CDI 300 Player is not reading my MP3 cds

kidd,
Are you sure you got a "CDI300-MP3" and not a regular CDI-300, because a CDI-300 (without MP3) will do exactly what you described.

This is a regular CDI300



This is a CDI-300MP3



Notice the differences. The CDI300-MP3 has 3 black knobs in the upper left, the regular one only has one silver one. The MP3 version also has the gray lines below the display and has a MP3 logo between the Anti-shock and seemless loop logo. If you are positive that your CDI is the MP3 version let me know and we'll take the next step.

Thank you for your reply. I'm a 100% sure it is the CDI 300 MP3 player... The player works perfect except that it doesn't read the MP3 CDs corectly. It read CDrs burned as auido CDs, but as a MP3 file CD, it doesn't work. It plays the CD with static and it doesn't change tracks. I just got the system in yesterday from Platinum Records at www.platinum-records.com.

Could this player be a defect? I don't understand how everything else works perfect except for the MP3 feature. Is there a button I need to press to activate it? In addition, its just not one of my players, its both of my players. I can understand a defect to one player, but why two? Do I have to return the players? This really sucks... Please give me some advice on what I can do...

Thanks again for your help.

I was curious, because as I said a regular CDI will do exactly what you described, I wanted to make sure the vendor didn't sell you a CDI-300MP3 but give you regular CDI300's instead. A regular CDI300 will play regular CD's and burned CDR's, but will accept and play static if you insert a MP3 disc. At this point since you are sure you have a CDI-300MP3 I would call tech support at 1-(800)322-6337

Also,

Are you finalizing your disc's?

Thanks Steve for your assistance. Yes, I have tried burning my mp3 cds in two diffrent ways. One way with iTunes, and the second with the MAC OS system itself. I let the software complete the full burn with no interuptions.

I will give tech support a call... again, thanks for your help... I really hope there is a simple solution to this. I don't want to return the Players back... I have several gigs coming up.

FYI, I am totaly sure my players are MP3 players... There is no doubt they have sold me the corect player... Thanks again...

Since you are burning with iTunes, are these MP3 files or AAC (ie m4p apple format)?

MP3 format... Unless apple converts my mp3s to aac. I will look into it when get home.

But what I did try was taking some .mp3 files, which I assume are mp3s, (unless apple has converted all my mp3s to aac), and burned the mp3s without iTunes. I just used the internal OS burning software to burn the cd. That should have burned the mp3s without attaching anything with iTunes. Well that is my theory!

You have a good point... I will check the info on some of my .mp3s to confirm if they are really mp3s...

Lastly, I have an mp3 player in my car, and I played the cds I have burned in my car as well with the CDI players. It works in my car, but not with the CDIs.

You would think though, if the files name ends with .mp3, it should read as .mp3, right? Besides, I know I have set my prefrences to import mp3s as mp3s and not to create a copy in the iTunes folder. Maybe I have missed something with that... I will look into it... Good looking out!

No problem,
It looks like your best bet is to call Support. The CDI's are great CD players, I hope you enjoy them when your problem get's resolved.

I have called tech support and they too don't understand what's going on. They have sold hundreds of the CDI 300 MP3 Player and this is a first to hear that the player does not play the mp3 cds.

The only advice they have given me is to check the connection in the back of the cd players to see if they are broken. That may lead to static to the mixer. Although I don't think that is the problem because the players plays all other cds with no problems.

There could only be three other solutions to my problem. 1. My mp3 files may have been converted to aac files automatically from iTunes, thus the players don't read aac files. Or, 2. The CDs I'm burning from and/or my MAC computer is burning the cds in a format that the CDIs don't identify.

or, lastly 3. There is something wrong with the payers and I have to return them for an exchange.

Is there someone out there who owns the CDI 300 MP3 player and burns their MP3 CDs on their MAC have any problems?

Once I have figured it all out, I'll let you all know what I have come with... Thanks for your help.

I have confirmation that all of my music files on my MAC are .mp3 files, not aac files from iTunes. My preferences are set and always have been set to import music as mp3s, not aac!

Now is my problem the computer? Is it the burner? Is it the type/brand of CD-Rs I'm using? Lastly, is it simply a defect in both of my players?

I have a 600 MHz PowerPC G3 with 640mb SDRAM - Running Mac OS 10.3.9. I have iTunes Version 6.

My burner is a Toshiba DVD-Rom SD-R2002. The CD-Rs I'm using are Sony 700mb.

Could any of these items be the problem?

