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MP3 Guide

How MP3 Works | Download & Playback | Create Your Own | Distributing Music

Creating Your Own MP3 Files

If you have a CD collection and would like to convert songs from your CDs into MP3 files, you can use ripper and encoder software to convert your favorite songs. A ripper copies the song's file from the CD onto your hard disk. The encoder compresses the song into the MP3 format. By encoding songs you can play them on your computer or take them with you on your MP3 player. AudioCatalyst is a popular ripper/encoder that you can use to do the job.

Writing MP3s to CDs If you have a writable CD drive in your computer, there are two ways to save your MP3 files on a CD:

You can write the MP3 files themselves onto a data CD in order to save them and clear some space on your hard disk. You can then listen to the files on any computer.
You can convert (decode) your MP3 files into full-size CD tracks and then save them to an audio CD. This allows you to listen to your favorite MP3 files on any CD player.

WinAmp has a plug-in that will create full-size WAV files from an MP3 file, and some of the encoders will also decode. Once you have the full-size CD tracks, then the software that comes with your CD-R drive will let you create an audio CD easily.