Nero Express problem

Mr. Muddle · Mar 17, 2004

Hi.

I did my first CD yesterday using Nero Express. It worked great except for one problem.

In the 'indexes, limits, splits' tab, there is a button named 'Play'. I have clicked this button and the graphic moves along towards the right in the oscilloscope as it should, but aren't I supposed to hear the audio as well? I don't hear anything.

Another question I have is when I edit a track limit, a box pops up with showing the 'minutes', 'seconds' and 'frames' for the track. I am ok with changing the minutes and seconds, but what do I do with the 'frames'? For example, the minutes indicate x, the seconds indicate y and the frames indicate z. I either increase or decrease x and y, but what do I do with z??

Finally, while the CD was burning, the FIRST bar shows the percentage buffer (or something like that). Mine read 100% for almost the whole burn process. Is this good or should it be less than 100%? (The small bar at the bottom showed 96% throughout).

Thanks.

Duracell · Mar 17, 2004

Mr. Muddle said:
In the 'indexes, limits, splits' tab, there is a button named 'Play'. ... but aren't I supposed to hear the audio as well? I don't hear anything.

did you recheck Windows' sound control panel; if the related channel isn't muted;

a box pops up with showing the 'minutes', 'seconds' and 'frames' for the track. ... but what do I do with z??

it's the usual time code standard for audio CDs; a frame is 1/75 sec.
if you like to set the index to 5 min. 28 sec. and 333 msec. you have to input: 5 min. 28 sec. 25 frames;

Is this good or should it be less than 100%? (The small bar at the bottom showed 96% throughout).

this is good, it shows your buffer is well filled and didn't dropped out;

Mr. Muddle · Mar 18, 2004

Thanks Duracell.

I visited the Sound control panel but there wasn't anything there that had been muted. How do I check 'if the related channel isn't muted'? What's the related channel? There isn't any mention of Nero in there if that's what you mean.

About the Frames matter, so if I were to put 5 mins, 28 seconds and 75 frames, that would equal, 5 mins, 29 seconds and no frames?? Is this right? I won't know which frames to choose unless I can actually hear the audio.

Glad to hear that 100% is good. I thought it meant something along the lines of the buffer container's contents have all been used (all 100% of it) so if the audio should require it, there won't be any left for it to use.

Anything else I could do about the non-audible issue?

Thanks.

LTR12101B · Mar 18, 2004

The buffer percentages during a Nero burn are Nero's own write buffer (the software buffer) and the drive buffer (hardware buffer) - I can remember the bad old days (this was with Easy CD Creator) of doing a MP3 to Audio CD burn, decoding MP3 as it went, with an inadequate system - the buffer sank slowly to zero, and I had a buffer underrun and a coaster for my collection.

NB. At the END of a burn, the software buffer WILL drain - this is completely normal, since as the burn finishes, the buffers MUST drain as the last of the data is written.

The "preview play" from the track editor, I would expect to be using the same mixer section as any other WAV player.

The-poacher · Mar 18, 2004

Dont want to be a spoilsport but Nero is crappola for burning decent Audio

Mr. Muddle · Mar 18, 2004

Thanks LTR,

DO you have any idea on how I get the audio to play? It plays fine from the main page, but it doesn't play at all from the track editor page, even though the graph moves from left to right.

What could be the problem?

Poacher, here is how I came to be using Nero Express....

http://www.dvdrbase.com/showthread.php?t=37657

Another question I have is, what's the difference between 'Splits' and 'Indexes'? Which one do I use to be get continuous playback without any interruptions or noises but be able to skip back and forwards through the places where I've placed the splits/indexes?

Thanks.

Duracell · Mar 18, 2004

Mr. Muddle said:
What's the related channel?

in my case Nero (5.5.10.20) uses the "Wave Play Analog" interface;

About the Frames matter, so if I were to put 5 mins, 28 seconds and 75 frames, that would equal, 5 mins, 29 seconds and no frames?? Is this right?

that's right;

Mr. Muddle said:
Which one do I use to be get continuous playback without any interruptions or noises but be able to skip back and forwards through the places where I've placed the splits/indexes?

mark all tracks, click properties, set gaps to 0, enable crossfading;

but like all peoples did already saying, Nero (even the "Classic" interface) is no real audio editor/mastering application; for quality reproducing single tracks to a gapless CD you need something like WaveLab; i know there was similar a freeware project, can't remember the name;

scarecrow · Mar 18, 2004

Duracell said:
i know there was similar a freeware project, can't remember the name;

That's Audacity...
http://audacity.sourceforge.net
Now it supports (again) VST plugins, although the enabler comes in a separate package, due to VST lisencing issues.
Surely enough the best freeware audio processor out there by far, but if you cannot cope with it and you're willing to spare some cash, then the Wavelab series offer one of the very best and surely the most easy to absorb commercial solution for audio manipulation- although they surely aren't cheap.

Mr. Muddle · Mar 18, 2004

'mark all tracks, click properties, set gaps to 0, enable crossfading'

I mean being able to skip to particular points in ONE piece of audio, not joining a number of them into one. For example, my mp3 file is one hour long. If I stop it halfway through while listening, the next time I want to hear it, I would have to listen to the whole thing from the beginning again.