Frankly, my theory is that there is something wrong with the players. The reason is that all of the MP3 CDs I have burned work fine in my car CD MP3 player, which is a Kenwood. Why would it work with the Kenwood and not with the CDIs?

Again, if anyone who can answer any of these questions, I would gratefully appreciate it.

I would have to agree. Can you take them into the store to swap them out, also can you take your discs into the store to try your discs out on the players in the store before taking them home?

That is a great idea and I wish it were that simple. Unfortunately I purchased the system online from www.platinum-records.com. There is no store to try the players. I would need to ship the system back to them and have them exchange it for a new system. Which of course is a big hassle. I have gigs coming up and I don't have time to wait for shipping. That is why posting to the forum is very important to me. I'm hoping someone would have a simple answer. I have a gig this coming Friday and one on the fourth of July. I guess I will ship the system after those two gigs and hope I get the new set in time before my next gig.


For the time being, I'm going to continue to check with this forum and try to find a store with a the CDI 300 mp3 players on display. I'll take my MP3 CDs and try my cds on their players. From there I can confirm if is the problem are my CDs or the players...

kidd,
You in CA right, ADJ is not far away, maybe you can get them repaired quick if the problem is with the decks.

Yes, I live in Santa Clara, near San Francisco. I know American DJ is in LA. I'll call tech support tomorrow and see what they say. I have a good feeling there is not much they can do due to the fact I still have a 14 day warranty with platinum records. They probably going to say I have to return the players to where I bought them from. Yet, I will try. If they say yes, Shipping can take as long as one day... and fixing the players may take a week. What i should do is return the players back to platinum because according to their warranty, they will pay for all the shipping cost.

Besides, do I really want American Dj to fix my players? I paid for a brand new CD system, which is not cheap. American DJ/Platinum Records should exchange my players for brand new working CD players... I shouldn't wait for them to fix my current players... even at that, have purchased broken players for a brand new price.

Thanks bro for your suggestions... You have been really helpful. Please let me know if you have any other ideas that cross your mind.

Hey, Kidd,

Hope you get your problem fixed.

Nice to see another Mac user here!

I don't think that iTunes will let you burn an m4a (AAC) file onto an mp3 CD. In fact, Apple's disc burning tutorial states that "To create an MP3 CD, you must have your music files saved in MP3 format before burning to a CD."

FYI, I've burned mp3 discs in the past with Roxio Toast on my Mac, a FW800 model dual G4, at the time running at least OS X 10.2.8. That worked out well, but I've never done it with iTunes.

Are you trying to burn ACC (I-tunes) files. These will not play. I-Tunes are coded differently then tradition MP3's

Try to burn a MP3 CD on a non-MAC using windows media or similiar and see if that works.

Thanks

Tom

You can just change the importer to "MP3" instead of AAC.

Ok... here is some info about the status with my problem with the CDI300 MP3players. It turns out there is a possibility there may be a problem with the first production line of CDI 300 MP3 players. It seems that they did not receive the software update, which would correct the problem of reading all type of CDs from any device burner. American Audio is shipping a brand new set of players to Platinum Records, which I purchased the players from. From there Platinum Records will check the players and make sure they work before shipping the players to me.

Just to be sure, I have shipped two burned MP3 cds to Platinum Records and have them try my cds with the players. One cd is burned using iTunes, at 2x speed. The second is burned using the internal OS X Internal Software at 2x speed. Hopefully the software update is the solution to my problem and I will become a happy camper!

I will post back with results as soon as I receive some answers... Peace

Good luck bro....let us know .

All right guys... here is the update on the CDI 300 MP3 players. American Audio has sent their brand new (Off the Line) CDI 300 players to Platinum Records and it turns out that, they too, do no play my MP3 cds. I had Platinum try to play the CDs on the CDI 500 MP3 players, which too did not work. Platinum thinks it must be the software that I am using on my MAC.

Now check this out... I had them try MP3 cds in the ******* CDJ-200s and guess what, THEY WORK! That is proof it's not the software I'm using with my MAC. It also proves it's not that I burn my CDs on a MAC. The problem is American Audio! They don't have the technology to read all MP3 cds. I highly recommend for American Audio to get their **** together before selling their product! I'm spending too much time and money to figure out something that shouldn't be this difficult.

Platinum is sending the CDI 300s back to me and I will invest in different software to burn my MP3s. If this does not work, Platinum is allowing me to return the whole package for a full refund.

If the players work with the new software, I'll be happy. If not, I will return the system and no longer do business with American Audio. I will do my research before investing into a new system.

