I'm new here as well as a noob (who wants to learn), so please hang in there with me... I realize that mp3 files are compressed and therefore the music has lost some fidelity in the process. So I'm wondering, since most of the music I download are mp3 files, will I realize better fidelity if I convert the mp3 to wav before burning to (data) CD? ...or was that fidelity lost forever (as I suspect) when the music was compressed to mp3? A related question... Are there special measures (or special burning software) I should know about in order to burn mp3's to (Data) CDs that will play in my car's CD player?
Once the quality is lost,it is lost forever.The best thing you can do to keep the quality that is still there is to not transcode (change the format again).Most burning programs will burn mp3 disc just fine.But,not all players will play a mp3-cd.With this said,these small quality looses may not be noticeable to you anyway.Good luck.
Thanks for the reply. I just have one more question... is there any advantage (for my expressed needs) to using audio CDs over regular data CDs?
As I understand what you are saying, I don't think there is any difference between "mp3 data cd" and "mp3 audio cd".I am not 100% sure of this because I always burn "mp3 audio cd"s.I hope this helps.Good luck.
For your needs of making an MP3 disc for your car player, there is no difference between MP3 Data disk or MP3 Audio disk. You will end up with a data disk that has MP3 files on it. (This is assuming your car player is capable of playing MP3s!) If you mean Audio CD-R media vs Data CD-R media, once again, no difference for your application. Use good quality CD-R media, such as Taiyo Yuden.
Audio CDR just has some code in its header to allow standalone CD recorders to use it. It is part of a 'license fee' to use a stand alone. Definately not needed with a computer drive.
