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Creating a standard audio CD

sanjuro

Tube Smuggler
Sep 13, 2004
17,373
0
SF
I know you can copy a CD to a blank, or put mp3's or some other music format onto a blank.

I have an older CD player and I want to make a mix CD. Is this a simple process or impossible?
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
Simple process. Any decent CD burning program will convert your MP3 into CD audio, and it'll be a transparent process. You just say you're making a music CD, select your MP3s, and it'll convert them on the fly. I use Nero Burning ROM.

If you already have your MP3s you want to put on the mix, then just download Nero, tell it you're making a Music CD (that's important, otherwise it'll just burn the MP3 data), and select your songs. There's a status bar that'll tell you when the CD is full.

If you don't have your MP3s, download an MP3 ripper, and rip the CDs you want to your computer.

Pretty much any software will do this - you just need a CD ripping program, and a comprehensive CD burning program. I have Musicmatch Jukebox for my music playing and CD ripping needs, and Nero for my CD burning. I believe the latest Winamp will rip CDs as well.

If it's an old CD player, I'd recommend only using CD-R media (no CD-RW), and "finalize" the CD once you're done (there will be an option for this in the CD burning program - it will say "Finalize CD when finished" or something like that, and probably give you a warning that you won't be able to burn more data to the CD once you do that). Often older players will refuse to read CDs that haven't been finalized.

:thumb:
 

narlus

Eastcoast Softcore
Staff member
Nov 7, 2001
24,658
63
behind the viewfinder
actually, if it's an audio cd (ie, to be played in conventional cd players and not computers) it's a good idea (and cheaper too) to never use CDRW but always CDRs.
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
sanjuro said:
Well, will mp3's on a CD play in an older cd player?
No, an MP3 burned to a CD will not play. MP3 is a compressed format, so it requires a program to do decompression while it plays. Some CD players now support this decompression (through firmware) but not older ones.

However, most CD burning programs will automatically convert MP3s to decompressed, CD player-readable format (.cda, CD Audio files) if you tell the CD program you want to burn an audio CD. This typically requires no interaction on your part, just select the MP3s to burn, and the program will decompress and burn them.
 

sanjuro

Tube Smuggler
Sep 13, 2004
17,373
0
SF
binary visions said:
No, an MP3 burned to a CD will not play. MP3 is a compressed format, so it requires a program to do decompression while it plays. Some CD players now support this decompression (through firmware) but not older ones.

However, most CD burning programs will automatically convert MP3s to decompressed, CD player-readable format (.cda, CD Audio files) if you tell the CD program you want to burn an audio CD. This typically requires no interaction on your part, just select the MP3s to burn, and the program will decompress and burn them.
Thanks for the .cda tip. I couldn't find a good explanation about it until now.