Need help burning a playlist onto CDs

[Nisko]

I have a playlist of approximately 600 tunes and would like to burn them onto CDs with the following conditions:

Random
Each tune (file) only burns once

How do I do this - and how many CDs do I need for the 600 tunes?

Thank you.

[psychoadept]

By random you mean random order? You should set that in the playlist itself.  Likewise you should eliminate duplicate files in the playlist.

Are you burning audio CDs? It depends on the length of the tracks, but if we're talking normal music tracks then you might need 50+ CDs.  A single CD holds up to 80 minutes of audio.

If you're burning data cds you'll need fewer discs but it will be harder to preserve the order. A CD holds ~700 MB of data. You might want to do a local sync to a virtual device with "sync each playlist to its own folder", then put that folder on CDs.

[phred]

When in the 'Burn Disk" dialogue (from the Tools drop-down menu) MB will tell you how many disks are required. Look at the upper right of the window. No one can tell you how many disks you'll need because one would have to know the size of each file. You'll have to chose if you want an audio CD or a data (MP3) disk.

Whatever tracks you drag into the 'burn' window will be put on the disk. If you have more than one track with the same file name you will get a warning and you'll have to either rename the file or remove it. MB will not do this automatically since it doesn't know which to keep.

[phred]

By random you mean random order? You should set that in the playlist itself.

I read it as a random selection of tracks. Not a random playback. If the OP wants a random playback that can be done in by shuffling his playback device.

[Nisko]

Random Order.  How do I set this in the playlist itself?

I don't know the difference between audio CDs and data CDs.  Also, I don't understand what you mean by "it'll be hard to preserve the order."

How do I do a local sync to a virtual device (?) and sync each playlist to its' own folder?  Thank you.

By random you mean random order? You should set that in the playlist itself.  Likewise you should eliminate duplicate files in the playlist.

Are you burning audio CDs? It depends on the length of the tracks, but if we're talking normal music tracks then you might need 50+ CDs.  A single CD holds up to 80 minutes of audio.

If you're burning data cds you'll need fewer discs but it will be harder to preserve the order. A CD holds ~700 MB of data. You might want to do a local sync to a virtual device with "sync each playlist to its own folder", then put that folder on CDs.

[Nisko]

I'm guessing that I want to do a data disk (my files are all mp3 or mp4).  I'm not an audiofile so I just want to give my tunes to someone else to enjoy.

When in the 'Burn Disk" dialogue (from the Tools drop-down menu) MB will tell you how many disks are required. Look at the upper right of the window. No one can tell you how many disks you'll need because one would have to know the size of each file. You'll have to chose if you want an audio CD or a data (MP3) disk.

Whatever tracks you drag into the 'burn' window will be put on the disk. If you have more than one track with the same file name you will get a warning and you'll have to either rename the file or remove it. MB will not do this automatically since it doesn't know which to keep.

[Nisko]

Also, is there a choice as to audio CDs or data CDs so that MB can tell me the correct number of CDs I need?  Thank you.

When in the 'Burn Disk" dialogue (from the Tools drop-down menu) MB will tell you how many disks are required. Look at the upper right of the window. No one can tell you how many disks you'll need because one would have to know the size of each file. You'll have to chose if you want an audio CD or a data (MP3) disk.

Whatever tracks you drag into the 'burn' window will be put on the disk. If you have more than one track with the same file name you will get a warning and you'll have to either rename the file or remove it. MB will not do this automatically since it doesn't know which to keep.

[psychoadept]

Have you looked at the cd burning dialog? That will answer some of your questions.

There are good wiki page that cover playlists and syncing (see my sig)

How much storage space does this playlist take? If it's more than 2 GB, you might be better off putting it on a flash drive than messing with CDs. You'll be looking at 4+ data cds at that point.

[phred]

I'm guessing that I want to do a data disk (my files are all mp3 or mp4).  I'm not an audiofile so I just want to give my tunes to someone else to enjoy.

A CD has a max of about 700mb no matter if you're burning an audio CD or a data CD. But an audio CD (think of it as what you'd buy at your local music shop) can hold a maximum of about 70 minutes, a data CD can hold many, many times that because the files are smaller. You can burn an audio CD from mp3 files, but it won't be CD quality (which you're not looking for anyway.) So I would say a data CD is the way to go for your situation.

Also, is there a choice as to audio CDs or data CDs so that MB can tell me the correct number of CDs I need?

An blank CD is a blank CD is a blank CD. 700mb is 700mb. But as I said, you'll get more data (mp3) files burned to a CD than audio files. Insert a blank CD and in the burn dialog select data and drag files to the window. MB will show you how many disks are needed. Switch to data and select MP3 and the number of disks required will change. As you add or remove files from the 'to be burnt' window the 'total file size' and 'disks required' will update.

How much storage space does this playlist take? If it's more than 2 GB, you might be better off putting it on a flash drive than messing with CDs. You'll be looking at 4+ data cds at that point.

You can also burn a DVD which has a capacity of 4.7gb. This assumes that the receiving person's device can play DVDs that contain data (MP3s) and not a movie. I don't have any disks or DVDs near me at the moment, but I recall that when burning to a DVD the 'disks required' assumes you're using CDs. At my request Steven added an option (when DVDs are used) to "burn to one disk."

It really sounds like you haven't looked at the burn dialog. As psychoadept suggested, do so. And look at the section on burning on the Wiki.

[psychoadept]

The "burning" section of the wiki is pretty much nil. But there's plenty about playlists and syncing.