Q&A for How to Burn Music to an Audio CD

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Why is it that when I burn a CD it will play back perfectly on the computer but not on an ordinary audio CD player?

Community Answer

You have likely burned a data CD. Make sure you use the Audio CD format when burning your CD. An alternate issue may be the age of the CD-reading laser. Older lasers (perhaps like the one in an older car) sometimes have a more difficult time reading burned CDs. The best way to avoid this issue is buying higher quality blanks.

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Question

When I play the CD in the car, it says unreadable. Why?

Community Answer

The age of the CD-reading laser. Older lasers (perhaps like the one in an older car) sometimes have a more difficult time reading burned CDs. The best way to avoid this issue (though this will not work 100% of the time) is buying higher quality blanks. An alternate issue may be you have burned a data CD instead of an Audio CD format.

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Question

I'm trying to copy a CD with 21 tracks and it will only let me do 17. Why?

Community Answer

Audio CDs are limited to an 80 minute playtime. This is an industry standard set by the manufacturer. It is likely that your 17 tracks hit this time limitation.

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Question

Will the CD need to be formatted before I burn it?

Community Answer

A music CD does not have a file system, so no, no formatting is needed. Songs on a CD are not stored like they are on a storage drive (smaller files = less space taken), but similarly to a record (the length of a song determines the space taken).

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Question

I’ve received an error, "The attempt to burn the disc failed. The disc drive didn't respond properly and can't recover or retry." What do I do?

Community Answer

Restart the computer and try again. If you are using an external disc drive, try unplugging and plugging it back in. Make sure no errors appear when connecting the drive.

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Question

Will the music play on a DVD player?

Community Answer

If the player is compatible with CD audio (most are now), yes. If you have an older DVD player it might not work.

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Question

How do you burn a CD from the desktop?

Community Answer

On Windows, you can burn a CD directly from the desktop by using the “Burn Files to Disc” option from the autoplay menu when inserting a blank CD. However this can only be used to create data CDs. To make an Audio CD you will need to you media player software.

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Question

When I insert a blank CD in my PC, the computer won't detect it. What does this mean?

Community Answer

If this is happening, then it means that either the blank CD is corrupt, broken, or scratched; or you have a Blu-Ray drive, which does not work with regular CDs.

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Question

Can I burn CDs on an external CD player?

Community Answer

Only if the external player is a writer as well. CD players are not always CD writers. Check the external markings for compatibility, or online for the manufacturer and model. There should be no restriction to, say, a USB CD drive writer being able to write CDs.

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Is it possible to burn an audio CD on a laptop?

Community Answer

If the CD drive has a writable drive. You need to check the laptop model and manufacturer's site for your drive's capability. Many years ago they used to stamp the capabilities of drives on the front lip of the CD tray, but this became silly as more formats became available.

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Can I just drag and copy from a laptop to the CD instead of burning?

Stephen Bolt

Community Answer

Most programs let you save files directly to disc. Choose Save from the File menu and select your CD burner. Put a disc (preferably one that’s not already filled) into your disc drive to start the process. If you try to copy a large batch of files to a disc — more than will fit — Windows complains immediately. Copy fewer files at a time, perhaps spacing them out over two discs.

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Question

If I copy audio files to a DVD, will it play like a CD?

Community Answer

If you copied audio files to a blank CD, then yes, it would play like a CD.

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Question

Can I copy a homemade audio tape to an audio CD?

Community Answer

Yes, but you must use an audio interface between the tape player and the PC to convert the analog signal from the tape to digital, as well as an audio recording program to save the .WAV file. Behringer makes inexpensive audio interfaces and Audacity is a free recording program. Once you get a .WAV file, you can burn it to CD.

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Question

How do I burn music to a CD-RW disc at lower speeds?

Community Answer

Use a slower burn speed tends to be less error prone. You can set the burn speed in the “Burn Settings” menu.

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