iTunes (12) and mp3 burning to CD

[Dave2002]

I'm trying to find out how to burn a playlist to mp3 in iTunes 12. This (version 12) seems to be a **** version compared with some previous versions of iTunes, as I can see that under the File tab there is an option - Burn Playlist to Disc , but when that is selected there are three choices - Audio CD, MP3 CD and Data CD. Presumably MP3 is the one to choose.

My concern is that I don't want to simply have a default setting of MP3 quality levels - perhaps another menu would appear if I put a blank disc in and actually tried to do the burning, but I can't test that at present, and in any case I'm trying to figure this out for someone else who is currently hundreds of miles away.

In the past I'm sure I was able to set quality levels, such as 192kbps CBR mp3, or 256 kbps VBR etc, but iTunes 12 seems to totally lack such sophistication. This is also stressing the person at the other end, who despite liking some aspects of Apple kit and software, is also getting increasingly fed up with some of the hoops one has to go through in order to get things done.

I'm sure in some earlier versions of iTunes I was able without too much difficulty to set up means of converting between different data formats which worked well enough. This version seems too much concerned with trying to flog me things from the iTunes store - which I'm just not interested in.

It may be that if I can duplicate the playlist to be burnt I could then convert all the tracks to a standard MP3 format, and then burn that - though I'm afraid I'm now no longer confident enough that I could duplicate the tracks in a new playlist without affecting the originals - which should be left untouched. Personally I might be more inclined to copy the files for all the tracks off, and do the conversions elsewhere - and then re-import, but that's probably not a workable option, as perhaps the next paragraph will reveal. By trying to make software systems which are supposedly easy to use, companies such as Apple have dumbed things down to a level at which many people who are capable are no longer able to do what they want to do. The arrogance of it all .....!!!! Apple knows best ..... not!

Ideally I'd like to be able to explain how to make a decent enough MP3 CD to be acceptable in a car system, without having to be forced to sink to the level of 128kbps CBR, and without causing a meltdown of the person at the other end of the phone.

[Bryn]

I tend to avoid Apple products, including iTunes, like the plague, but if the options offered are anything like this available in Nero Burning ROM, my guess is that a data disc would let you mix mp3s of different data rates. Give it a try.

[Anastasius]

Maybe this is worth a punt ? https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/mp3-...40594696?mt=12

[Dave2002]

Maybe this is worth a punt ? https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/mp3-...40594696?mt=12

I tend to avoid normalisers - though it could depend on the application.

The odd thing about iTunes 12 is that it apparently is selective about which tracks it will convert to mp3, or at least one test run has thrown than up as an issue, with quite a large number of tracks failing to convert. I would expect either all or none, but some?!!

[Dave2002]

Using a search for apps on the Apple App store discovers several potential tools, including Export for iTunes for £4.99 and MP3 Converter for £1.49. There is also a free converter called To MP3 Converter which seems to work - though it requires finding the input source files, and then dragging them into a drop area on the interface.

Whether this is really worth the bother is uncertain - it might actually be just as easy to stick with the iTunes defaults and hope that they are reasonable enough for CD applications.

It would be good to have a way of managing tracks and playlists given an existing iTunes library, which would give suitable control over the generated CDs. Perhaps the Export for iTunes app does have suitable functionality and a reasonable interface. I suppose the cost for trying this at £4.99 should not be a disaster, though it would be nice to know that it has an easy interface and does the right job.

[MrGongGong]

You can do this

http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/tutorial_how_to_import_files_from_itunes.html

for nowt then burn away

[Dave2002]

You can do this

http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/tutorial_how_to_import_files_from_itunes.html

for nowt then burn away

Isn't that rather slow if one has, say, 100 or more tracks to burn to CDs? Maybe I'm exaggerating, but although I like Audacity a lot, then surely it's not the right tool for mass conversions - or have I missed something. Doing the iTunes kind of thing (whether one loves or hates iTunes) by making a playlist for the tracks to convert to load and convert to MP3, then burn to CD has to be quicker, surely, and for some people it'd also be much simpler.

[MrGongGong]

Isn't that rather slow if one has, say, 100 or more tracks to burn to CDs? Maybe I'm exaggerating, but although I like Audacity a lot, then surely it's not the right tool for mass conversions - or have I missed something. Doing the iTunes kind of thing (whether one loves or hates iTunes) by making a playlist for the tracks to convert to load and convert to MP3, then burn to CD has to be quicker, surely, and for some people it'd also be much simpler.

Yes it is tedious.
I tend to use Audition for most editing which lets you do batch processing (you might be able to do that with Audacity, I don't know)
One of the main reasons I wouldn't use iTunes is that it doesn't allow you to easily move things about into other software etc.
There was another free bulk file type converter I used to use on the PC but i've completely forgotten what it is (and the Sony is dead) .