Audio CD problem - ImgBurn writes a particular mp3 as a blank track

[ChocolateStout]

I'm burning a CD from 10 mp3 files I got off of Amazon. All the mp3s play fine in Winamp or Windows Media Player.

 

I used ImgBurn to build the .cue file and write the cd.

 

One of the tracks is blank. I ripped it afterward and looked at in the Audacity audio editor to make sure maybe the volume didn't get messed up, but there's nothing there (you can even see the blank band on the disc). Using the same .cue file that ImgBurn made, I burned a CD using Exact Audio Copy. It came out correctly.

 

I tried renaming the trouble file, repositioning the track order with a new .cue, stripping the file of all the tag info, but ImgBurn always writes it as a blank track. Obviously there are ways around writing this file, but it's just odd behavior.

 

It was track 8 on this burn.

 

 

 

; //****************************************\\

; ImgBurn Version 2.4.1.0 - Log

; Wednesday, 09 April 2008, 15:09:21

; \\****************************************//

;

;

I 14:01:45 ImgBurn Version 2.4.1.0 started!

I 14:01:45 Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600 : Service Pack 2)

I 14:01:45 Total Physical Memory: 523,760 KB - Available: 143,832 KB

I 14:01:45 Initialising SPTI...

I 14:01:45 Searching for SCSI / ATAPI devices...

I 14:01:45 Found 1 DVD-ROM and 1 DVD

[LIGHTNING UK!]

Nothing much I can do about this, it comes down to how directshow decodes it.

 

Play it in GraphEdit and you'll probably find it does the same thing - just outputs no sound.

[ChocolateStout]

Nothing much I can do about this, it comes down to how directshow decodes it.

 

Play it in GraphEdit and you'll probably find it does the same thing - just outputs no sound.

 

Indeed it did. If I drag the slider along in GraphEdit, it plays, otherwise it just never starts. Curiouser and curiouser. Didn't mean to blame you for Microsoft's mistake. Thanks for the reply. Keep up the good work.

[gottogo99]

I had a similar problem: blank files when burned in ImgBurn but burned ok with EAC. Is there anything that can be done to such files to change them to burn ok?

[LIGHTNING UK!]

Do you still have the file that didn't decode properly?

 

I wonder if I might be able to detect this issue during the analysis phase so I can inform the user and save them wasting a disc.

 

It must be certain files encoded in a certain way with a certain (possibly buggy) program.

[gottogo99]

Do you still have the file that didn't decode properly?

 

I wonder if I might be able to detect this issue during the analysis phase so I can inform the user and save them wasting a disc.

 

It must be certain files encoded in a certain way with a certain (possibly buggy) program.

In my case it was 3 tracks out of 8 and I have them all if you want them.

 

If there was some way you could detect this before burning it would be great.

[LIGHTNING UK!]

I found a file that someone (with the same problem) had already sent to me for testing and it turns out that (with this file at least) I can just check if the decoded data is all zeroes.

 

So consider it done

[Daystrom M5]

Has the "all zeros" encoded data check been incorporated yet ? I am using ImgBurn v2.5.5.0.

 

I ran into this over the weekend and it had me chasing my tail for awhile.

 

Burned four coasters while I tried to figure out where the problem was. Finally found out that tracks 7 and 11 played properly on all four burned CD's while the other tracks were nothing but silence.

 

I was trying to burn two CD's of music from the same artist and ripper. All tracks on the second CD play perfectly. If I had tried to burn the second CD first I would have known right away that the problem was with the MP3's of the first album and not a hardware, driver, media, Imgburn, etc... issue.

 

Just curious to know if the check is in ImgBurn v2.5.5.0 as it certainly didn't work for me.

 

Thanks.

 

BTW - The MP3's in question do not play in GraphEdit.

[LIGHTNING UK!]

Yes, the check has been in there for ages now.

[Daystrom M5]

Hmmm... OK. Looks like the check doesn't catch this all the time.

 

Not really a problem now that I have run into it once and know to use Graph Edit to check out suspect MP3's.

 

The first time I ran into it, though, was certainly a WTF moment.

 

Thanks.

[LIGHTNING UK!]

It can't miss some and not others.

 

Either they're all zeros (and caught) and or they're not all zeros (and not caught).

 

Send me an offending MP3 and I'll look into it.

[Daystrom M5]

Sorry for the delay - the "bad" MP3's were at my brothers house and I just never had the chance to go get them until now.

 

This is a link to one of the MP3's, but, I am afraid you won't be able to duplicate the issue.

 

Download "No Sound.mp3" at Mediafire

 

They won't play in GraphEdit on my brothers machine but play perfectly in GraphEdit on my machine.

 

This is the MP3 as it appears in GraphEdit on my brothers machine where it won't play.

 

This is the MP3 as it appears in GraphEdit on my machine where it will play.

 

It seems the problem is dependent on the MP3 decoder used. You may not be able to duplicate the issue if you use a different decoder on your machine.

 

This isn't really a problem as I can always run the MP3's through GraphEdit before burning but that would be a pain in the ass.

 

If you can make the "all zeros" detection in Imgburn more robust I would certainly appreciate it.

 

In the meantime, I will install the ffdshow Audio Decoder on my brothers machine to verify the cause of the "bad" MP3 issue.

 

Thanks.

[khagaroth]

The MP3 file is fine, the problem is the Fraunhofer dshow MP3 decoder (L3codecx.ax). Any version <= 1.5 is affected by this. The problem is the decoder can't cope with big bit reservoir on high bitrate (256-320 kbps) files created by LAME. There is an security update, that installs a newer version of the decoder, that should fix this problem.

[LIGHTNING UK!]

My virtual XP SP3 install seems to use v1.6.0.52 and that had no problem with it.

 

Any chance you could confirm the version installed on your brother's PC?

[Daystrom M5]

khagaroth - Thanks for the info on the codec problem and the link to the update.

 

LIGHTNING UK! - A quick Google search indicates v1.5.0.50 of l3codecx.ax ships with XP. My brother and I have the same install of XP Pro SP2 and I have version v1.5.0.50 installed so I suspect he does as well. I will verify this and get back to you.

 

Thanks.