A very disappointing fact that I recently discovered is that iTunes doesn't support reading or writing CD-TEXT. It says it will write CD-TEXT but I have tried this several times and still when playing the CD in CD-TEXT capable players, I see track 1.

I utilize iTunes for all my music needs so this is very disappointing and I am now on the search for a fix. I heard that TOAST works if you burn your CD's with TOAST your CD-TEXT will work so its more than likely a limitation to iTunes which is very sad. This issue has been around for a very very long time and still Apple refuses to fix it. Pretty sad since I am such an Apple fan. I'm disappointed they ignore this feature many of us love.

As I discover an alternative to burn CD-TEXT capable CD's, I'll post them here so you too can utilize the work around.

Try #1 is a free program called Burn.

You click on Audio CD and then drag the songs from iTunes into the Burn Window (its not real pretty) and click on preferences and make sure you have CD-TEXT enabled and burn away.

FAILED

Something I discovered... it doesn't matter what software you use if your CD/DVD burner doesn't support it

HL-DT-ST DVDRW GS23N:

Firmware Revision: SB07

Interconnect: ATAPI

Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipping Drive)

Cache: 2048 KB

Reads DVD: Yes

CD-Write: -R, -RW

DVD-Write: -R, -R DL, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW

Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw, DVD-DAO

Media: To show the available burn speeds, insert a disc and choose View > Refresh

Where it says CD-Write: it needs to say CD-TEXT or its not supported.

Usually for most later CD drives you'll see this:

CD-Write: -R, -RW, BUFE, CDText, Test, IndexPts, ISRC

You can upgrade your CD/DVD burner to a better model but it'll cost ya.

Check out owc and it looks like they offer an internal upgrade or just get an external one for about the same price.

So I've tried purchasing a external Memorex drive from Staples and no luck. I then tried using my Linux Server with K3B and still nothing. So I'm not quite sure what the trick is to get CD-TEXT to work. My DVD player says it recognizes CD-TEXT so I'm guessing that CD-TEXT isn't being written to the CD. I also tried a memorex CD as well as an HP CD and still the same results.

If anyone has any hints on how to get CD-TEXT on a CD I would appreciate it. I prefer using my MacBook to burn the CD's, especially since all my music is in iTunes. Right now I'm not sure if its a software issue or a hardware limitation.

I'm downloading the $149 Roxio Toast to see if it works. It's 2.5GB so it'll be awhile over my uVerse connection.

Okay, so I'm apparently not as smart as I think I am.

The first CD I made in iTunes on my MacBook worked just fine in my truck. It displayed the CD-TEXT just fine. Apparently the very expensive samsung 3D BlueRay player (the best Samsung has) can't read CD-TEXT but my cheap APEX DVD player reads it just fine. Go figure. So I wasted $149 on TOAST but to be honest, its not bad software. I like adding the cross fade effect on only certain songs that have a long silence and I do have more options for CD covers now.

So from my understanding, any CD Writer can write CD-TEXT, its a matter of what CD players can read that CD-TEXT that's been written on the CD.