I burned a couple of CDs with iTunes in order to play them in my car's CD player.
As they were originally Mp3s, they were obviously already compressed files before burning.
I now wish to import these CDs to another computer which has iTunes.
Can you import the files as Mp3 again?
i.e. can you compress an already compressed file?
If not, can you please advise me how to transfer the files on the CDs to iTunes? Thanks
Windows XP Pro
If you burned the CD as an audio cd then rip again. If it was a data CD you can copy the files from it. When a compressed audio file is burned to disc an uncompressed version is saved on the disc, though any quality that was lost through compression is obviously not recovered. Ripping again will cause a small further loss of fidelity.
tt2
A couple of points I would ask you to clarify please:
"If you burned the CD as an audio cd then rip again" - when you say rip again do you mean import to iTunes as mp3/AAC or convert to mp3/AAC?
"When a compressed audio file is burned to disc an uncompressed version is saved on the disc" - do you mean that burning a compressed file as an audio CD doesn't compress the file any further? It's just a full copy of the mp3 files but formatted differently?
"Ripping again will cause a small further loss of fidelity" - that's what's worrying me. Importing a compressed file as mp3 or AAC. Is the fidelity still generally acceptable?
Thanks
Smirnoff wrote:
A couple of points I would ask you to clarify please:
"If you burned the CD as an audio cd then rip again" - when you say rip again do you mean import to iTunes as mp3 or convert to mp3?
Yes, import to iTunes. Format and bitrate is a matter of a choice.
"When a compressed audio file is burned to disc an uncompressed version is saved on the disc" - do you mean that burning a compressed file as an audio CD doesn't compress the file any further? It's just a full copy of the mp3 files but formatted differently?
The MP3 file is used to recreate an approximation of the original raw uncompressed audio file. This file is burned to CD. This is the same data that you listen to when the MP3 is played back. The data on the disc consists of two 16bit channels of data sampled at a frequencey of 44.1KHz.
"Ripping again will cause a small further loss of fidelity" - that's what's worrying me. Importing a compressed file as mp3 or AAC. Is the fidelity still generally acceptable?
You'll have to try it to see. If you don't have the original CD to rerip from, or the MP3 that you ripped previously, and you want to get this track back into your library then you'll have to import this version. If you don't like the results purchase a fresh copy.
tt2
Understood.
It's a suck it and see situation.
Thanks very much for the info.
You're welcome. 🙂
tt2
Mp3 to .cda and back again
