Beginner's Guide to CDs

Why should I care?

Media Ownership

In a world where streaming dominates the entertainment industry, people continue to lose grip on the ownership of their favorite forms of entertainment (movies, video games, music, etc.). When you stream music, you are "allowed" by a corporation to "rent" the music from them so long as you utilize their services. Even music purchased through a streaming service is still a "rental", because you can only use it so long as you follow their terms of service. Possessing the physical media (or at least the digital files) enables you to retake control over your favorite forms of entertainment.

Preservation

Nothing lasts forever, but we can make sure our favorite songs can last as long as they can. Large corporations rent out music through streaming services and "digital purchases" that are more like rentals than purchases. By ensuring you are ripping your CDs and purchasing digital music that provides you with the files for said music, you can ensure you can protect the entertainment you love. Even physical CDs are susceptible to disc rot, so making backups and copies is important to ensure the longevity of the music you enjoy.

Ripping CDs

A Note on "Ripping" CDs

While "Ripping" is the official term used for acquiring the music off of a CD, it may lead some to believe that ripping music from a CD will cause it to be unusable in the future. Rest assured, the process of ripping a CD will only copy the audio files off of the source CD, leaving it perfectly usable when the process is complete. CDs can also be ripped multiple times, so if you need to rip your music into a different file format, you can do that as much as you wish!

Software Options

Note: for the most part, only software built-in to an operating system will be recommended for convenience. There are many other options out there though, so do some research and choose what works best for you!

Windows: Windows Media Player (Legacy)

The current modern Windows Media Player application is missing some options when it comes to ripping music, so because of that the Legacy version of Windows Media Player is recommended. To easily enable the Windows Media Player (Legacy) application, copy and paste the following script into PowerShell (you must run PowerShell as an administrator):


            Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature 
            -FeatureName 
            "WindowsMediaPlayer" 
            -All 
            -Online

If you wish to disable Windows Media Player (Legacy) in the future, input the following command into PowerShell as an administrator:


            Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature 
            -FeatureName 
            "WindowsMediaPlayer"
            -Online

Apple Music

The Music app on macOS is capable of ripping CDs. Here's a guide on how to do it.

Linux CD Ripping

Because of the wide variety of Linux distributions, it is best you search for one that will work on the distribution you use. However if you use Debian / Ubuntu / Linux Mint, Asunder is a great choice.

sudo apt install asunder

Audio File Formats

Compression

Lossless Compression

Data is not lost when ripping from CD, but will result in relatively larger file sizes.
File size should not matter when burning music to a CD when using the Audio CD burn type, but can be a problem when storing music on a computer or phone depending on what lossless file format you select.
Depending on the lossless file type, audio files may still be compressed without the loss of audio quality.

Lossy Compression

Audio data is lost, resulting in a lesser audio quality compared to lossless, but results in relatively smaller file sizes compared to lossless compression.
Can be a good choice when burning a large quantity of audio files to a CD using the Data CD burn type.

Common File Formats

.wav

Compression Type: Lossless; no compression

Pros	Cons
Lossless compression = no lost audio quality.	.wav is NOT compressed, resulting in large file sizes
Widely supported file format.	Does NOT natively support metadata.

Important: If you decide to rip your music to .wav files, then you should burn them to CD using the Audio CD option. This will allow you fit high quality audio into as many minutes as your CD allows.

.flac

Compression Type: Lossless; compressed

Pros	Cons
Lossless compression = no lost audio quality.	"Newer" than .wav, so you may run into rare compatibility issues with computer software.
Compressed without losing audio quality = smaller file sizes than .wav.
Native support for metadata.

Important: If you decide to rip your music to .flac files, then you should burn them to CD using the Audio CD option. This will allow you fit high quality audio into as many minutes as your CD allows while keeping smaller file sizes on your computer.

.mp3

Compression Type: Lossy; compressed.

Pros	Cons
Lossy compression = smaller file sizes	Lossy compression resulting in lower audio quality compared to source.

Important: If you decide to rip your music to .mp3 files, then you should burn them to the CD using the Data CD option. This will allow you to fit as many songs as possible onto your CD within the bounds of its file storage limit. However, keep in mind not all players will support this option, so make sure you know your CD player will be able to read the disc first.

