How to burn lots of MP3s onto one disc

Make an MP3 data disc. Burn by Zaweba's MP3 data disc stores the music as MP3 files rather than as audio CD tracks, so hours of songs fit on one disc for any player that can read MP3s. Files that aren't MP3 already are converted for you, the tracks are numbered in order and a playlist is added.

An ordinary audio CD holds roughly the length of one long album. An MP3 disc holds far more, because MP3 files are much smaller than CD audio. The trade off is that the player must understand MP3 files on a disc.

Audio CD or MP3 disc?

Choose an audio CD when the disc must play anywhere, including old CD players that only know audio tracks. Choose an MP3 data disc when your car stereo or player says it plays MP3 CDs, and you'd like many albums on one disc instead of one album. Many car stereos from the last couple of decades handle MP3 discs, and their manual or the front panel usually says so.

Making the disc

Open MP3 data disc from Home or from Disc > MP3 data disc. Drag your music in. MP3 files go on as they are. Other formats are converted to MP3 with LAME, and you choose the quality: V0, V2 or 320. V0 and 320 give the highest quality and bigger files, and V2 fits more music at a quality most people find fine in a car.

Burn numbers the files so they play in the order you set, which avoids players that sort by name putting your songs in alphabetical order. A playlist is added too, for players that use one.

Tips for players that are fussy

Simpler players can be particular. Keeping file and folder names short helps on small displays. Using a CD rather than a DVD is safest for older car stereos, since many read only CDs. If a player won't read the disc at all, the problem is often the disc type rather than the files, so check what the manual says it accepts.

It's also worth burning one disc and trying it in the player before making a whole stack. Every player has its own quirks, and one test disc tells you more than any manual. Once you know your stereo is happy, the rest of the collection can follow in the same way.

Keeping the collection tidy

If your songs are already in Play by Zaweba playlists, it's worth building each disc from a playlist so the order is set before you start. And if your music is on CDs you own, Save audio CD as files reads them and saves the tracks as FLAC, MP3 or WAV, tagged and in a folder per album, ready to gather onto MP3 discs.

With Check every disc after burning on in Settings, Burn reads the files back after burning and compares them with what was written, so a disc you hand to the car is a disc that works. It's free software that runs offline, with no account.