backing up my cd collection

[awylde]

Hi all
just a small query. I have completed transferring my cd collection to itunes in mp3 format, I now wish to back up my collection on to my hard drive, so I can burn a cd exactly as the original, to play in my cd player, if original gets damaged. Is there a way to do this with software already on my Mac (have leopard system) or is there any freeware or non expensive third party software to do the job

any help much appreciated
thanks in advance

 

[Galley]

You can backup your library onto blank CDs or DVDs within iTunes.

 

[awylde]

Hi
thanks for your reply and i know this will sound thick, but how do you make cd's from itunes to play in cd players eg in a car stereo as i have imported them in to itunes as mp3 format.
many thanks in advance for your time

 

[Galley]

If you create an "Audio CD", that CD will be playable on any standard CD player. The files will be converted to WAV files, and you will be limited to 80 minutes of audio.
If you create a "Data CD", then it will only be be playable on a CD player that supports MP3 CDs. The files will remain unchanged and you will be limited to 700MB.

 

[iPhoneNYC]

You CDs are recorded in AIFF and MP3 will have alot of loss. MP3, AAC or Apple lossless are designed to speed downloads. Especially since harddrives are so cheap and buying music can get expensive maybe you should switch your iTunes import to AIFF - the files will be bigger but mirror your precious music. And in simple notes: import studio albums with a gap between songs and live albums with no gap.

 

[xlii]

I beg to differ with the above post. Applelossless is just that, lossless. It should sound the same as the original CD it was made from. If you want to back up your CD collection to hardrive, use Applelossless.

 

[gnasher729]

iTunes can import your music in various formats: "Apple lossless" will make an exact copy of the CD, only slightly compressed. Expect 300-400 MB per CD, depending on size. AAC is a very good lossy compression; it is most suitable for use with iPods. AAC 128 kbit was what the iTunes store used to sell, nowadays it sells AAC 256 kbit. I cannot hear a difference with AAC 192 kbit, so that is what I use. At 192 kbit, expect 80 MB per CD. And then is MP3, which is most suitable if you want to create MP3 CDs (many cars and many portable CD players will play them, fitting 10 of your CDs onto a single disk).

If you want a backup of your CDs, so you can recreate them without any loss, you would use Apple Lossless. With AAC 192 kbit or MP3 256 kbit you can also recreate them, and you will likely hear no difference. Change your preferences for burning CDs to "Audio CD" (instead of data CD or MP3 CD), this allows you to burn any playlist as an Audio CD. To restore a damaged CD, select that CD in iTunes, make a playlist from it, burn it to CD, delete the play list.

You CDs are recorded in AIFF and MP3 will have alot of loss. MP3, AAC or Apple lossless are designed to speed downloads. Especially since harddrives are so cheap and buying music can get expensive maybe you should switch your iTunes import to AIFF - the files will be bigger but mirror your precious music. And in simple notes: import studio albums with a gap between songs and live albums with no gap.

No, Apple Lossless uses lossless compression. It will give one hundred percent exactly the same file as AIFF at 60 percent of the space.

 

[awylde]

Hi All
thanks for info. i have now started to use itunes for making back ups

many thanks