With a CD-R drive and software you can create your own audio CDs -- and this little book shows you how! Until recently, CD-R drives were prohibitively expensive, but prices have dropped. The Little Audio CD Book covers the gamut of CD-R and audio restoration software packages, CD-R and CD-R/RW drives, audio file formats, and audio sources. It's not only the perfect guide to choosing the software and hardware needed to create audio CDs, it shows how to make them -- from copying favorite songs from existing CDs, to digitizing and recording music from tapes and records, to downloading music from the Internet and preparing it and recording it to CD. The Little Audio CD Book shows you how to create high-fidelity compilation discs from a wide variety of sources, including MP3 files downloaded from the Internet. Along the way, you'll also learn how to transfer analog material, including tattered records and worn tapes, which can be digitally restored and "burned" to CD-R, preserving old favorites at greatly increased quality.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Finally--a book for the vinyl-phile who wishes to convert LPs to MP3s! The Little Audio CD Book, a joint effort by Bob Starrett and Josh McDaniel, bridges the gap between vinyl and computer/CD audio. Providing a wealth of information about hardware and software choices, the authors lead us from desire to fulfillment in the world of digital re-recording of analog LP or tape to computer. Extensive use of both tutorials and screen shots make this volume easy to read and follow.
The book introduces the CD recorder, and explains the differences between CD-R and CD-RW. Various brand names are described, along with the explanation that "in some cases, cost does not equal quality." Along with the descriptions of the various types of media that are available, and explanations of the different read and write speeds, Starrett and McDaniel demystify the computer CD-R.
The authors do an admirable job of presenting all of the concepts that are involved in producing an audio CD on the home computer. The sections that are devoted to audio software choices and system configuration are worthy of enthusiastic praise. More raves are in order for the coverage on recording from vinyl or cassettes. It's in these two areas that The Little Audio CD Book really shines. If you follow the steps as outlined in chapter 7, you'll be able to make a quality digital recording from vinyl in a surprisingly short amount of time. The authors' ability to anticipate common stumbling blocks and many of the more arcane problems that one might encounter is notable.
If you have hundreds of irreplaceable LPs (as many of us do) and live without the hope of ever seeing them in CD format, you can stop despairing right now. With this book, which is filled with handy tutorials, you get a step-by-step tour through the process of recording your favorite music onto your hard drive. The presentations of how to edit the hiss, clicks, and pops out of the resulting WAV file, and how to prepare and finally record your favorite jams onto a CD, alone are worth the price of this superlative book. Buy it, study it, treasure it! --Robert D. Gately
From the Back Cover
The affordable new CD-R drives turn every computer into a potential recording studio. If you'd like to augment your music collection with CDs you burn yourself, The Little Audio CD Book is your complete and jargon-free introduction to recording audio CDs--no previous experience required.
The Little Audio CD Book covers the gamut of CD-R and audio restoration software packages, CD-R and CD-R/RW drives, audio file formats, and audio sources. The authors not only tell you how to choose the right hardware and software, they show you exactly how to record your own CDs from a wide variety of sources. You'll learn everything from how to digitally restore the worn tracks of your favorite old records to how to download and record those hot MP3 files from the Internet.