converting

[dave]

hi, was wanting to know the midi files, what software do I need to get them to play in a cd player.... my friend uses mini discs and I wanted to put some midifiles on cd for him, so he could transfer from cd right on to mini disc, would I need to convert them from midi format to mp3 format then burn to cd Baffled Dave.

[Emerald Midi]

Hi Dave,

Others will give more definitive responses but to set the ball rolling when I want to place midi on CDs I would convert them first to MP3 then simply transfer them to the CD disk. This is fine if you are going to be using an MP3 player to play them, but if you want them to play back on an "ordinary" CD player you'll need to convert them for that method.

By the way, midi to MP3 conversion tools are freely available on the Net.

[JohnG]

Hi Dave,

The 'best' (quality) way to do this is to record them as "wav" format files initially to the hard disk drive on your PC. This means playing the MIDI files and recording the audio to disk at the same time. When you have created all the files (tracks) you want, then burn them to CD as tracks on a regular 'audio format CD'. This method will maintain the best audio quality. It also seems, at least to me, that this is the easiest way too. Others will disagree maybe.

If you create mp3s first, as this is a compressed audio format, they will have to be restored back to audio format to play (on the fly) and then re-compressed into ATRAC format (minidisk) as they are re-recorded. Quality will be lost on the way. That's not to say it can't be done that way, it works, but the best quality is CD format direct to minidisk. For your friend nothing is easier than putting a CD in the player, hitting play, and recording direct to minidisk.

Of course a wav file occupies a lot more space than an mp3 file so you need to make sure you have space on the disk drive to hold all the tracks.

Next, what software to use? Well if you've not already got some specific software, it may be that you can use the Media Player to do this or even a freebie like Audacity. I like Audacity. I think there may already be a description of the process somewhere else on the forum. You may well find that you have to play around with playback and record volume levels before you hit a good formula.

I'll ask others to jump in here as I always use the s/w specific to the sound card in my PC which has a built in loop back facility.

Before you start the process may I recommend that you defragment your hard disk drive. When you come to do the burning process to CD this can make a difference between success and failure. Also choose the lowest burn speed usually 8x unless you have what's called a 'burn proof' CD writer.

That's a beginning for you, any others like to comment?
JohnG.

PS. try visiting the site www.midi2wav.com it's a little program that does the job for you (or to mp3) and has a tutorial there too. It might give you some ideas. Try google searchin for "MIDI to mp3" or "MIDI to wav". You'll be surprised how many hits you get!

[levi2]

Hi dave
Like johng sez best format is wav cos its not compressed i use minidisc what i do is link my external sound module a yamaha mu50 to pc the pc acts as my midifile player then use the audio out from the mu50 to the audio in on my minidisc and record direct. i never use a mixer while recording becuse you can over EQ so its just direct from mu50 to minidisk then use the EQ on main mixer of my PA. So if you have external sound module or even a keyboard which produces nice tone try recording direct

[dave]

Brillient, thanks guys will get recording my band program soon and get my friend as well sorted out.... thanks again Best Wishes Dave.

[ramon1108]

try using vsc 3.2 or latest. it converts midi to wav then wav to mp3. presto just burn it into cd's.