So I wanted to know whether I need to use SPLITS or INDEXES to achieve this without there being any audible gaps or noises on my CD.

'Nero (even the "Classic" interface) is no real audio editor/mastering application'

That's ok; I'm not after anything fancy. I just want to be able to skip to various points on CD if it consists of a one SINGLE audio piece. Nero has worked very nicely for me; I just wish the stupid thing would play my files in the edit track section.

How can you tell the quality of audio burned apart from simply listening to it?

Going back to my original problem, I also removed all other burning software (BAO, EAC, etc), along with Nero and then re-installed Nero, but still it won't play the audio!

Update....well there is ONE fancy feature for which I want to know whether it's possible or not. To be able to remove the music/instruments of a track and leave the vocals on only. Is this possible? If so, how and with what? Does Audacity do this? Thanks.

Thanks.

Duracell · Mar 19, 2004

Mr. Muddle said:
So I wanted to know whether I need to use SPLITS or INDEXES to achieve this without there being any audible gaps or noises on my CD.

don't split, just add new indexes;

To be able to remove the music/instruments of a track and leave the vocals on only. Is this possible?

personally i never tried it, but in theory there is no way to do this really successfully; you can limit the frequency range and use a vocalizer in an audio editor, but you will still hear the sounds/instruments which using the same frequenzies like human vocals;

the same thing with removing voices to get karaoke songs, even if software developers trying to sell such apps; they are a waste of time and money;

and sorry i don't have a clue, why you don't hear anything in Nero's track preview; maybe you can try emailing to Aheads support;

Mr. Muddle · Mar 19, 2004

Thanks Duracell.

Yes, I had contacted Ahead's support but their suggestion of upgrading to the latest version still didn't work.

The also instructed me to 'Choose Recorder', but I don't have a clue what they're referring to!

Anyway, thanks for all the help everyone.

Mr. Muddle · Mar 23, 2004

Could it be anything to do with an audio cable? I haven't used one.

http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/4520-6603_16-5118840-8.html?tag=txt

VIPER_1069 · Mar 23, 2004

yes if you are trying for audio playback you definatley need an audio cable plugged to the back of any cd/dvdrom device to hear the sound comming from the disk you need the audio cable to connect the drive to the soundcard

most people tend to not connect the dvdrw/cdrw burner to the sound card and opt to connect either the cdrom or plain dvdrom drive to the sound card instead

Mr. Muddle · Mar 24, 2004

Please bear in mind the following....

1) The sound which I cannot hear is from within Nero Express. There isn't even a disc in the drive. I am simply trying to play an mp3 file which I've just loaded into Nero from my hard drive.

2) The audio plays fine when the 'Play' button is clicked on the first Nero Express screen; I just can't hear it when I click the 'Play' button on the second screen (the one with the oscilloscope).

Is your answer still 'yes'?

Thanks.

Duracell · Mar 24, 2004

Mr. Muddle said:
I am simply trying to play an mp3 file which I've just loaded into Nero from my hard drive.

so it can't be related to an CD drive audio cable;

Mr. Muddle · Apr 19, 2004

Hi Scarecrow.

I tried to download the Audacity software but need some help.

On the page http://audacity.sourceforge.net/windows.php I managed to download the following-

audacity-win.exe (Installer program, 2.7 MB)
lame-3.96 - France. md5: f4545b2aa3eb8e5d6422b34ef75edfcb
Manual (450k ZIP file, in English)

However, I am having problems with the VST Enabler. The link for the source code doesn't work (http://audacityteam.org/vst/). I've visited the Steinberg site but don't know what it is that I need to download (http://ygrabit.steinberg.de/users/ygrabit/public_html/).

Can you help?

Thanks.

Duracell · Apr 19, 2004

Mr. Muddle said:
However, I am having problems with the VST Enabler. The link for the source code doesn't work ...

if you don't own VST plugins yet, then you don't need the enabler;
anyway, i tried the VST Enabler download (Win version) right now and it works;

Mr. Muddle · Apr 20, 2004

Sorry Duracell, my mistake, it wasn't the VST Enabler that wouldn't work. It was the source code (ladspa-vst-bridge-0.1.0.tgz).

I did go on to say that "The link for the source code doesn't work (http://audacityteam.org/vst/). I've visited the Steinberg site but don't know what it is that I need to download (http://ygrabit.steinberg.de/users/ygrabit/public_html/)."

Which one do I need?

Thanks.

LTR12101B · Apr 20, 2004

Unless you intend compiling it yourself, you don't need the source code

Mr. Muddle · Apr 20, 2004

Hi LTR.

I was wondering that myself, but this is what they say at this page-

http://audacityteam.org/vst/

"Because of licensing issues, VST support must be kept separate from Audacity. This "VST Enabler" is mostly open-source, but the source code to Steinberg's VST SDK is required, and this must be downloaded from Steinberg separately."

Nero Express problem

Member

1

Member

1

1

Member

1

1

Member

1

Member

Member

1

Member

1

Member

1

Member

1

Member