CD-RW and CD-R Made Easy

[mattbrat24]

Hi,

I am new to CD-Rewriting and CD-R recording, could anybody give me any help or tips regarding how to make a music CD using a CD rewriting drive and a CD-R disc?

1) Can you use mp3s off the internet (should be higher than 192 bit rate shouldn't it?) aswell as mp3s made from bruning CDs?

2)Will all CD Players be able to play these discs or are only selected machines able to play them?

3)Any other tips?

*****Thanks in advance for any help. I am a regular at this board and have seen great advice on stuff from some experts so I thought I'd ask my questions about my problems here! :) *****

[Turiel]

1) You can use any mp3s at all, either from the net or extracted from CDs. And yes, 192kbps should guarantee decent quality.

2) In general, all CD players will accept CDRs. There are occasions though (with denons only?) where the cd player will get picky and not take your CDR. Don't buy the cheapest possible CDR. Go for a middle of the range one, or TDK if you want to ensure maximum compatibility. You cannot play CDRWs in normal cd players. I believe the new Denon 9000s take CDRW, but aside for that and a few other specially built ones, they can't.

3) If you've bought a new CD writer, it probably states that it'll do 32x speed or even 40x speed write. However, its usually safest to burn CDRs at about 16x. You can experiment with 24x (which works for me with some CDR brands) but I haven't gone higher than that.

If you get a decent CD writing program with your machine (like Nero or Easy CD Creator) then it's a piece of cake writing CDs. Just drag and drop your MP3s into the main window and click burn :)