Steel Chicken

iTrader: (3)

I have a Kenwood MP7028, and have been trying to figure out how to get MP3 CD's to work. The instructions aren't very detailed. After some trial and error (and some coasters), It will now read the CD's, but it wont see all the folders, wont see all the songs, and in general likes to pause and stop playing all the time.

As far as I can tell, im following all file property and name/size constraints.
What is the trick to make these work reliably? A particular folder structure? super short filenames? are the ID tags possibly screwing it up?

Thanks!

todddchi

iTrader: (3)

My 3x Kenwood decks have have had very robust MP3 decoders. Here are some things you might want to try:

- Make sure your bitrate is 96-320 kbps. I like 160 myself, but more or less depending on your preference. Keep in mind there is no benefit converting a file up... such as making a 128 into a 160.

- Make sure your frequency rate is something like 20-44kHz. I can't remember but something like 44.1kHz is standard. Every now and then you can download a file out to some crazy value like 96kHz and most mp3 decoders won't like those files. This might be your biggest problem for pauses and skipped files.

- Find an id tag utility from the net. Do some googling and you'll find a free one to download. These will help you "repair" or "clean" your files' id tags of junk symbols or other problems. I suspect this is part of your problem.

- As with the file tags, the file names should also be windows compliant - us letters, numbers, spaces, only.

- Use a quality media like Fuji or Ritek discs. Dark blue dye CDR's are generally best for compatibility.

- Make sure you are writing the CD as a data cd in an iso- compliant format. This varies from software to software. You also need to close the disc session. In Roxio you want "disc-at-once" and closed.

Steel Chicken

iTrader: (3)

Yeah I got most of that. i spot checked the files, they were all 44.1khz, 128bit to 360bit. ill clean up the tags see if that helps. ill also shorten the file names. they are below max size limits, but ill trim em just the same to see what happens.

yep, data CD, ISO 9960, all the stuff the manual mentions. they are cheap CD's though, ill try some higher quality ones as well, see if that helps.

marcus769

I've never had any problems with my old Alpine cd,dvd,mp3 player in my Yukon as far as it reading the cd. The two main things I didnt like.

1. The quality in sound
2. File organization

The difference between the quality of an MP3 disk to normal 19-tracked cd format is HUGE.

I like my music loud usually, and if you know anything about sound quality you know its amplified at higher volumes. Mp3s always needed more volume to acheive the sound level I liked. When I downloaded songs, I made sure all songs were at least 128-160 bitrate.

File organization itself wasnt too bad getting them on a cd, but trying to remember where all the good songs are, you'll be searching through forever! Unless you print out what the hell is on the cds & their track #. You'd look so dumb if you pulled out 3 pages of paper with song names, and track numbers! Yes the track names come up via the ID3 tags, but I dont want to have to flip through each track and wait for the name to come up.

MP3s are a cool way to fit tons of songs on one disc, but you have to put up w/ some minor headaches. If you arent bothered by sound quality or dont care which of the 300 songs you want to listen to, MP3s are for you!

TA guy

iTrader: (1)

I have to agree that file organization isn't the best with the mp3 decks, but it is servicable. But there should not be a huge noticible sound difference while listening if you are listening to properly encoded tracks, especially with the high noise floor present in a moving car. If you can detect a HUGE difference in sound quality between a CD and a MP3 encoded at 160 kbps there is something wrong with your equiptment. Also, MP3s are not inherrently quieter than a CD unless it was encoded like that for some reason (could happen I suppose) or there is an issue with your equiptment. I can hear a difference between 128 kbps MP3s and the origional CD content on my home speakers (which are vastly superrior to any auto setup I have ever owned), but nothing huge, think FM radio quality. Not that this helps you at all. Just had to comment.

For what it is worth, I had a lot of issues with my kenwood MP3 player being really pickkey about the files, but it was one of the first ones on the market. I suggest you encode a CD to MP3 yourself per their spec and burn the MP3s to a CD and see if that works. At least then you know if it is crappy downloaded files causing your problem or something else.