A Tutorial for PADA Exclusives and PADA Premium subscribers

Preamble

Subscribers to PADA Exclusives and PADA Premium have access to a huge catalogue of MP3 recordings which are not otherwise available for sale, and cannot be bought on CD. The music can be streamed online, but it can also be downloaded as single MP3 files, which can then be copied onto an iPod or similar MP3 player, or onto an audio CD for replay on a standard CD player.

This tutorial explains how to simply and easily copy a PADA Exclusives MP3 onto a CD. You can try this out without being a subscriber as we've made a free PADA Exclusives MP3 recording available to use here. To find out more about PADA Exclusives and PADA Premium subscriptions, click here.

Before you begin, please note that all CD writing software is different in operation and we can't provide specific details for each of the dozens of CD writing packages currently available. This is a basic and general guide - please consult the help guides and instructions for your own software if you get stuck.

Software to copy MP3s to audio CDs

Chances are you already have software installed on your computer which will made audio CDs from MP3s. Many PCs come with popular CD writing applications such as Roxio or Nero, whilst your Mac may well have Toast or similar installed.

If you'd like links to CD writing software for PC and Mac which will also handle our FLAC download files, click here and a selection of links will open below this paragraph.

What To Do and How To Do It

First: download and save your MP3.

1. Using the MP3 button to the right of the playbar you can download any file from PADA Exclusives. Simply select the recording from the playlist and click on the round MP3 button below. Illustrated instructions on how to use the PADA Player can be found here.

2. Save the MP3 file onto your computer into a folder you'll be able to locate. If it saves automatically without asking you, check your browser's settings - usually in a "Tools" or "Options" menu - and either make sure you know where it's saving to, or change the settings so that you can choose where files go when you download them.

You can download this PADA Exclusives recording for free - it's the full-length recording and runs for a little over 32 minutes, transferred by Dr. John Duffy and remastered in Ambient Stereo:

Beethoven Symphony No. 7 - Berlin State Opera Orchestra, cond. Richard Strauss, rec. 1926

Next: copy the MP3 onto a CD - in audio CD mode.

1. Start up your CD writing software and tell it you're making an AUDIO CD. This doesn't need a special type of CD - the so-called Audio CDs you see in the shops are of no different quality to regular (and usually cheaper) CD-R discs, and are designed for standalone hi-fi CD recorders only.

2. Your CD-writing software should now show you some kind of window or list which allows you to add music files - in this case the MP3 you've just downloaded and saved, which if you've downloaded our free example file above and not renamed it will be called StraussBeethoven7th1926.mp3.

3. Your software will work out how long the recording is and will give you some indication of how much space it takes up on your audio CD, with often a coloured bar to show the space required and available. If you like you can put several MP3s onto an audio CD like this - most CDs these days will take up to 80 minutes of music.

4. Once you're happy that the MP3 is ready (together with any other recordings you want), insert a blank CD-R into your CD recorder, click on the record or burn button, and let the computer do the rest. When it's finished you should be able to take out the CD and pop it in your regular audio CD player and listen to the music. Note that each MP3 file will play as a single audio track.

FINISHED!

An alternative: copy the MP3 onto a CD - in data CD mode.

If you copy MP3s onto a data disc you'll find you can get many more of them onto the CD. However, the disc won't play in many hi-fi CD players, as they will expect Audio format CDs only. However, many more recent CD players, car CD players and DVD players will happily playback MP3s in their 'raw' state. The process is similar to that described above, but you start with a CD-ROM format rather than Audio CD format disc. This is also the best way to archive MP3s on CD for safe-keeping.