned a CD using the instructions at Blowfish (http://blowfish.be/eac/Burn/burn.html).  CD was ripped and cue sheet created following instructions as well.  The cue sheet loaded properly, however the burned CD has no CD or track names.  When I play it, everything just shows up in WMP as "unknown."

Am I doing something wrong?  Is there a way to get all CD information on the burned CD?

How to write CD/track names (CD-Text) to disc w/EAC? WMP shows Unknown

Reply #1 –
Covered in a recent topic.

How to write CD/track names (CD-Text) to disc w/EAC? WMP shows Unknown

Reply #2 –
Thanks for the reply.  I read that discussion, and if I am reading it correctly, some but not all CDs have a table of contents that will be displayed when you play it.  If there is no TOC, the player will pull the information from the internet when you insert the CD.

If that's the case, will the TOC be copied when you do a rip in EAC, and will it then be burned along with the tracks to make an "exact copy"?

How to write CD/track names (CD-Text) to disc w/EAC? WMP shows Unknown

Reply #3 –

The thing that can provide album and track name data is CD-Text, not the Table Of Contents (TOC).

How to write CD/track names (CD-Text) to disc w/EAC? WMP shows Unknown

Reply #4 –
A matter of semantics here, but every CD, audio or data, has something called a table of contents (TOC). In the case of an audio CD it contains information on the times at which each track starts. If you make an "exact copy" then the TOC should be copied intact.

CD text, on the other hand, is interspersed with the audio data itself. Not all of the available bits in each audio frame is used for audio data, and some of the remaining bits may be used to encode information about each track as well as the disc as a whole. The whole thing is not well standardized, and most manufacturers ignore it, but you can include it in your own recorded discs if the burner supports it (I think most do), and some, but not all, players will use it. As for CD text being copied when you make an "exact sopy", I wouldn't count on it.

The bottom line is that you are much better off tapping into on-line data banks to fetch this information when you play a CD on your computer.

How to write CD/track names (CD-Text) to disc w/EAC? WMP shows Unknown

Reply #5 –
That, plus I don’t think many commercial CDs include CD-Text, and most I’ve seen used silly conventions [e.g. appending (Album Version) to the title of each track, as if it’d be anything besides] that oblige the user to re-enter half of it anyway!

How to write CD/track names (CD-Text) to disc w/EAC? WMP shows Unknown

Reply #6 –
WMP (at least WMP11 but I don't think this has been changed in 12) can't read CD-text.

There is a third party plugin WMPCDText by  http://bmproductions.fixnum.org/

TheWellTemperedComputer.com

How to write CD/track names (CD-Text) to disc w/EAC? WMP shows Unknown

Reply #7 –
Very confusing.  Some say that a CD has a table of contents. Others say they do not.  Still others say that some CDs have CDText, and other say that track information comes off the internet when you play a CD.

Let me see if I can get this straight.  When you insert a CD into a disk drive on a computer, and the media player  shows a CD name and track names, those either come from a) the CD Text, or b) from an internet search when the CD is inserted.  Is there a "c"? 

Also, a file manager such as Windows Explorer will just show "track01.cda", "track02.cda", etc.  Is this correct?

How to write CD/track names (CD-Text) to disc w/EAC? WMP shows Unknown

Reply #8 –
It's very simple. ALL CDs have a table of contents (TOC), some have CD-Text (which is something entirely different), but most do not.

When you insert a CD into your computer and it shows disc and track information, this comes from either A) CD-Text, B) the internet, or C) a local data base. Most music playing software keeps some form of C.

How to write CD/track names (CD-Text) to disc w/EAC? WMP shows Unknown

Reply #9 –
Quote from: im5049 on
Some say that a CD has a table of contents. Others say they do not.

Where has anyone said that a CD has no table of contents? Your confusion may stem from what you expect a table of contents to be, which is apparently different than what it actually is. Every audio CD has a "Table Of Contents", as required per the Compact Disc Digital Audio specifications. But the TOC contains only the start time and length of each track. That's all, nothing more. No CD name or track names.


Quote from: im5049 on
Still others say that some CDs have CDText, and other say that track information comes off the internet when you play a CD.

CD-Text is an optional feature. Optional whether it will exist on a commercial CD. Optional to be written to a self-made audio CD. And also optional regarding whether software or hardware is able to read it.

As was previously said, commercial CDs rarely have CD-Text. So most of the time the information must be accessed from an online database or manually entered.


Quote from: im5049 on
Let me see if I can get this straight.  When you insert a CD into a disk drive on a computer, and the media player  shows a CD name and track names, those either come from a) the CD Text, or b) from an internet search when the CD is inserted.

Correct


Quote from: im5049 on
Is there a "c"?

Not really, unless you consider something like when the software has stored this info from a previous session. But that info originally would have come from (a) or (b), or manual entry.


Quote from: im5049 on
Also, a file manager such as Windows Explorer will just show "track01.cda", "track02.cda", etc.  Is this correct?

Yes. As far as I am aware, there is no way to enable Explorer to read CD-Text or apply data from an online search.


[edit: pdq replied while I was composing my reply]
 

How to write CD/track names (CD-Text) to disc w/EAC? WMP shows Unknown

Reply #10 –
Much clearer now.  Thanks to all.