The goal of burning music to audio CDs is to collect all your favorite songs on one CD instead of having to listen to them on multiple CDs. Burned audio CDs work like commercial CDs so they can be listened to from any audio system, CD player, or computer. Please note that audio CDs are different from data CDs (or MP3), which cannot be played in regular stereo. You can burn CDs if you have access to a CD-RW or DVD-RW drive, music audio files, blank CDs, and a media player.
Step
Method 1 of 3: Burn an Audio CD with Windows Media Player
Step 1. Insert a blank CD into the computer's disk drive
Make sure your disc is a CD-RW or DVD-RW. The 'W' stands for writable, and is required to be able to burn information to discs.
The drive type is usually printed on the front, but information can also be found in Control Panel > Device Manager > Disk Drives.
Step 2. Open Windows Media Player (WMP)
This program can be accessed from Start > All Apps (All programs in Windows 7 and earlier) > Windows Media Player. This program is the default media player of Windows.
This step of the guide refers to WMP 12. You can also use other versions of this software, but the location of the buttons may differ
Step 3. Press the Burn button on the right
The panel on the right will open to create a burn list.
Step 4. Drag and drop audio files into the burn list
The file type must be supported by WMP (the most common types are.mp3,.mp4,.wav,.aac). When burned to a CD, the software will transcode the file to a lossless format.
- Audio CDs have an audio playback limit of up to 80 minutes. These limits are industry standards set by the manufacturer. This means that the number of songs you can fit onto a CD will vary depending on the length of the music.
- The CD pack also features a capacity of 700 MB, but this size is used for data CD creation. A data CD works like a data storage device and can only be read by a computer.
Step 5. Click the menu in the Burn panel
A menu with various burning options will open. Select “Audio CD” from the menu.
Step 6. Press the “Start Burn” button
The CD burning process will begin. When finished, the disc will automatically eject and be ready to use.
If your burning process fails or fails, you'll need to use a new CD to try again
Method 2 of 3: Burn an Audio CD with iTunes
Step 1. Open iTunes
This program can be opened via Applications > iTunes or from the application dock. For Windows users, open it from Start > All Apps (All programs on Windows 7 or earlier) > iTunes. This program is the default media player of OSX, but is available on almost all platforms due to the popularity of Apple mobile devices.
This guide steps refer to iTunes 12. You can use other versions of the software, but the location of the buttons may be different
Step 2. Create a playlist
Go to File > New > Playlist, enter the name of your playlist, then drag and drop the song you want to add to it.
Make sure the tick fills the box to the left of each song. Only the ticked songs in the playlist will be written to the disc
Step 3. Make sure all the songs in the list are allowed for the computer
Songs purchased from the iTunes store will be linked to your iTunes account. Double-click each song to make sure it's playable. If not allowed, a popup screen will appear asking for the username/password of the iTunes account that was used to purchase the song. Once the information has been entered, the song will play as usual and can be burned on a CD.
iTunes limits the permissions of a song to only 5 different computers
Step 4. Insert a blank CD into the disc drive
The computer will automatically recognize the blank disc.
You can check the compatibility of the disc drive in the “Burn Settings” menu. If you see the drive listed above, under “Disc Burner”, it means that the drive is compatible
Step 5. Go to the “File” menu and select “Burn Playlist to Disc”
The “Burn Settings” menu will open.
Step 6. Select “Audio CD” from the list of formats
This will ensure that the CD can be played on a regular CD player.
- If you select “Data” as the format, the CD will be used as a file storage area and can only be played on a computer.
- If you select “MP3 CD” as the format, you will need to use a CD player capable of reading this format. This can be confusing because MP3 files are very common, but the format that CD players support for playing audio is Audio CD.
Step 7. Press the “Burn” button
CD burning will begin. When finished, the disc will automatically eject and be ready to play.
If your burning process fails or fails, you will need to use a new CD to try again
Method 3 of 3: Using Other Free Software
Step 1. Choose the right software
If you don't want to use iTunes or WMP, there are plenty of third-party software you can use. Maybe you want open source software or prefer a different media player feature set, or maybe you don't use your computer to listen to music and don't need a media player at all.
When downloading software, it's a good idea to get the program from the developer's website. This helps ensure that installed applications are not corrupted or have additional software or malware installed. If the program's creators don't host files for download on their own site, there's usually a list of trusted mirrors you can use
Step 2. Try another media player
VLC Media Player and Foobar2000 are two free media players that are popular because of their fast, customizable, and wide library of supported codecs (file types). Since this program is still a media player, the process of burning an Audio CD will be very similar to using WMP or iTunes.
Foobar2000 is only for Windows
Step 3. Try a custom burning program
InfraRecorder and IMGBurn are two free burning programs that make sense for those who don't need playback help. These programs have a more comprehensive range of burning options, such as mixed mode, which allows users to create hybrid data/audio CDs.
- Since the program supports more complex burning features, this option is recommended for advanced users or for those who really don't want the extra weight of a media player.
- InfraRecorder and IMGBurn are for Windows only. For Mac users, you can use “Burn” as a CD burning program.
Tips
- Pay attention to the blank CD you bought. Some low-quality CDs may be difficult for some CD players to read.
- It is possible to delete songs from a CD if you use a rewritable CD-RW. Launch Windows Explorer and click My Computer > DVD/CD-RW Drive, then right click and select “Erase” to erase all contents of the disc. You can then reuse this CD for new purposes. Typical CD-Rs don't have rewrite capabilities.
- Usually the error is rare if the CD is burned at a slower speed. You can set the burning speed in the “Burn Settings” menu.
- If you intend to make multiple CDs, use a CD-safe marker and mark the top of the disc so you don't get confused.
