And along with the format came the famed mp3 player. Not only can your music be easily stored in your computer, you can actually take it everywhere in a small player, nothing like the large portable CD players and walkmans of the past. If you haven’t started using this technology yet, you can start by downloading a good and free mp3 converter and start transforming your CD collection into a digital music database.

CDA which is the abbreviation for CD Audio, is not an audio file format like MP3 or WMV. Rather, when an OS detects an Audio CD, it reads the basic information written to the CD, including the number of tracks, CD Text if available, total duration etc. To access the audio tracks, it also creates CDA labels, though the labels are not real files and are impossible to copy by selecting and dragging them. So to convert CDA to MP3, you will be required to rip your Audio CD, as CDA labels cannot be converted at all, as they contain no audio information.

MP3 is a compressed audio format that allows for smaller file sizes with similar sound quality to PCM WAV format, the format found on normal music CDs you would buy in a store. Thompson and Fraunhofer helped develop the coding algorithm, or system of rules and processes, that encoded audio to this incredible format. For more on exactly how this encoding technology works, see our section entitled Inside the MP3 Codec.

Things you will need

AudioConverter Studio

Instructions

Download and install AudioConverter Studio to a known location on your computer. Run setup and follow the display instructions to install the software. Insert the Audio CD that you would like to convert to MP3. Open AudioConverter Studio. When the Wizard appears select ‘Rip an Audio CD’ and then select ‘next.’ AudioConverter Studio offers the option to set output folder (1) and filename format (2). Use any folder on your computer; the filename format option will allow you to set a pattern for filename and folder names. i.e your converted files can have user friendly names and sorted by folders according to artists, album name, etc. The information for filenames and folder names will be taken from CDDB, of from CD Text if available. Click ‘Next.’ Another wizard page will appear; here, specify MP3 file as the output format, setting your specified MP3 bit rate as well. Note that they ‘prelisten conversion’ box, if checked, will make the program convert only a few seconds of each track. To convert full tracks, ensure that option is kept unchecked. When the last page of the wizard pops up check all settings again, and if everything is OK, click ‘finish’ to rip the Audio CD. The converted MP3 will be found in the folder you previously specified. Do’s Remember that the trial version of AudioConverter Studio is fully functional for 30 says of the evaluation period. Beyond that time, you must pay for it to use it.