Now you have a batch of nice individual WAV files, one file per, song. Use your favorite CD-burning program to put your tunes on a CD. Be sure to create an audio project and not a data project, because CDs must be in the Red Book Audio format to play in all CD players. Set your burn speed to half the maximum as coaster insurance. Some CD-writing programs, like Nero, automatically grab the song titles from your WAV filenames, which is a nice time-saver. Most CD-writing programs create a default two-second gap between songs, so watch out for this. You can make a live album that sounds like one long, unbroken track by eliminating these gaps and still have individual song tracks so you can skip around.
Don’t use sticky paper labels on your CDs, because these degrade the disc over time. There are better ways to create nice-looking labels. You can get special CD blanks that are made to be printed on by inkjet printers that support printing on CDs. These are different from ordinary printers by having a special tray to hold the disc.
Another type of printable CD requires a special thermal printer. These are not expensive, usually around $100.
A third type is the LightScribe CD, which requires a special CD writer and CD blanks. These cost about the same as ordinary CD/DVD writers, around $50.
There are many software programs for designing your CD labels and making them look nice and professional.
You might want to make CDs to distribute, and you can do this without spending huge amounts of money. There are many laser CD duplicators that are like your computer’s CD burner, only faster and with multiple trays. These range from about $400 for simple duplicators with manual feeds to several thousand dollars for automatic feeds and local data storage.
There are also commercial duplication services with varying levels of service, such as cover art and design. These can be cost-effective and save you time and hassle. The best CDs are pressed rather than burned. A duplication service that uses a press rather than a laser duplicator costs more and usually requires larger runs. But your discs will last longer.
“Do I need to buy a special audio CD?” is a common question. No, you do not. All CDs are exactly the same type, but it is worth sticking with good brands like Taiyo Yuden (my favorite). Verbatim, Ridata, and MAM-A are also reliable brands. Always get CD-R; don’t bother with CD-RW except for experimentation. See There Is Not a Special Audio CD in Audio CDs for more information.