HOWTO: Create MP3s of a mixed-mode CD music (like Civ 2)

We all know you can make lovely music with Civ 2... but how can you listen to Civ 2 music from your CD anytime?

Problem: Civ 2 MGE is a mixed-mode CD. Some may know what that means & can instantly deal with it. Many do not. Here is what you do to get your music so you can listen to it via alternate means, like Media Player Classic or WinAmp. This process can be used on any CD you own, mixed mode or not, and in America, it is legal and free, if you own the program. Check your local laws if you want to be sure, especially in Finland.


Note 1: This thread contains 7 screenshots, all in .PNG format, totaling 178 KB.
Note 2: This thread is linked to a question, here.



1. Prepare. Get your Civ 2 CD. Know all the drive letters and devices on your system, including the brand/type of any virtual drives, removable drives, and CD/DVD drives.


2. Download a CD-ripper. I have used Audiograbber for years. Since 2004, it is released as FREEWARE. It is located here. Get it.


3. Rip the tracks. You must get the 11 tracks of music off the CD, so you can play them in your favorite player. I will assume you use Audiograbber to do this.


4. Start Audiograbber. Click the Audoigrabber icon, which you just installed.


5. File directory. Select place to put the files which Audiograbber creates (see #6 for screenshot).


6. Select CD drive. In practice, most DVD drives of today are also CD drives (combos). The drive is selected in an 'unusual' place. Start with the Pull-down menu:

Settings --> General Settings --> CD-ROM Unit

Screenshot #1: Select directory & CD drive.




7. The CD. Here is your program & music on the Civ 2 MGE disk.

Screenshot #2: Program & music files.




8. Track Names. This is optional; you need an internet connection, or the full Freedb on your machine. Track names are not stored on audio disks. But you can get them automatically from Freedb, or name them yourself... or just rip them with generic "Track 01..." naming (& rename the files later if you want).

Screenshot #2: Getting track names automatically.




9. Select Tracks. Ensure the tracks you want to rip are checked. Also, make sure the MP3 box inside the MP3 button on the toolbar is checked.

Screenshot #4: Ensure a checkmark is in each box next to the tracks, plus MP3 button.




10. MP3 settings. Make your MP3 settings. Naturally, if you know audio stuff already, you can of course make your own choices, or even make OGGs, etc. My general recommendations for newbies:
- Direct Rip and Encode to MP3 file
- Internal Recorder
- LAME Encoder (its the best quality encoder and 100% free; included in AG)
- Constant Bitrate
- 128 kbps
- Joint Stereo
- Normal

Screenshot #5: MP3 option settings.




11. Ripping. In progress. This is CD track #6, which is Audio file #5 (Mongol Horde). Remember this is a mixed mode CD, right? You can't "listen" to a computer program, which is track #1. Plus, it is actually written differently in the CD structure. Ergo, unless your player or software "knows" about mixed-mode CDs (and older players in particular may not), then the disk can look like it has no music when you attempt to "play" it in a home, car, portable, etc. system. ADDED (thanks to Mercator's question): some players may even try to "play" the data track (Track #1) as audio, which can potentially damage the speakers/hardware. Most newer CD players should not have a problem anymore; buggy firmware and/or olders ones seem to choke the most.

Technical Note: The CD player should "skip" over track one (which is stored in CD Yellow Book format) and start playing the CD Red Book audio tracks. Most players that do this incorrectly will in fact just play silence; but a few players will try to play the data as audio bits, which can cause loud noised or even possible damage. A mixed-mode CD is written in a single track, and is not the same as CD-Extra (which places the program at the end). As recently as last month, a US Patent for dealing with this mixed-mode data structure in firmware was filed, even though the "Industry" generally does not use mixed-mode anymore.

Screenshot #6: Ripping in progress.




12. Done. About 23:04 (~23 minutes) of music in 11 tracks, encoded at 128 kbps with LAME, for a 21.1 MB total compressed filesize. You can write these to a backup archive disk with Nero (my recommended CD burning software).

Screenshot #7: Done.



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EDIT: Added more detail in Step 11.

starlifter said:

Remember this is a mixed mode CD, right? You can't "listen" to a computer program, which is track #1. Plus, it is actually written differently in the CD structure. Ergo, unless your player or software "knows" about mixed-mode CDs (and older players don't), then the disk looks like it has no music when you attempt to "play" it in a home, car, portable, etc. system.

Click to expand...

Are you just saying regular CD players won't play track 1 or are you saying they can't play mixed-mode CD's at all? If you're saying the latter, that's not true, in my experience. CD players can play mixed-mode CD's just fine. The only problem might be that some players will actually attempt to play the data track which will result in noise (which can possibly damage your speakers/ears).

Another thing, given that information you gave above, it is also possible to do it the other way around. You can make your own "Civ2 soundtrack" by burning songs onto the audio part of a mixed-mode CD. Just make sure that the data part contains a folder called "Civ2", and some Civ2 versions also look for a file called "Civ2.exe" inside that folder. But it just looks for the filename, it doesn't check the contents of it, so that file can be empty.

Are you just saying regular CD players won't play track 1 or are you saying they can't play mixed-mode CD's at all?

Click to expand...

No; in fact, in theory, CD players "should" play mixed-mode CDs. This was know to the industry as early as 1994-95 as I recall. However, many players did/do have trouble. Most newer CD players should not have a problem anymore; buggy firmware and/or olders ones seem to choke the most.

The CD player should "skip" over track one (which is stored in CD Yellow Book format) and start playing the CD Red Book audio tracks. Most players that do this incorrectly will in fact just play silence; but a few players will try to play the data as audio bits, which can cause what you referred to (possible damage).

A mixed-mode CD is written in a single track, and is not the same as CD-Extra (which places the program at the end). As recently as last month, a US Patent for dealing with this mixed-mode data structure in firmware was filed, even though the "Industry" generally does not use mixed-mode anymore.

Sorry if I'm sounding rather critical, by the way, because I do think this guide is very useful.

So good guid, pleaser do write more, an how write to my cd. I use winamp to heer music and it work and i mix random to do it too.

Darn fine thread. Very helpful... the automatic name query was awesome, and the screenshots a masterpiece. This works on CDs besides Civ 2... I'm not sure everyone is totally clear on that. This is helpful for more than just mixed-mode CDs. BTW, Germans make the best music software today, particularly MP3 encoders.

Great advice. Is there any chance you know how to get the music from a PS1 Civilization 2 disk? Doing the same steps it doesn't work for me. Maybe it can't be done.

Thanks for sharing, it is great
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