Ripping cd in iTunes creates multiple files?

[givemegut]

When ripping some albums (McCartney, Will the Circle be Unbroken) iTunes breaks the songs into multiple files with different songs in each file. The artwork and title are all the same. All of my other cd's create one file with all the songs in it. Any ideas why this is happening?

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hi givemegut - Your other programs are creating a single file and following a cue sheet that specifies all the track information. Most programs rip audio as separate tracks with the track information either embedded in the track or a separate database.

 

[Opsman]

Is there a fix for this? What "your other programs"?

 

thanks

[orgel]

Is there a fix for this? What "your other programs"?

 

One file per track is a good way to go, and this, in fact, is how iTunes does it.

 

Some software, usually older software, would rip an entire CD as one file and then use a cue sheet (a separate ".cue" file) to indicate where the track breaks are. It's hard to know what specific software someone might have that would have done this.

 

Some software (e.g., XLD for OS X) can read in a cue sheet plus the corresponding album rip and output separate track files. Also, some playback software supports cue sheets.

 

--David

[wgscott]

There is in fact a setting in iTunes to make a single track from the CD. (This is handy for ripping audio books for example). It is not the default behavior.

[orgel]

There is in fact a setting in iTunes to make a single track from the CD.

 

Where is that? I can't find it.

 

Are you talking about the "Consolidate Files…" command? I see that as being a little different, since you don't end up with a ".cue" file (AFAIK) and it's after the fact (i.e., the rip).

 

--David

[wgscott]

I can't remember exactly, and can't test it, but looked this up and it sounds familiar:

 

The songs you want to join together must be adjacent to each other on the disc, which should not be a problem if you are ripping an entire opera. To select all the tracks, click on a song title and choose Select All from the Edit menu to highlight each one.

 

Go back to the Advanced menu and choose "Join CD Tracks." A black bracket appears next to the song titles indicating that iTunes will combine the selected tracks. Click the "Import CD" button in the top right corner of the iTunes window to convert the songs into one big file, which you can copy over to your iPod.