# Solved: converting mp3 to cda



## lclark (Mar 5, 2009)

I have about 300 mp3 files that I'm wanting to convert to cda - hoping to put them all in 1 80 min cd. I really don't understand audio files. What I've done thus far is convert some of the mp3 files to wav using winamp. Then I used Windows Media Player to burn the cd converting the wav to cda. So far so good. What I don't understand is the file sizes. My mp3 files are averaging 700 KB each, my wav files are averaging 2000 KB, and my cda files are 1 KB each. It seems like I should be able to put a ton of cda files on 1 cd, but when I go to burn them to a disk it won't let me select very many files (I'm assuming it's calculating the total of the wav file size and stopping when that size reaches more than what the cd could hold). Is there a way I can "burn" files (converted from wav to cda) to my desktop and then copy them to a cd? Thanks in advance!!!


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## Couriant (Mar 26, 2002)

cda is pretty much the music on a cd so you will be going by minutes not MBs. I don't know if/what is the maximum tracks you can have though.

If your CD player can support MP3s, then I would suggest that instead of an audio cd.


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## lclark (Mar 5, 2009)

Thanks, but I'm trying to make the CD compatible with older CD players (thus the need for cda). Is there a way that I can convert wav to cda and save it to my desktop? I think I can figure it out from there. Windows Media Player seems to give me only options for saving it on a cd or other portable media not for saving it in a file on my desktop.


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## Hughv (Jul 22, 2006)

CDA is not a music file:

"Each .CDA file is a kind of a pointer to the location of a specific track on the CD and contains no musical information. They are all 44 bytes in length and each contain track times plus a special Windows shortcut that allows users to access the specific audio tracks."
http://www.techsupportalert.com/how_to_work_with_audio_cd_cda_files.htm
In general, you can get about 20 songs on a CD.
See the link for more info.


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## IMiteBable2help (Nov 6, 2001)

Let me see if I can explain it in a way that makes sense. MP3 is a compressed audio format. It requires a player (hardware or software) that can decompress the MP3 in order to play it back. A wav file is UNcompressed audio and that's what you made from your MP3 using winamp. Winamp just decompressed the MP3 and saved it to a WAV uncompressed format. That is why the WAV takes up so many more bytes than an MP3. The WAV is uncompressed, the MP3 is not. A typical MP3 can be around 5MB but if you decompress it and save it to WAV format, it can be around 40MB.

When you see a CD-R you will notice that it says something like 700MB , but it also can say 80 minutes. The 80 minutes refers to the number of minutes of UNcompressed audio that the CD can hold. A music CD with music on it, that you get from the store, is uncompressed audio holding up to 80 minutes. The 700MB on a CD-R refers to how many MB the CD can hold when it is burned as a DATA CD. the minutes refers to how much music it can hold when burned as a AUDIO CD.

You cannot fit 300 songs on a CD burned as an AUDIO CD. An Audio CD can only hold up to 80 minutes of music, because it is not compressed. You can burn a DATA CD with MP3's on it, (also called an MP3 CD), and it can often hold hundreds of songs, but it requires a player that is MP3 capable, with the MP3 logo on the player, or they can be played using a computer media player such as Windows Media Player.

If you want to burn a regular music CD that can be played in most CD players you must burn it as an AUDIO CD. thus, you are limited to 80 minutes per disk. If you have a CD player with the MP3 logo on it, you can burn a DATA CD with a hundred or more MP3's on it, and it will still play. Now you know why MP3 players, and MP3 CD players are so popular. Why carry around tons of CD's when one MP3 CD will keep you entertained for days?

Check your CD burning software. Somewhere in there should be the option to burn a AUDIO CD, or burn a DATA CD. Either way, you can use your MP3's as a source. It's just that the burning software will decompress the MP3's and only put 80 minutes worth on a AUDIO CD. Audio CD is the the disk type you want to burn if you want to play the disk on any CD player. In that case, it's 80 minutes of music maximum, including the pauses between songs, and the maximum number of individual songs is 24. Forget about CDA files. They aren't a real audio format. They are not something you need to think about. . If you really want to put hundreds of songs on one CD, then get a CD player that is certified MP3 and burn your MP3 files to a DATA CD. you can often fit hundreds on a cd that way.

If you want to learn more, just search google for "understanding MP3 compression" (no quotes) or try this link: http://www.hometechanswers.com/mp3/mp3-audio-compression.html
You can also learn much from the help files included with winamp.


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## lclark (Mar 5, 2009)

Thank you so much for all of the responses. I've been working with data files so much that it was a little difficult for me to get it into my head that audio is not the same as data. I think I understand it now. Thanks again!!


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