Using a Nero image for (non critical) master transfers?

[Darius van H]

What's people's experience with using Nero images for master transfers?.........i'm taking about non-critical, low amount pressing CD's where they're planning to burn the master themselves anyway...........my thinking is, better the devil you know, so why not send 'em an .nrg file?

I'm particularily interested in it's robustness to retain ISRC and CD text info.

I'm gonna do some tests myself but was just wondering if anybody else had some experience with it.............i seem to remember that even some pressing plants are excepting it as a delivery format.

[jdg]

i have one label i work with that i do all his finals on nero images.

he loves it, never had issues.

[inlinenl]

no problems sending *.nrg images ... salisbury in Holland is doing/accepting *.nrg and I have send out some more *.nrg images ( o.a. colombia ) ... including cd-text and isrc.

wonder about the plextools image file ... if the other receiving-end has plextools also .. you could make a plextools image and put that on the FTP
they could burn the PMCD with plextools-pro

[fenderbender.]

I try to stay away from weird, proprietary image formats (as some of you may already know... ;)

NRG is so specific? Can't Nero create an ISO image? Why not use that? Get a copy of ImgBurn, IsoBuster, or Exact Audio Copy. I know those will do it!

The BIN/WAV + CUE method is seeming better and better each day. The CUE file is transparent, can be edited at any time and is seperate from the BIN/WAV file. If you did a revision to a project and only moved the markers, make CD-Text &/or ISRC changes, etc, you could use the existing BIN/WAV file with an updated CUE sheet.

Bottom line - NRG isn't very user friendly, it's not open and if the Ahead software company decides to drop support for it you'll be screwed. Whereas more open formats cannot be destroyed so easily.


Darius,

You should use contact Ahead and ask them about the format. They might put you in contact with a software engineer who could tell you way more than anyone here!

[sanddigger1]

. nrg work fine and are recognized by a lot of burning software and utility programs, like ultraISO which allows to modify the image file or extract .wav from it.

you cannot make an ISO image file of an audio CD : ISO works only for files using the ISO9660 file format, so it works only for data.

[Darius van H]

Thanks!........i tested it and the ISRC codes & CD text didn't make it through the proccess...........i thought i ticked all the correct boxes but apparently not........any ideas?

[jdg]

rly?
it always worked for me. (ISRC and CD-Text)

what versions?

i'll play with it after todays session.. but i know it works

[Darius van H]

Nero 7

[jdg]

im on nero 8.

i think i have an image up now.. i'll pm u so u can download and test

[sanddigger1]

I'm using nero 6 and never had problems with CD-text or ISRC.

[Darius van H]

I must be doing it wrong......i just do CD copy, then don't burn but keep the .nrg that's created......this ain't working.....how should i be doing it?

Thanks!

[fenderbender.]

Originally Posted by sanddigger1

. nrg work fine and are recognized by a lot of burning software and utility programs, like ultraISO which allows to modify the image file or extract .wav from it.

So are CUE sheets. And they are an open format.

Originally Posted by sanddigger1

you cannot make an ISO image file of an audio CD : ISO works only for files using the ISO9660 file format, so it works only for data.

IsoBuster can make ISO images from an audio CD. It isn't ISO9660, but it's doable. I don't know what programs can burn from them, though.

Why wouldn't you use CUE over NRG? Other than because you shelled out $80 for the software..?

[finetuner]

Hi Darius,

I did some testing with all this recently using Nero7 plus EAC.

Originally Posted by Darius van H

I must be doing it wrong......i just do CD copy, then don't burn but keep the .nrg that's created......this ain't working.....how should i be doing it?..

I think it's the copy step where it goes wrong (if i understand you correctly):

IME Nero doesn't read codes, so you need another app for that.
The good news is that Exact Audio Copy does it for free.
Be sure to set the prefs. so it actually uses your drives isrc and text capabilities. Here's how:

EAC > EAC options > tools > retrieve UPC/ISRC codes - AND use CD-TEXT info in cue sheet generation: ON
EAC > Drive options > offset/speed > CD-TEXT read capable drive: ON

Then have EAC copy the audio as well as produce a .cue file which you can open in any text editor to verify or adjust.
Once you get the hang of the .cue files' layout it's not that hard to enter your codes and/or text info by hand if needed.

So basically, you use another app to produce the bin/cue set (bin actually being one long .wav or .aiff file) and then use Nero to merge the two.
Maybe there is an easier way but at least that's is what i got to work, even being a Mac guy ;-)


Here's what i wrote in another thread concerning similar stuff:

If desired, enter cd text info for each track as follows (keep the " " marks):
TRACK 01 AUDIO
TITLE "name of song"
PERFORMER "name of artist" (optional)
INDEX 01 ...
TRACK 02 AUDIO
etc.
Save your new .cue file.

Btw. ISRC comes anywhere after TRACK and before INDEX for each song.

Hope that helps.
Best,

Peter van't Riet
FineTune Mastering

[finetuner]

Originally Posted by fenderbender.

..Why wouldn't you use CUE over NRG? Other than because you shelled out $80 for the software..?

Convenience at the receivers' side of having all (audio + meta data) in one file perhaps?
Plus a cue file can be edited (and messed with) by anyone. Nrg files can't.

Peter van't Riet
FineTune Mastering

[inlinenl]

darius, as destination cd-recorder you'll have to choose the image-recorder ... then just choose copy-cd ...
nero is setup to have two kinds of destination recorders or more if you have multiple cd/dvd burners ..
just you're normal cd/dvd burners and a image-recorder.
when you started nero ... you can choose in the recorder menu the image-recorder as a destination .... then nero is setup to burn disk-images.
don't forget to set-it back when you want to burn a physical disk again.

in the recorder menu : just choose image recorder : virtual device ....

after that put in you're PMCD in you're cd-drive and choose COPY ... that's all ...

there will be a pop-up coming to ask where you want to store the image ...


aarghh mac-users :-)

[finetuner]

Originally Posted by inlinenl

..aarghh mac-users :-)

[Darius van H]

Peter, Wim, thanks!

I now see why it wasn't working!.......i though i could just burn a disc in samplitude then use Nero to make an image, but it seems that's not the correct approach!

[inlinenl]

yes it is, I use wavelab or samplitude to burn the PMCD ... and then make the 1:1 copy disk-image with nero ...
so what you think is okay .. only you're not using nero correctly IMHO ..
put the PMCD you made with samplitude in you're cd player ... start nero ... choose the image-recorder and go & copy ...
then there will be a bit by bit disk copy to the image.nrg

[jamesp]

Originally Posted by inlinenl

wonder about the plextools image file ... if the other receiving-end has plextools also .. you could make a plextools image and put that on the FTP
they could burn the PMCD with plextools-pro

The Plextools pxi file is proprietrary. Plextools XL will work with .cue files but that feature seems to have been dropped in the LE version.

Cheers

James.