In reply to:

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OKAY! Sorry I have no blank CDs at the moment to confirm all this. Just for the record, were you running OSX 10.3.4 and iTunes 4.5 and QuickTime 6.5.1 when doing that test... or what?

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Good point. I am running iTunes 4.5, but with 10.3 and QT 6.4. That may have made the difference, since I accomplished what LarreeBee is trying to do. Then again, maybe it was the album choice. Mick Jagger is quite different from Bing Crosby.

For the record: I tried running from my backup ext HD (ABS) with same failed result.

For the record: I am on OS 10.3.3 as well as the already noted ITunes 4.5 & QT 6.5.1

If there is a VILLAIN, my chief suspect would be QT 6.5.1 (or Apple).

For the record: I have tried with a new USER with same lack of success.

For the record: When importing (downloading) an AAC song from the Music Store and the ITunes preference is set for AIFF the song is downloaded as AAC.

For the record: An AAC song CANNOT be converted using ADVANCED / CONVERT SELECTION TO AIFF --- it refuses with a dialog box saying NO DICE.

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I have no more alternatives to explore.

I ask one question of any who will work with me:

Using OS 10.3.3 or 10.3.4 with ITunes 4.5 AND QuickTime 6.5.1 can you import (download) an AAC file to your Library, then burn same with Apple or Toast to an audio CD and play the CD back. I want to know whether you have done it, not merely whether you think you can do it.

> When importing (downloading) an AAC song from the Music Store and
> the ITunes preference is set for AIFF the song is downloaded as AAC.

That's good!!! As duly noted above, that "importing" pref applies only to ripping and converting... NOT downloading. (FWIW, an AIFF download would be ten times as big... and take ten times as long).


> An AAC song CANNOT be converted using ADVANCED / CONVERT
> SELECTION TO AIFF --- it refuses with a dialog box saying NO DICE.

Well, that's also quite normal. But -- as with most comments in this thread -- it may be helpful to specify that that refusal only applies to iTMS purchases (protected .m4p files). AACs the user creates from their own CD collection (which produce .m4a files) can be converted quickly and easily.


Neither of those two conditions are new, nor should they affect any user's ability to burn CDs with any arrangement of tracks they desire (within the playlist x7 limit). .. so the mystery continues.

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I guess MacFixIt readers don't burn much audio CDs, or perhaps haven't upgraded to the latest iTunes and QuickTime yet. I too am surprised more folks haven't stepped up to the plate to say it all works fine for them (or possibly to confirm your symptoms either).

>>> -- it may be helpful to specify that that refusal only applies to iTMS purchases (protected .m4p files). AACs the user creates from their own CD collection (which produce .m4a files) can be converted quickly and easily. <<<

Yikes ! I hope that by now other readers of this topic recognize that we are only concerned with songs originating from Apple's Music Store. I have said it above more than once.

>>> I guess MacFixIt readers don't burn much audio CDs, or perhaps haven't upgraded to the latest iTunes and QuickTime yet. I too am surprised more folks haven't stepped up to the plate to say it all works fine for them (or possibly to confirm your symptoms either). <<<

Thanks for saying it again. I WANT others to step up to the plate & say whether it works for them or, equally importantly, that it does NOT work for them.

I think it is pretty doggone important if Apple has changed ITunes so that only albums can be burned into CD's & those within the 7 times limit. I know that I could do this before the days of ITunes 4.5 &/or QT 6.5.1.










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For the record: Since my last report I have upgraded to OS 10.3.4 from OS 10.3.3.

Having done this I have put two Music Store AAC songs from my library into a playlist and burned them to a CD with Toast. I have then imported them to my computer on ITunes. They could not be made to play,so the situation remains the same as previously under OS 1.3.3.

EUREKA !!! EUREKA !!!

To make a playable CD from AAC Music Store songs (including any that have played more than 7 times) one must first set ITunes Preferences for BURNING to DATA. Then fill your playlist with AAC songs & burn.

The resulting CD will play back on your Mac.

It remains until tomorrow to be determined whether such a CD can be played on a stereo outfit. I will get a friend to try it as I do not have a CD stero player. (I just woke up to the fact that there is one in my car!)

I have been following this thread with great interest. I did not interfere up to now, however, as in Europe we have no Apple Music Store yet, but given the difficulties you are describing, I wonder whether I would buy from them any way.

As to your question, will a data CD play in a normal stereo setup, I don't think you'll get that working. For your (existing or nonexistent) stereo equipment, you will need to burn AIFF files to an audio CD, and that's where the trouble started, if I have interpreted each letter of this highly interesting thread correctly.

Keep investigating, LarreeBee: you're teaching the world right now! (well, at least one guy in Belgium )

As I expected stereo failed to play music on this CD. Therefore, I cannot make a CD consisting of randomly chosen Music Store songs for any but Mac users.

However, I can play this music over MY stereo.

How?

I cannot use the CD, but I do use the playlist on my computer containing the same songs. The playlist is automatically loaded onto my IPod. I hook my IPod onto my stereo or my old Apple powered speakers and out comes the music.

In the next REPLY I will show the Mac Help File that put me on the track.

 

 Quoting from the "ITunes and Music Store Help file:
  
Backing up your music to a CD or DVD
 
You can create (or "burn") a data CD or DVD with any of the songs and spoken word content in your iTunes library. You might want to do this to make a backup copy (or archive) of all your audio files, or to transfer them to another computer.

To burn a DVD, your computer should have an internal SuperDrive and Mac OS X version 10.2.4 or later. Some third-party DVD burners may also work.

You can store about 650 MB of files on a CD and about five times that on a DVD.


To create a data CD or DVD:


1. Choose iTunes > Preferences, then click the Burning button at the top of the window.

2. Choose Data CD as the Disc Format, then click OK.

3. Create a playlist that includes all the items in your library, or all the items you want to back up to the CD or DVD.

You can only burn a CD or DVD from the songs in a playlist.

If the playlist contains more songs than will fit on one CD or DVD, iTunes will burn as many songs as will fit on one disc, and then ask you to insert another disc to continue burning the remaining songs. (You can see the size of the selected playlist at the bottom of the iTunes window.)

4. Select the playlist you want to burn to the CD or DVD, then click the Burn Disc button.

5. Insert a blank CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, or DVD-RW disc, and click Burn Disc again.


Any audio files in the playlist (MP3, AAC, AIFF, WAV, Audible) are copied to the CD or DVD.

Data CDs play on your computer, but may not play in some CD or DVD players. For more information about disc formats or buying CDs or DVDs, click "Tell me more."


Tell me more