DIY: How to burn an audio CD

With numerous online music stores to choose from, it's simple enough to amass a huge collection of music on your computer's hard drive. And from that library you can assemble the perfect playlists to fit any occasion. But the question remains how to free your music from its computer prison. The most versatile way to make your music mobile is to burn it onto a trusty audio CD. You'll find a CD player just about anywhere you can play music: your car, your living room stereo, or the local bar.

Before you start, you'll need to gather these elements:

• Digital music on your computer (Mac or PC)
• CD-recordable (CD-R) or CD-rewritable (CD-RW) drive
• Blank CD-R
• Apple iTunes (Mac or PC)

Follow these simple steps

Step 1: Download and install iTunes

All the popular audio programs allow you to burn an audio CD. We've chosen iTunes because it is so popular, but there are many others to choose from and they will have similar set ups.

Step 2: Assemble a playlist

To make a new playlist click the plus (+) symbol in the lower-left corner or select File > New Playlist. Drag and drop music from your library into the new playlist.

Step 3: Configure your settings

Select Edit > Preferences and click the Burning tab. Select your preferred speed; typically, you'll use Maximum Possible. If you burn a disc and find it doesn't play perfectly, try selecting a slower burning speed. Ensure that the Audio CD button is selected. Choose how long a gap should be inserted between songs. If you have continuous mix DJ music, make sure there is no gap between songs.

Step 4: Insert the blank disc in your computer

Step 5: Select your playlist and click the Burn icon in the upper-right corner twice

Step 6: Wait while the CD is burned

The window in iTunes will display a progress bar along with an estimated time to completion. You'll hear a distinctive completed jingle letting you know that your new disc is ready to go out and rock the world.