Playing Mp3 CD's

Make sure you burn/format the cd as iso 9660. Most software will allow that as an option.

 

Not all CD-Rs are created equally. It's not uncommon to create a disk that can be read in a computer drive, but not in another player. I suspect some combination of your CD-Rs, computer drive, or software has produced a funny CD. Try another one just to make sure it's not a fluke. Make sure to put the mp3s in folders, not in the top directory. Keep it simple for a test case. If that doesn't work, have a friend make one and try that.

Tom

 

One of the common issues with supposed MP3 capable players not recognizing CDs is with the way the CD-R is formatted. Unfortunately, often times when using drag-and-drop functionality, the CD is created in a "multisession" format (also called session-at-once) which allows for new files to be added in the future. However, this comes at the very steep cost of making it incompatible with a large number of devices (basically you can't read it on anything except a computer).

To make a CD work in your prius, you will need to use CD burning software (as I'm not sure how to make whatever OS you're using burn in disc-at-once mode). If you are using Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista, you can freely download and use the open source InfraRecorder (found here). If you're using a Mac, I can't really help you.

 

To the OP, I believe you have an audio input jack and suggest that you get a portable MP3 player instead due to the slowness of the stereo's loading of MP3s CDs and UI limitations. See http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...work-07-factory-mp3-d-changer.html#post825856 for more.

On a side note, I've been using Pandora on my iPhone 3G a lot lately since Navizon (war driving app) doesn't work anymore (crashes on launch) on iPhone 3.0 firmware. It's great to be able to listen to all sorts of music that I happen to like that I wouldn't even have known to buy.

 

Here's something that might help -- consider using the excellent (and free) cd/dvd burning program "ImgBurn" available at The Official ImgBurn Website.

Once you've downloaded and installed ImgBurn, here's how to use it:

1. Select "Write files/folders to disc"; this will place ImgBurn in the "Build Mode" that you'll need for writing your mp3 files to disc.
2. From the "Information" tab (located on the upper-right), select the "Auto" checkbox (located on the lower-right). Also confirm that your CD/DVD burner has been automatically selected in the "Destination" area (located near the bottom-left). It is also recommended that the "Verify" checkbox be set so that ImgBurn will read back your disc and compare it to the original after the burn process has completed.
3. Next, switch to the "Device" tab and select your "Write Speed" (located lower-right). 24x is a good choice for CD's since it's a bit slower than the maximum write speed of 40x - 48x that the program will default to, and it will generally result in a cleaner burn to most blank discs.
4. Change tabs again, this time to the "Options" tab, and in the "Image Options" area (just below the tab), locate the "File System:" label and select "ISO9660 + Joliet" from the pulldown box to the right.
5. Switch back to the "Information" tab and confirm that "Auto" is checked.
6. Make sure you have a blank CD in your drive so that ImgBurn will be able to calculate the available space (700Megs). Use a normal blank CD for this (i.e.) don't use a rewritable CD since there's a fair chance that your car may not be able to read it. Windows may present some kind of autoplay popup when you insert the blank -- just cancel it since we'll be using ImgBurn to do all the burning work.
7. Now drag and drop all of the mp3 files you want to burn into the big blank box in ImgBurn (located along the left). The graphical information bar should begin to draw as you add the files, showing you how much space you are using. Don't exceed 100%.
8. Once you have all of your mp3's dragged into the box, click the graphical icon (folder->disc) (located on the lower-left) to begin the burn process. ImgBurn will provide a few confirmation dialog boxes just prior to initiating the burn process -- just click OK to use its default suggestions.
9. The burn process will take about 4 minutes to burn and another 4 minutes to verify.
10. You're done -- try the burned disc in your car and see if it will play.

 

what models are mp3 cd compatible? I have a 2005 with the added 6 cd changer. will this work on mine?

 

I don't believe yours can do it per https://priuschat.com/forums/knowle...andard-optional-equipment-some-countries.html. It looks like it became an option starting on the 06 model year.

 

Hi Spartane,

Thanks, your instructions worked like a charm. No issues. Excellent!

-Moe

 

Thanks for those instructions, @Spartane. Unfortunately, even after following those instructions, my 2008 Prius seems unable to play the mp3s I burned to an "HP Invent CD-RW 4x-12x high speed 80 min / 700MB" disc even though the Prius dash says "mp3 wma" on it.

I know you said "don't use a rewritable CD since there's a fair chance that your car may not be able to read it", but I was hopeful, especially since I don't have any CD-Rs.

 

UPDATE: mp3s do sometimes work on a CD-RW in 2008 Prius.

