Although CD players are becoming less and less popular (because of smartphones, MP3 players, iPhones, and the like), many people still have CD players in their vehicles. For that reason, you may want to opt for a custom CD of your favorite music. Creating your own custom music CDs is a lot of fun. It’s also a great way to protect any new CDs you purchase from getting scratched and ruined. When you buy a new CD, rip it to your Media Library, and then put it back in its case for safe-keeping. Burn a copy of the CD (or just your favorite songs from the CD along with some other favorite songs), and use the copy in your home or car stereo. In some cases, you can also copy songs you purchased online to CDs.
If you buy blank CDs in spindles of 50 or more, they are typically very inexpensive. You won’t get the little plastic jewel case, but you can buy paper sleeves or jewel cases separately. Or you can keep all the CDs in a CD binder.
Before we get into the specifics of burning CDs, it’s important to understand that you can create two different types of music CDs:
If you don’t know what type of disks your stereo can play, refer to the instructions that came with that device. Optionally, create an RW (Read/Write) disk and try it out. There’s no loss if the disk doesn’t play because you can always erase the disk and use it for something else. Once burned, R (Recordable) disks cannot be erased or changed.
The first step in creating a music CD is to specify which type of disk you want to create, and perhaps some other options. In Media Player, click the Burn tab, and then click Burn Options to see the menu shown in Figure 24.29. Choose options as summarized in the following list:
Choosing More Burn Options takes you to the Burn tab of Media Player’s Options dialog box, shown in Figure 24.30. Most of the options duplicate options on the menu. The ones that are unique are summarized in the following list.
Click OK in the Options dialog box to save any settings you changed. With your options selected and squared away, you’re ready to choose which songs you want to copy to your custom CD.
The skills needed to choose songs to put on a CD are the same as those for creating a custom playlist. You can drag songs individually, or you can drag an entire album or other category. But you have to make sure you’re dragging to the Burn list, not just any playlist. Here’s the basic process:
Your Media Player window should look something like Figure 24.31. The songs that appear in the center Contents pane will, of course, be songs you have in your own library. How your icons look depends on what category you’re viewing and what option you’ve selected from the View Options drop-down list.
At this point, just drag the songs you want to burn to your custom CD to the Burn list, or right-click any song title and choose Add To Burn List. As you add songs, the indicator at the top of the Burn list keeps you informed of how much space will be used on the CD. You can keep adding songs until the disk capacity is exhausted. Any additional songs you add at that point are added to a new disk. Media Player numbers the disk sequentially in the list.
Options that apply to custom playlists also apply to the Burn list. For example, to remove a song from the Burn list, right-click its title and choose Remove From List. To change the order of songs, click Burn Options, choose Sort List By, and choose a sort option. Or, drag any song title up or down within the list.
When you’re happy with the songs you’ve selected and their order, you’re ready to burn the CD.
When the Burn list contains all the songs you want to copy to the CD, click the Start Burn button at the top of the Burn list. Then wait. How long it takes depends on the type of CD you’re creating, the speed of your drive, and other factors. The status column in the Contents pane and an indicator below the Burn list keep you apprised of progress.
When the CD is finished, remove it from the CD drive. If you created a standard audio disk, you can insert and play it in a stereo as you would any other disk. If you created a data disk, you can play it in any device that supports the type of disk you created.
It’s a good idea to save each Burn list you create. That way, if you ever want to create another copy of the same CD, you can just open the saved Burn list. To save a Burn list, click the Burn Options button and choose Save List As. Change the name to something that describes the Burn list and click Save. Then, to create a new Burn list, click the Clear List Pane button.
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