Making your MP3 files mobile

Under the Filters tab, you will find various options you can place on the burning of the file, such as echo, distortion, and such. For a beginner, these settings are best left alone. When you are finished compiling your CD, click the opens write CD dialog button on the top task bar, or open the File menu and select Burn CD. A new window will appear that looks like this:

Depending on the speed of your CD burner, several write speed options are available. I would suggest using the highest setting, provided you have a fast computer processor (think in terms of a 400 MHz Pentium II or better), a decent amount of RAM (128 MB is reasonable), and no memory or hard-drive-intensive programs running while you burn. If you have a slower system or a small amount of RAM, I'd suggest running the burn at a slower write speed. Regardless of your system speed, I'd also urge you to switch off other programs, including screen savers, while the burn takes place.

I also strongly suggest choosing the Test and Burn option. This will prompt Nero to run a full test of the CD burn. If anything goes wrong, the test will fail and will tell you why, and the blank CD in your burner will be untouched and still usable. If the test is completed without problems, Nero will proceed to burn the actual CD.

When Nero finishes burning the CD, a box will appear telling you that the burn was successful. Congratulations - your CD should now be playable in any CD player just like your other CDs! Some further things to consider: Ensure you buy a brand of blank CDs (CD-Rs) compatible with your burner. Depending on the CD manufacturer, there should be a list of compatible brands on their web site. If you can't find such a list, then only buy your CDs individually at first (not in 50 CD bundles) until you’re sure you’ve found a brand that works for you.

Try to obtain MP3 files that are of decent quality. The file should have a bit-rate no less than 128 Kbps(160 or 192 are preferable). The lower the bit-rate, the greater the compression, and the greater the compression, the more of the original sound quality is compromised. You can figure out what bit-rate a file has by opening it in an MP3 player such as Winamp or Microsoft Media Player. If you burn a CD with MP3s with bit-rates of 128 or less, you will hear a difference from an identical CD burned with the same files at higher bit-rates.

This has been a very basic introduction to Nero and audio CD creation. More help on Nero's advanced features can be found in the program's help menu.

See related audio questions:

1. Managing MP3 music on your computer
2. All about MP3 and WMA files: A digital audio primer
3. CD-RW? CD-R? What's the difference?

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