Converting Audio Files to Another Format

Audacity (and alternatives)

Audacity is "Free and Open Source Software" (FOSS) that can be downloaded onto your computer. To convert audio files into another format, import your audio into Audacity, then export it (import and export options are under the file menu). In the export menu you should be able to choose which file format you wish to export it to.

Audacity is not the only option out there. There is a lot of equivalent software that can convert audio files into different formats. You should choose what works best for you based on your operating system, budget, skill set, and other needs. Some other popular options include:

Adobe Audition (paid software)
FL Studio (paid software)
GarageBand (macOS only)
Logic Pro (paid software & macOS only)

Why not use an online file converter?

You absolutely can if you wish to do so, but there are safety risks involved:

You don't know exactly what you are downloading. Online converters may try to trick you into downloading a virus instead of a converted file.
Many online converters are not run by reputable hosts.
Many online converters will display ads on their websites or require you pay for their services, likely harvesting your data in the process.
Many online converters are not open source, so you cannot see what is being done to your file.

While not a safety risk, online converter websites also require an internet connection to use. Using a reputable application such as those listed above allow you to convert your files offline in a safe manner.

What is Metadata?

Put simply, metadata is "data about data". In this case, the main data is the audio in the file, and the metadata is information about that audio, such as the artist, album, track number, etc.

My Recommendations

Suggested file formats for your use-cases:

Use-Case	Suggested File Type	Suggested Burn Type
You prefer higher quality audio with the drawback of comparatively larger file sizes.	.flac	Audio CD
You prefer smaller file sizes with the drawback of comparatively lower quality audio.	.mp3	Data CD

Utilizing `.wav` is not recommended due to its large file sizes and lack of support for metadata. However, if you run into issues with .flac files then .wav can be used instead.

Note: The above use cases apply to phones as well. Applications such as VLC Media Player and PowerAmp support both .flac and .mp3, so choose the proper file type for your use case.

Burning CDS

Burn Types

Audio CD

Relies on the amount of minutes of audio that can be stored on a CD.
Use with higher quality audio formats (such as .flac or .wav) that allow for a higher quality sound.
Does not burn the files, rather the audio itself is burned. Because of this, you should utilize higher quality audio formats to burn higher quality audio.
Most compatibility with CD players.
Different CDs will allow different lengths of audio to be stored on them. Your CD writing software should be able to detect the total length of audio storable, before burning your CD and prevent you from burning it until you meet the time limit.

Important: There is a function that Audio CD can use called "CD-Text". This function allows you to burn metadata to the CD for each audio file. Normally each file will display in a player as "Track 01", "Track 02", etc. CD-Text can change that display track name, artist, etc., but it is not perfect and may not work properly (meaning that disc still plays but doesn't display metadata). Regardless of your attempts to utilize CD-Text, you should still write down the song order and keep it with your CD.

Data CD

Relies on the storage space of files that can be stored on a CD.
Less likely to be compatible with some CD players. Check to ensure your player can read Data CDS (sometimes referred to as mp3 CDs).
Use with lower quality audio formats to fit many more songs onto your CD.
Burns the audio as the file format to the CD, rather than just the audio. Because of this, you should utilize lower quality file formats that will allow you to fit more songs onto a CD due to smaller file sizes.
More reliable to store the metadata of a song and display it on your player (if player supports this feature)

Editing Metadata

Important Note: The following directions may not work if the file type you choose does not support metadata. The following example was created using a .flac file.

Windows

Description	Image
Find your audio file in File Explorer, select it by left-clicking on it, then right click it to bring up the context menu. Select the Properties option.
Within the properties menu, there are numerous sections to select from at the top. Choose the Details section.
Find the metadata you wish to replace, click on the contents, and enter your new metadata. When completed, click the Apply but in the bottom right, then click the OK button.

Linux

Note: This example will utilize Picard to edit file metadata. This guide will not instruct you on how to detect the CD in your computer on Linux. You can install Picard onto your computer using one of the following commands:

Debian / Ubuntu / Linux Mint


            sudo apt install picard

Red Hat / Fedora / CentOS / AlmaLinux


            sudo dnf install picard

Arch Linux / Manjaro


            sudo pacman -S picard

Description	Image
In the Picard application, open the File menu, select the Add Folder option, and select the folder that contains the audio file you wish to edit. Insert the metadata values you choose in the New Value column.
When you select the Save option (in the top row), a warning may pop up informing you that you are about to edit the metadata of a file. Click on the OK button.
You should now be able to see your audio file has edited metadata!