Re: [ARSCLIST] Mp3 ripper that does CD Text

[Parker Dinkins <parker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

on 5/23/07 6:21 PM US/Central, Tom Fine at tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
wrote:

> I have a client in a quandry. I went to the trouble of including nice neat CD
> Text on audio CD's made from their source tapes. They want to create their own
> MP3 files from the CD's. When they insert the CD into either iTunes or Windows
> Media Player, the CD Text title information is not found, rather a queries is
> made to Gracenote (formerly cddb). Exact Audio Copy also seems unable to
> recognize CD Text and instead queries freedb. How could the MP3 ripper crowd
> not include CD Text which I believe is part of the CD standard?

CD-Text is part of the original Red Book standard and that information is
encoded in a sub channel. DVD players and some standalone CD players with
text display, notably many of those in cars, are capable of displaying
CD-Text.

Some computer based CD drives cannot read sub code information, specifically
not all can read CD-Text and ISRC data.

Since sub channel information does not exist with MP3s, then the data for
titles, performers, etc., must be retrieved from another source, which is
either over the Internet via technology licensed by Gracenote, or from a
local database created by the iTunes user (for example).

> More importantly, what MP3 creation software will recognize CD Text and
> populate the tag info from it?

Don't know of any, especially since some computer based CD players simply
cannot retrieve all of the data encoded in the sub channel areas. Some
certainly do, but maybe not enough players to justify what you are looking
for. And, until recently, many CD releases did not include CD-Text at all.

-- 
Parker Dinkins
http://masterdigital.com