Best way to add CD-Text to CDs that don't have it

[tystiles]

Hello!

 

I know use of CD-Text may have been discussed ad infinitum, but I do not see the answer to my specific question in FAQs or elsewhere in the Forum. It concerns the addition of CD-Text for CDs where it doesn't exist ....

 

I want to create Image files of CDs that do not have CD-Text but would like to manually add Disc and Track Title information myself and have that included in the Image. Since I use CD Images and not CDs, when I mount the Image and play it in Windows Media Player (with the WMPCDTEXT plug-in), the CD-Text should be visible.

 

Just in case you're wondering, this is for new CDs from local artists that are not in the online databases WMP uses and homemade CDs from cassette mix tapes from back-in-the-day.

 

Now, I've seen the Guide on doing this for a collection of wav, mp3, flac etc. files but nothing about doing it for a CD.

 

One method might be to rip the CD to wav files then create an Image per the aforementioned Guide. But I feel the added conversion to wav files will compromise audio quality and that is my utmost concern (regardless of what people say, I can easily hear the difference between a wav file and the same track on a CD).

 

What I'm considering is:

 

1) Creating an Image from the CD.

 

 2) Editing the CUE file created so that it includes Disc and Track Titles. 

 

  I could stop here and any CD created from the edited Image will include the newly-added CD-Text Information. But I don't want to create a CD, I just want to use the Image. And Windows Media Player does not pick up the CD-Text  from this altered Image (I think it needs the CDT file), so.....

 

 3) Burn an text-enabled CD using the edited Image (on a "temporary" CD-RW).

 

 4) Create a new image from the text-enabled CD. This Image includes the edited CUE and a CDT file. Windows Media Player now shows the CD-Text information for the Image.

 

   I could use this new Image in place of the first, but the actual audio data is now 3rd generation (yes, I know this is not analog copying, but even in digital copying, bits drop off each generation, no?). So...

 

  5) Move the CUE and CDT files of the new image to the old image folder.

 

  6) Erase the new image folder.

 

 

    I tried this for a couple of CDs and it seems to be working, but I can't help feeling there is an easier way to create the new CUE and CDT files and have a first generation Image of the original CD.

 

    Am i missing something really obvious?

 

 

     Thanks.

 

 

           T

 

 

[LIGHTNING UK!]

You should only need to edit the cue file and add title / performer info.

 

Which program are you using to mount the images?

[tystiles]

Wow. I had no idea anybody would answer that time of morning or I would have checked back sooner (lol)...

 

 

I ask ImgBurn to create a CCD file when it makes the Image and I mount that with Virtual Clone Drive.

 

If just the CUE file is edited, the CD Text information definitely does not show. I was thinking WMP was at fault but now that you mention it, I guess it's Virtual Clone Drive that is interpreting the Image and not picking up the new text.

 

My guess was that the actual CDT file is what is used to provide the CD-Text to the player, not (just) the CUE file. Thus the convoluted process to create it and add it to the original Image...

 

 

    T

[LIGHTNING UK!]

Ah VCD would rely on the CCD file for CD-TEXT. It can't mount a CUE file.

 

Obviously if you're manually adding cd-text to a CUE, it isn't going to be in the CCD file.

[tystiles]

I never knew quite what the CCD file was. I just thought it was a general file that helps VCD tie together all the other files in the Image.

 

Ok. Understood.

 

Does that mean I should use software that mounts the CUE file instead - to reduce this process to 1 step?

 

If so, do you have a recommendation? I've always just used VCD.

 

 

Thanks.

 

 

    Y

[LIGHTNING UK!]

Only daemon tools really. It's the most complete one available.

[tystiles]

All right, thanks. I'll try Daemon Tools. 

 

Since I use a system of Java programs I wrote to catalog, maintain and play my music (and movie files) from any of my computers, Daemon Tools will have to be able to do several things in addition to just mounting the CUE file.

 

For example, I will have to be able to invoke it within JAVA in DOS-command line-style to mount a specific CUE file. And it will have to accept the file name in UNC format (computer host/hard drive/path name/filename). This is how the program currently would mount a disc

 

   C:/Program Files/Elaborate Bytes/VirtualCloneDrive/VCDMount.exe  //TERAGATE/Public/CD Images/Best of Joe Sample/Best of Joe Sample.ccd

 

 

I'll see if Daemon tools can do what's needed. If not, I see there is something called "Gizmo Drive" and also "Magic Disc".

 

I hope I can make one of them work. It will really save a lot of time to just edit the CUE file, add the CD-Text and be done with it....

 

 

One additional question: 

 

 

I have a number of Image files that had no CUE file generated when created and the original CD has long been discarded. Can I create a CUE file dong this?...

 

1) Mount the Image and use ImgBurn to create a disc from the Image (temporary CD-RW).

 

2) Use ImgBurn to create a new Image from the newly-created disc. Generate a CUE file with this Image.

 

3) Edit the new CUE file and add in TITLE and PERFORMER for each track.

 

4) Place the new CUE file in the original Image folder.

 

5) Use Daemon tools (or something) to mount the CUE file.

 

 

 Will this work? I should mention that some of the Images without CUE files were created by CloneCD and have a CCD, an IMG and a SUB file. 

 

 

 

    T

[LIGHTNING UK!]

You should be able to mount the CCD and just use read mode to make a new image (bin/cue/CCD) from the virtual drive. No need to burn the image.