I would like to throw in couple of experiences creating VCD Audio with use of Win On CD3.8 (btw only manual is in German while software itself is in English). So, to put 7 hours of music on VCD you pick “Music Album” macro from section Audio. Then you will have the place to drag the files. It accepts majority of stuff (WAV, mp3, mp2, direct CD file and whatever). Once you drag one here is where my problem starts because Win On CD is starting coding you file to mpa format which supposed to be mpeg1 layer II file. First I do not like is the quality of the internal codec. OK, once you going for compression you should be prepared to loose but anyway you are better off loosing less. If you are the kind of guy going for Super CD or DVD Audio quality stop here and read something else but if you accept mp3 quality go on with reading. The second I did not like is that even if you think you have mpg2 (audio) file prepared Win On CD still starts to code it. Why I do not know, ask Tygrus he knows all that “mpeg file header replacement stuff”, I just want my MP3 (quoting Knopfler) or MP2 to be more precise. So I got myself whole bunch of codecs and CD extractors and went checking. My subjective outcome how to conduct the process to get the best quality (better then MP3 I would say) is the following: Extract CD with Audiograbber. Code it with Panasonic MPEG1 encoder using VCD audio settings (44,1/224) and obligatory change extension of output file to mpa (that’s the only codec (except Xing) I know and the only extension Win On CD takes as it is and puts it on VCD directly – obviously by doing that usual mish mash it usually does. In my opinion (and even my wife’s) you get very decent quality VCDAudio to play on DVD. One more hint on files naming. Win On CD gives you a lot of possibilities to name the files and albums etc but it sometimes may take a lot of time (you can even put some graphics during song is played – that may be the issue if you like Britney, since I like hard rock I do not have to see their ugly faces anyway). If your file name is “artist – title of the song” etc and you do not change anything with the provided by Win On CD options the nam or the song will be your file name (and name for the album the directory name) That’s all folks. Thanks for the great help you have given me so far putting all you knowledge here. Hopefully this will help too. Your friend from Poland, Marek

-- Marek Malinowski (marek.malinowski@skanska.pl), February 16, 2001

Answers

Just a follow up to this note and for anyone that cares, yes the WOCD 3.8 internal coding is not universily compatible with all dvd players, I have had some where it doesn't work at all, some garbled and others where the sound is very good. Trying to find a way around this, i had the idea to try and encode the files to mp2 format before putting them into WOCD so the program might leave them alone, but alas no luck. No matter what you do, WOCD will encode it and you take your chances. Now I am sure this will all be solved with the next gen of dvd players.

Tygrus

-- tygrus (tygrus2000@hotmail.com), February 16, 2001.

The best way is to present it with uncompressed whole *.WAVs. If you originally have *.MP3s you convert it first back into *.WAV. This is tedious but WinOnCD seems to work a Bit Better if NOT given already- compressed files to begin with.

-- Mehmet Tekdemir (turk690@yahoo.com), February 18, 2001.