Burning

Hyper Simple Instructions

1. if you haven't already: Turn off AutoPlay
2. create a playlist with just the songs you want to burn, and select that playlist
3. click the "Burn Button" (looks like a camera iris, on the top right. to see a pic, scroll down)
4. stick in a blank CD-R disk (or a CD-RW if you're just testing)
5. click "Burn" in the dialog that came up

To test if it all worked, play the disc in real karaoke hardware (playing in a computer is NOT a fair test).

Detailed Instructions

Click here for detailed burning instructions.

kJams Burning Plugin

• Sold Separately from Lite & Pro (not included)
• Comes for free with kJams 2 (included)
• Allows kJams Lite, Pro or kJams 2 to burn new CD+G discs from a playlist.
• In kJams Lite & Pro only:
  • The burning plugin is SOLD SEPARATELY, for $20. It does NOT come with kJams.
  • The Tryout version of the burning plugin allows you to burn 2 songs per disc, so you can test to see if it works with your CD burner
  • Do NOT purchase the burning plugin until AFTER you have tested a burned disc in actual karaoke hardware (not a computer)
  • Is an in-app purchase, built in to preferences->burning
  • After you install, to see if it installed correctly, run kJams and in preferences select the Burning tab.
• WARNING: some drives don't burn CDGs!! See the section on Compatible Drives.
• Burns the song with your pitch bending (shifting) intact (so when you play it on real hardware, it comes out pitch bent, without instructing the playback device to do anything special). Does NOT burn tempo-shifting or sync-slipping (tho it should)
• Is currently in Final (Release Candidate) stage
• WARNING: Pioneer DVR drives do NOT seem to produce viable CD+G discs. They will play in computers but not on real hardware
• WARNING: Due to their inconsistency in some CD/DVD players, Colored or Black CD-R's are NOT recommended.
• From a customer: I was using (cheap generic) CD-R's that I found on the web, but they would ont read on Numark karaoke machines. After doing a lot of reading it looks CD+G machines are not all as forgiving as normal computers. They recommend only music CD Maxell or Memorex. I used Maxell and use the slowest burn speed. The CD worked great on the Numark machine that I was having trouble with.
• NOTE: When testing burning, use CD-RW discs, so you don't make coasters. When you've verified it is all working just great, THEN switch to using CD-R discs. Most commercial players WILL accept CD-R discs, but will NOT accept CD-RW discs.

If Burning fails

• See what to do in case of a Failed Burn.

Burning bin/cue files

If you have a bin/cue file pair, you can drag the BIN file into kJams (or "File->Add To Library…" it) and it will appear as a CD. To burn this image, select the CD and in the file menu the "Burn Playlist…" menu item should now read "Burn bin/cue to disc…", just pick that and burn as normal.

Making Pristine Copies

Normally when you burn a disc, the source audio comes from some compressed format. Using typical settings this means an (optionally zipped) MP3 file. Audiophiles will of course wish to create copies of their discs with all the fidelity of the uncompressed audio from the original disc. It's simple to do this with kJams. When you rip a disc, the original, uncompressed audio, direct from the disc, is stored in the cache. (The MP3 file is then created from this uncompressed cache). Typically this cache gets cleared out to make room for more recent songs that you play (which are decompressed from the MP3 files), so what you want to do is burn your copy immediately after you rip your disc. If you want to make a pristine compilation, just re-rip from the original discs each song you want in your compilation, then burn your new disc.

1. Clear your cache (kJams->Preferences->Audio and press the clear button a few times (yes, a *few* times). If you've recently burned a disc the size may not go to zero, this is fine)
2. Set your cache size to be greater than the number of songs you plan to burn. eg: if you think you'll fit 18 songs on the disc, make sure the cache size is at least 19.
3. Re-rip the songs you want to burn pristine copies of. This copies the original, uncompressed audio into the cache, ready for burning.
4. Make a playlist of the compilation. If you are copying a single disc, and you have the "Create Playlists of Imported Songs" turned on, you can just use the playlist that was created, just make sure you first rename the playlist to the proper disc name before burning.
5. Select the playlist
6. Open the "Activity" window
7. Press the burn button (once!)

At this point, watch the Activity window closely. It should immediately say "assembling bin/cue file". If instead it says "Unpacking song" and/or "Writing CDG to Cache" then a step was missed and you may be getting compressed audio. If so, press the stop sign and check your steps. Otherwise, the bin/cue assembly will complete and then you'll burn a pristine disc using uncompressed audio.