Anyone here make copies of CDs?

[z-adamson]

I used to "burn" CDs, back in the day when CD burners were new.

Looking to get back into it for the purpose of making personal compilations of CDs that I have.

My question is, if I use a CD as my source of music files and I copy to another CD, at any point do the files get compressed and turned into MP3 files?

I want to make these compilations without any loss of quality.

The plan is to get a computer with windows 11 and use the built in burner software and make sure the disc drive is capable of burning. Or windows 10.

 

[ra7c7er]

If you are making comps (different album(s) tracks on one CD) then I think they will have to be saved in some format onto your computer. I don't know of any programs that allow you to duplicate individual tracks from multiple sources to one CD.

That doesn't mean they have to saved to MP3 format. Most programs will allow you to save in many optional formats. I used to save to MP4 and AIFF. AIFF was for burning CDs and MP4 is what I saved to my computer since the files were much smaller and going through computer speakers I didn't care about lossless.

If you are just wanting to copy a full CD and have a lot of them. You might want to look into a duplicator. They aren't horrible expensive (150-400 range).

 

[spark1]

No, not unless you choose to rip them as MP3s. FLAC is the de facto lossless compression standard.

 

[Nautiker]

I can't help with Windoze, but even in Apple's iTunes, one can select what format you are importing songs as... Then, make a playlist that doesn't exceed about 118 minutes, and record that playlist to disc. I use either Apple lossless or 320 AAC for encoding...

 

[z-adamson]

If you are making comps (different album(s) tracks on one CD) then I think they will have to be saved in some format onto your computer. I don't know of any programs that allow you to duplicate individual tracks from multiple sources to one CD.

That doesn't mean they have to saved to MP3 format. Most programs will allow you to save in many optional formats. I used to save to MP4 and AIFF. AIFF was for burning CDs and MP4 is what I saved to my computer since the files were much smaller and going through computer speakers I didn't care about lossless.

If you are just wanting to copy a full CD and have a lot of them. You might want to look into a duplicator. They aren't horrible expensive (150-400 range).

Not looking to make full copies...

Comps...a few tracks from a variety of CDs put onto a single cd.

 

[z-adamson]

I think I see how this works in windows 11...

Put CD into the drive, open in media player, select which tracks to rip, select FLAC for the rip setting. Do this with multiple CDs to create a library. Then to burn to a CD, put a blank CD-R into the drive, go to the media player, hit the burn tab then select audio cd......select tracks from the library.

Is this basically how this works?

 

[ra7c7er]

You are correct.

 

[grillebilly]

You can get a CD recorder and make mixes just like the old days with cassettes.

 

[Natasha Bell]

I used to "burn" CDs, back in the day when CD burners were new.

Looking to get back into it for the purpose of making personal compilations of CDs that I have.

My question is, if I use a CD as my source of music files and I copy to another CD, at any point do the files get compressed and turned into MP3 files?

I want to make these compilations without any loss of quality.

The plan is to get a computer with windows 11 and use the built in burner software and make sure the disc drive is capable of burning. Or windows 10.

No no, files don't get compressed into MP3.. unless that is what you want. As far as Windows 11: Stay as far away from that as you can. That is Microsoft's new subscription based version of Windows. THEY now own your computer, and if you fail to pay them for the subscription.. your system won't function. I use a version of Nero, which works amazing with Windows 10 (and 7). It will make FLAC files as well... and the standard WAV files CD use.

 

[z-adamson]

No no, files don't get compressed into MP3.. unless that is what you want. As far as Windows 11: Stay as far away from that as you can. That is Microsoft's new subscription based version of Windows. THEY now own your computer, and if you fail to pay them for the subscription.. your system won't function. I use a version of Nero, which works amazing with Windows 10 (and 7). It will make FLAC files as well... and the standard WAV files CD use.

Double checking…

You are saying that it goes like this….I buy pc with windows 11, then to keep it working I pay monthly, if I stop paying my pc stops working. This goes for all pc’s. Wether it’s windows 11 home or pro.

 

[mbz]

Download "ExactAudioCopy" freeware on your PC. Then make your own compilation/best of CD's, burn using your DVD on your PC. Such copies will sound about 90-95% of the originals. Certainly stay away from MP3. I can't afford streaming costs, if you don't mind the cost then I'd expect the lossless formats to be even better though need different HW...