I got to hand to Platinum Records for helping me out with my situation. They gave great service. What sucks about all of this is that I�m wasting money on shipping cost to get the players back to my location before this Friday, of which I have a gig.

Ultimately, if you have a MAC, do not purchase any MP3 players from American Audio.

Peace�

Wow... It just gets worse by the min... I got a phone call from Platinum Records. It turns out if they ship the players to me, they won't allow me to return them back. So I'm forced to return the system to them. I'm returning the mixer and coffin to them tomorrow UPS ground. From there they will refund my money.

As far as Platinum Records go... They provided great service up to the point where I had to make a choice to either accept the players or return them. I have learned that I will no longer purchase CD players from an online store without doing my research on the players.

I will shop for new players now. Any recommendations?

This concludes my problem with the CDI 300 MP3 players...

Peace

I am really sorry for the problems you experienced. I have some CDI-500MP3's on the way to my house. If you want to, out of my own curiousity, can you send me a CD that you burned to test with? As far as recommending other players, we cannot do that here. All I could offer to you is to send you a MP3 CD I burn to try out. Send me a PM through the forum and we can see if there is anything I can help you with.

Kidd23, Sorry for the ongoing problems but I am pretty sure that MP3 files burned with iTunes on a Mac work with no problems on this player. I have tried a few CDs in a store in Atlanta and all my CDs work with no problems. Ultimately I purchased the MCD-810 which does MP3s as well and workd flawlessly with my iTunes CDs. You have to check your options in iTunes under preferences -> Advanced -> Burning Tab -> select MP3 (and not data). You can also select Audio if you want audio CDs.

That should work.

I have done a couple tests with MP3 and so far I am very satisfied with its performance. I am going to try different Codecs, and VBR/CBR, as well as WMA, AAC, OGG, WAV etc. The CDI is advertised as MP3 capable, but I am curious as to if any other formats will work, as well as the differenct ways to encode MP3's too see if I can find any problems with LAME, FLAC, CBR, VBR, and different bitrates, I will try 96-320 and everything in between.

I will post my results with Video.

DJ Serge... Thank you for your reply, yet I wish it was that simple. Please read through all my messages through this forum. I explained every step that I took to try to figure the problem out.

I graduated with a Multi Media degree and I work with both MACs and PCs at work. I'm very much sure I have done everything right and I�m confident I know what I�m doing. I have done exactly what you described, yet the CDs I have burned do not work on four-CDI300 MP3 players and on a set of CDI500 MP3 players.

The computer geeks at Platinum Records are baffled on why it doesn�t work. They put in my MP3 CDs in other CD Players and it worked! They imported the MP3 files on their PCs with no problems. Yet, the CDs did not work with the CDIs. So I think the problem is not the MP3 cds, it�s the players�

I have two theories. 1. The problem could be my computer/software/burner. I have MAC G3 iBook, running OX 10.2 or 10.3... I think the CDI300&500 can't read older model computer encoding on burned CDs. In my opinion its highly unlikely to be the problem, yet from what you say, if your MP3 CDs worked the CDIs, which were burned on a MAC, then it has to be either my computer/burner or some software glitch.

OR

2. I personally think there is something wrong with American Audio's technology. I think the players can't read every single type of MP3 CD burned on whatever software on whatever computer. If so, I wouldn't be having this problem from the get go!

I have already returned the players and I ended purchasing the DN-S1000, which are cool and I think are much more realistic to real turntables than the CDIs. Don�t get me wrong, with the short period of time I have had them, I really enjoyed the CDIs. I would have been very satisfied if I didn�t have this problem. The DN-S1000 will have to do for now�

Thanks for your input.

Congrats on your DN-S1000.

I have one of those as well. I bought it because it was hard for me to remove the MCD-810 from my nice studio furniture and re-plug after every gig. The MCD-810 is now my studio DJ setup and I use Traktor DJ + Powerbook and 1 DN-S 1000 as my live gig setup.

The MCD-810 (which probably has the same MP3 engine as the CDI 300/500) supports more MP3 formats than the DN-S1000. They will all play most MP3 files but the DN-S 1000 will not loop or fast forward / rewind VBR files while the MCD-810 will. I should also note that the MCD-810 will do absolutely everything with MP3 files that it does with regular audio except for the pitch range not going up/down to 100%.

The DN-S1000 will have a few more restrictions on its MP3 files but it's an excellent choice. You also have CD Text display as a bonus.

Good luck with it and enjoy.