MP3 to CD Format Conversion
The MP3 songs you have on your computer are designed to be used with players on your computer. Not all CD players are able to play them. In order to get a CD player to play an MP3 if it doesn't naturally have that ability, you will have to convert the MP3 to the CD format, which is CDA. For this, you'll need a burner program/software that can turn computer files into files for CDs.
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CD Format
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CD files are in the format CDA. This file type only makes sense to a CD player. The format isn't even really a music format; it's simply information attached to a music format the tells the CD how to play a particular song. Although modern CD players can sometimes recognize pure MP3s when you put them on your CD player, sometimes a basic CD player won't understand how to play the song unless it is in CDA format.
MP3 Format
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MP3 format is a compressed audio file. It's popular because it has relatively high quality, for a relatively low amount of space required. Some portable players can recognize this format directly, just like some CD players can. In those cases, you can just burn a data CD, without going through the trouble to make it specifically an audio CD that has your MP3 file in CDA format.
Conversion
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You'll need a burner program in order to convert your music. An example of such a program is Nero. You can try out this program for a while, but in order to get full functionality, you'll need to register your copy and purchase the full version. But the trial version should be enough for your purposes here. Once you've downloaded and installed your program, put a blank CD into your CD drive. Then you can begin the burning process. Choose the audio CD option. You don't want the data option, because that may not work on all CD players.
Space
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When burning an audio CD, you need to watch out for space. Only so much can be put onto an audio CD. As you're adding songs to your project, keep an eye on the space. There should be a bar that shows you what percentage you've added, and how much you have left to go. Many audio CDs don't have a whole lot of space on them, so you can only put so many MP3 files into CDA format on the disc.
Considerations
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Try to be aware of the legality of the music you are burning to a disc as well. It can be illegal to make copies of music. Some websites have what is called DRM restrictions on MP3 files, which will make burning them to a CD impossible. DRM stands for "digital rights management." You can usually check to see if a particular MP3 file will have DRM on it by checking the Terms and Conditions page of the website where you bought the CD.
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