2. misc-audio
  3. 187988-162884

Burning CDs of downloaded music

Is there a way to purchase/download individual songs and burn them to a CD while maintaining CD quality (16 bit, 44.1 kHz)?

I currently use a home theater subwoofer in my stereo.  I am considering upgrading my subwoofer.  Since my only recent reference is my stereo, I am not really sure what high quality bass should sound like.  I looked at subwoofer reviews on YouTube and unfortunately, I only own 2 songs from their playlists.  My thought was that I would like to get to know those songs from the reviews on my system so when I visit stereo shops I would have a better idea if I was hearing improvements.  I am not set up for streaming.  CDs are my only digital source and my DAC only has one SPDIF input.  If I could create my own compilation of those test songs on CD, I could understand their performance on my system and use the same CD in a stereo shop.  

If I can’t make such a CD, is there a less complicated way to figure this out?  I’m sure the stereo stores will have streaming.  But that doesn’t help me get to know these songs on my current system.  

 

sealegs
ketchup
700 posts
 

@sealegs I am not familiar with Macs, but I have burned thousands of CDRs on PCs. You need to burn them as audio CDs. It sounds like you burned the .wav files as data. Data CDRs won't play in a regular CD player.

Look for audio burning software. Any good computer should come with this capability these days, but you may have to download an audio burning program. There should be lots of free ones. It’s been probably two decades since I’ve burned an audio CDR, so I’m not sure what’s good these days. Shouldn’t be too hard to find, though.

sealegs OP
23 posts
 

@ketchup  @designsfx ​@sandstone  You guys were spot on.  While Apple doesn’t support iTunes any longer on the MacOS platform, they provide similar capabilities in Apple Music.  I burned the .wav file as a playlist in Apple Music and the transferred music file plays on both of my stereos’ CD players.  The song sounds great as I was hoping using CD as my medium.  Thanks for your help.  

In case someone else has a similar interest, these steps worked for me on my MacBook.  

 

  1. Insert blank CD-R into the attached CD drive
  2. A pop-up menu asks what action to take. The default is Open Finder.  Change that default to Music.  
  3. Music will open its own pop-up with instructions telling what to do next.  
  4. If you haven’t already included the music file into a playlist, do that first. There is a pull-down to create a new playlist.  After that, File > Burn Playlist.  
  5. After burning is complete, go play your CD.  If the CD doesn’t play, maybe your player doesn’t play .wav files.   Not all players do.  

 

ellajeanelle's avatar
ellajeanelle
386 posts
 

Get one of these and record onto CD as the music is being played. Record on CDs that say, "CD-R for music" (rewriteable or not) and it will play on any standard CD player once the CD is finalized by the unit. I have 2 of these. I also have couple of older models that have both balanced XLR inputs and outputs, if that's something you want, and if you can find one. Here’s a link to the burner and for the CDs I use. I hope this helps you:

CD-RW900SX | CD Recorder/Player | TASCAM - United States

Amazon.com: Maxell 625156 - CDR80MU50PK 80-Minute Music CD-Rs (50-ct Spindle) Red : Electronics

sealegs OP
23 posts
 

@ellajeanelle  Thanks for responding.  I have already solved my problem.  
 

I own a CD recorder and they are nice to have.  Years ago, I recorded about 200 of my vinyl albums to digital so I could load the music onto my iPod.  It worked really well.  

sandstone
358 posts
 

@sealegs, Nice job of posting and responding to everyone.  Glad you have your issue resolved.

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