Thank you to @Spartane since most of these instructions are from that post above.

1. I haven't quite figured out the details, but I wonder if the 2008 Prius CD player can only play mp3 discs if all the mp3s on the disc are of a certain quality/type. You might want to ensure that all of your mp3s are at least 128k bitrate. Use a free program like Ffmpeg or one of these if you need to increase the bitrate of your mp3s (Originally my mp3 files were voice files at 58kbps, and I wonder if that's why they didn't work, but after trying to burn a CDRW with only mp3s that have been converted to >=128kbps, some but not all of those CDRWs have worked, so I haven't figured out all the variables involved). I'll write another post below if I ever find out more.
2. Download the free CD/DVD burning program "ImgBurn", available at The Official ImgBurn Website.
3. Install it.
4. CDRWs are more likely to be dirty than CDRs. Ensure your disc is clean, and then insert it into the drive.
5. In ImgBurn, Select "Write files/folders to disc"; this will place ImgBurn in the "Build Mode" that you'll need for writing your mp3 files to disc.
6. Choose Input > Advanced.
7. From the "Information" tab (located on the upper-right), select the "Auto" checkbox (located on the lower-right). Also confirm that your CD/DVD burner has been automatically selected in the "Destination" area (located near the bottom-left). It is also recommended that the "Verify" checkbox be set so that ImgBurn will read back your disc and compare it to the original after the burn process has completed.
8. Next, switch to the "Device" tab, and select your "Write Speed" (located lower-right). You need to choose a Write Speed that is no higher than the lower value of what your drive or your discs can handle. E.g. my drive can probably handle 40x, but my discs say they can only handle a max of 12x, so I'm using only 10x here to be safe. For many people, 24x is a good choice for CDs since it's a bit slower than the maximum write speed of 40x - 48x that the program will default to, and it will generally result in a cleaner burn to most blank discs.
   
9. Change tabs again, this time to the "Options" tab, and in the "Image Options" area (just below the tab), locate the "File System:" label and select "ISO9660 + Joliet" from the dropdown box to the right.
   
10. On the "Labels" tab, you can name your disc in the "Joilet" field and the "ISO9660" field.
11. Click "Show Disc Layout Editor", and then in the bottom panel click "New Folder", and name the folder whatever you want. Then from Windows, drag mp3 files into that folder. Create more folders of mp3 files as you like.
12. Close the "Disc Layout Editor" window.
13. Switch back to the "Information" tab and confirm that "Auto" is checked.
14. Click File > "Save Project..." to save your project.
15. Click the graphical icon (folder->disc) (located on the lower-left) to begin the burn process.
16. If your CD-RW was not blank, a popup box will ask "Would you like to erase it now?", and you should click Yes. (My drive took about 30 seconds to erase the disc, which means it probably performed a Quick Erase rather than Full Erase, which turned out not to matter.)
17. ImgBurn will provide a few confirmation dialog boxes just prior to initiating the burn process; just click OK to use its default suggestions.
    
18. Depending on the Write Speed you chose, the burn process could take about 4 minutes to burn and another 4 minutes to verify (or longer in my case).
19. If the verification fails, erase the disc and try burning again. (My PLDS DVDRWBD DH-12E3S drive has been failing >50% of the time; I haven't figured out whether it's faulty or whether certain mp3s have been causing the failures, which wouldn't make any sense to me.)
20. Try the burned disc in your car, and see if it will play.

 

Update: I took that same CDRW to a different computer, and it failed to burn. So I think the CDRW itself was faulty. (Maybe it had been rewritten too many times.) I don't have any more CDRWs to try.

I successfully burned an mp3 CDR, and it worked in my Prius. Unfortunately, the sound system is playing the mp3s very quietly (although they were normal on my computer), so I need to turn up the volume to 45, which then leads to the risk that I'll blast my ears out if/when I accidentally switch to radio or another source without first turning the volume down.

 

My experience with my 2008 Prius Tspirit (UK Touring equivalent) is that the sound settings for the CD differs from the AUX or Radio settings. They hold their own independent volumes as you set them. So what you described regarding volume is highly unlikely to happen.
This however, may be only available on the advanced 6 CD Stereo system available in the Touring and Tspirit models at least.


iPad ? Pro

 

Happens in my Prius with the JBL 6-CD changer too. Even when I normalize the recording volume on the "home-made CDs", balancing playback volume with store bought ones, in general I have to crank the volume up on home ones in the car. Yes, there is a greater variance when using the AUX but there's a large variance in the CD player too.