 

[Natasha Bell]

Double checking…

You are saying that it goes like this….I buy pc with windows 11, then to keep it working I pay monthly, if I stop paying my pc stops working. This goes for all pc’s. Wether it’s windows 11 home or pro.

Yes... Windows 11 is a subscription based service... There is probably some very limited functionality if your subscription runs out, but Microsoft will screw you until you cough-up the money for a further subscription (be it a month or a year). I have set my Windows 10 machines not to update to Windows 11 (which MS wants you to do) for any reason. They are not going to extort money from me.

 

[painttoad]

ExactAudioCopy for ripping cds to hard drive.

Burrn for burning tracks to disc

 

[z-adamson]

Download "ExactAudioCopy" freeware on your PC. Then make your own compilation/best of CD's, burn using your DVD on your PC. Such copies will sound about 90-95% of the originals. Certainly stay away from MP3. I can't afford streaming costs, if you don't mind the cost then I'd expect the lossless formats to be even better though need different HW...

Why is exactaudiocopy better than going with the Microsoft media player rip and burn method?

And if storing as FLAC files, why would it be 90-95% of the original quality? If it’s lossless then it should be of equal quality, right?

 

[mbz]

Why is exactaudiocopy better than going with the Microsoft media player rip and burn method?

Something I read online a long time ago. That EAC had better error correction, but don't quote me

And if storing as FLAC files, why would it be 90-95% of the original quality? If it’s lossless then it should be of equal quality, right?

Thought the topic was about burning CD's, which is what I do, eg, make compilation CD's, eg Best of Norah Jones... When using EAC I find they are about 90-95% the same as the original CD. I use the original for any "critical" listening.

Regarding FLAC,

I'd expect the lossless formats to be even better though need different HW...

Correct me if I'm wrong but FLAC is not a "redbook"/16Bit format but akin to SACD/24 bit. Sadly my CDP only does redbook and HDCD, so I don't tinker with FLAC. Again, I would expect these lossless formats to sound better and if you can afford to go down that path...

Burrn for burning tracks to disc

Thanks for the tip, will try it...

 

[BradV]

I have 1600 approx CD's that have been 'ripped' (I don't like the terminology!) and stored on a hard drive storage as well as my laptop computer.

I found initially WMA lossless was the way to proceed. WMA won't play however on any Apple product. I then went over to 320 kbs mp3. MP3 plays on all devices. There is no discernible differences in sound quality.

I have "burned' a number of the files onto a premium quality recordable CDR. 20 + years have passed and during a recent listening session it appears there's been some degradation of the sound - clicks and chip sounds - that I am sure weren't there before.

 

[gadget73]

if you do have to rip them before burning, you can just dump it to WAV or FLAC which are both lossless. In the old days of big chunky computers I used to have a burner and a standard CD drive and just do disc to disc copies without any dumping to the drive in the middle. Don't own a machine anymore with space for multiple drives.

can also use this as a digital source if you don't want to deal with the physical media. Just need storage space, which is now very cheap, especially if you don't mind it being a bit on the slow side. Big capacity spinny hard drives give a lot of space for your dollar.

I used to copy discs for use in the car. Keep the original at home, burned CD to get abused. I'd sometimes do "mix discs" too. Started doing that after my CD collection got stolen, but also after I had bought copies of albums a second time because the first one got damaged somehow. Things happen when changing CDs as you drive.

 

[No Money]

I run Windows 11 on three systems, don't pay a subscription of any form. I just don't use the online/subscription MS Office product. I can, and do, still use older version of office, or things like Google Drive.

As to OP, EAC (Exact Audio Copy) is great for ripping CD's. As to burning to CD, it's been a while but I used NCH's Express Burn in the past.

 

[devnull]

I don't understand why the OS & hardware are even really a consideration. Any computer or OS within the last 20 years can handle this task. I'd buy a USB external CD burner and have at it.

The only real question is the software to be used, and the format to which the files are ripped. There are suggestions for what format and software in this thread. I'm sure if one were to search for instructions on burning CDs there would be plenty to be found.

 

[rwartner]

In Windows Media Player. Select Tools/Options/Devices. Then select properties for DVD drive.
Make sure Use Error Correction is checked.

WMP works fine.