Create audio CDs with MP3 files

When you are finished—and provided that all your individual tracks didn't fail the Nero file integrity check—your window will look something like this:

At this point feel free to change the order of the songs by dragging them up or down the list. Nero will automatically add a two-second delay before each track just as you'd find on most store-bought pre-recorded CDs.

If you want the tracks to flow together without a break, do the following for each: right-click with your mouse on the track you want to begin without a pause. Select "properties" from the menu. A window like the one below will open.

In this window, you can change the pause to "0" seconds. The finished CD will then have no pause between the end of the previous song and the beginning of this one. 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, press on the "opens write CD dialog" button on the top task bar or open the "File" menu and select "Burn CD". A new window will pop up 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, tell you why, and the blank CD in your burner will be untouched and still useable. If the test is completed without incident, Nero will proceed to burn the actual CD. When Nero finishes burning, a box will appear prompting 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) that is compatible with your burner. Depending on the manufacturer, there should be a list of compatible brands on their Web site. If you can't find such a list, only buy your CDs individually at first (not in 50 CD bundles) until you find a brand that works for you.

Try to obtain MP3 files that are of decent quality. The file should have a bitrate no less than 128 Kbps (160 or 192 are preferable). The lower the bitrate, the greater the compression and the greater the compression, the more of the original sound quality is compromised. You can figure out what bitrate 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 bitrates of 128 or less, you will hear a difference from an identical CD burned with the same files at higher bitrates.

This is 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 or online at; http://www.nero.com/en/helptool.htm.

See related audio questions:

• [[Cyberwalker's MP3 frequently asked questions]]
• [[All about audio data files]]
• What is a CD-R or CD-RW drive?

 

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