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Nero Burning ROM by Ahead
is a versatile piece of software. It allows you to create music
CD's as well.
In this short guide I'll show you how to copy your own Audio CD,
which you can playback on your CD-player.
Why should I create a copy? Well for example to put one in your
car, or to have a spare copy.
If you rather would like to create a 1:1 copy of a music CD, then
please visit the page "How
to copy a music CD".
Note: Read the disclaimer
first! Copying music CD's may be illegal!!!! |
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Page overview
Introduction
NOTE: Before recording a CD, make sure
the source CD is CLEAN! If not, this might be a source of errors and failures.
If you need to clean your CD (yesterday's pizza is still stuck on it)
then use a dry cloth and move it gently from the center of the CD to
the outerring of the CD. Do NOT move it in circles or up and down!
Always be careful, and after each stroke always check the result!
If the pizza is not to be removed with this technique,
consider using water.
NEVER use alcohol or other chemicals!!!!!!
Media Choice
What media type should I use? CD-Recordable or
a CD-Rewriteable?
Tip: if you want to know more about CD's
then you might want to read the page "How
do CD's work?". On the page "How
do I create my own CD?" you will find a bit of text explaining
the difference between CD-recordables and regular CD's.
Well, when you are creating you first CD's, then I'd
suggest you should use CD-Rewriteable if you think it's a shame to toss
yet another $0.50 down the drain because you screwed up a CD. CD-Rewriteables
can be erased and reused. CD-Recordables are write once, so reuse (except
for decoration purposes maybe) is not possible.
Please note: some CD-players cannot handle
CD-Recordables and even worse most normal CD-players cannot handle CD-Rewriteables.
In particular Sony CD-players
are known for their lack of CD-Recordable and CD-Rewriteable compatibility.
Most Philips players are capable
of handling CD-Recordables, even the very old CD-players.
Tip: When using a DVD-player for audio
playback, and CD-Recordables are not read, then consider a test with a
CD-Rewriteable since the surface of these CD's resemble the surface of
a regular DVD (It worked with my Toshiba).
Creating you own
compilation
I can't speak for all you folks out there, but I
do know that I hate hearing 15 songs of the same artist in a row. I'd
rather have my own selection on a CD - specially when I'm driving in my
car.
So how do we do this then ?
Basically it's pretty easy. First we copy the individual
songs to the harddisk. Once we have enough songs, we burn them as an Audio
CD on one CD. Sounds easy he?
There is nothing stopping you from use songs from other
sources. Check out the page "Where can
I get MP3 files?" and the page "How
do I create an MP3?". I also made a page "Introduction
to MP3" if you'd like to know more about MP3.
Note: Using Nero you can use both formats,
WAV and MP3, mixed.
Tip: the songs are stored on your harddisk
as a WAV file, which can be played using the Windows Media player. Not
only that! If you would create (any legal format WAV allowed and MP3 as
well!) your own song, then Nero will be able to handle the file and write
it as a normal song to the Music CD!
Note: The Wizard cannot assist you here!
Warning: this requires you to have at
least 800 Mb free space on your PC's harddrive if you're using WAV files
for a 74 minute CD. When using MP3's instead it will take only about 80Mb.!
Collect songs for your
CD
Before you can create a compilation CD, you must have
songs (duh!). The songs must be stored on your harddisk in either WAV
(best quality) or MP3 (less space needed).
WAV are often used if:
a) you're using your own recording
b) you want the best quality by copying the songs from your own CD collection
In situation a) you can use the LINE-IN of your soundcard
to record from tape or pickup (you know: those black huge discs from way
back...). For situation b) please read the page "How
to copy songs to my harddisk".
MP3 files are not an exact 100% copy of the orginal
song - so quality is a bit less. On the other side: MP3 can be downloaded
(often for free) from the Internet. For more details, please read the
pages "How do I create an MP3"
and "Where can I get MP3's?".
So start collection
your songs FIRST.
If you're done collecting, you can continue with the next step.
Creating
you own compilation
STEP 1: Start Nero.
If the wizard appears, click "Close wizard"
so the "New compilation" window appears. In case this
does not happen, click the "New Compilation" button (
) or choose from the menu "File" option "New".
STEP 2: Select the "Audio-CD" icon
STEP 3: (OPTIONAL) Select the "Audio" tab.
Here we can enter the so called "CD-Text"
content. CD-Text is a feature where the CD-player can display additional
info like song title and artist in it's display. Most CD-players do not
support this, but I got a hunch that this will be something that slowly
enters the Audio CD arena. So you don't need to enter data here. If you
don't enter data: remove the checkmark at "Write CD Text on CD".
If you used the CD database: the text is entered automativally, so I'd
suggest leaving this option enabled.
Additionally you can set the "Audio filters
to on the fly". This is only needed if you plan to use the "Disc
at once" burning method (which I strongly suggest if your CD-writer
supports this).
STEP 4: Click the "New" button.
A window called "Audio1" (number might
be different) opens.
In this window we can now drag and drop our songs that
we ripped (see: How to create WAV files
or Where to get MP3's).
Nero supports 2 ways of drag-and-drop:
- using the Windows Explorer
- using the buildin Nero Explorer
It's up to you what you like best. Click the file/song
you want and keep the left mouse button pressed and move to the "Audio1"
window and once above this window, release the left mouse button. You
just added a song.
After dropping songs you might notice a bar at the bottom
of the Nero window ...
This bar shows you how much data/time has been used
on the new Audio CD.
Regular Audio CD's hold about 74 minutes of music (see the yellow dotted
vertical line on the right). There are CD-Recordables out there that can
hold more data, for example 80 minutes, 90 minutes and even 99 minutes
(for more details see the available
sizes page).
WARNING:
- Keep in mind that most regular CD-player can
only handle the 74 or maybe the 80 minute CD's. Do not use 90 or
99 minute CD's! Overburn techniques
are also NOT A GOOD IDEA.
- An Audio CD should be burned in 1 go only!
There is no (good) way of adding songs to the CD later!
As you can see in this example: I used approximately
13 minutes, so I have space left for more songs.
STEP 5: Burning ....
Once you completed dragging and dropping (the CD does
not NEED to be completely filled) you can click the "Burn"
icon ( ).
The "New Compilation" Window reappears.
Now click the tab "Burn". Here you
can check (not always) options like test burning. During the test a burn
will be simulated - nothing will be written on the blank CD-Recordable.
I usually simply use the highest writing speed, in "Disk
at once" (check it) mode. Not all CD-Writers support "Disk
at once", this is not a problem.
If your drive supports technology like "Burnproof"
you might consider using it too. I usually do.
Since we (this is OPTIONAL) do not intend to burn additional
songs later, you can check "Finalize CD". Some CD-players
doe not like discs that are finalized.
Click "Write" to start the writing.
Nero will prompt you to insert the blank CD-Recordable
or rewriteable when needed.
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