Creating a Mixed Mode CD

Now let's take a step-by-step look at how to create a Mixed Mode CD using Nero:

All settings may be left at their default values.

  1. Insert an empty CD into the recorder.
  2. Start a new compilation by clicking on the appropriate button or the File menu and the command New.
  3. Click the 'Mixed Mode CD' icon - the ISO tab is in front. Use the tabs to specify the attributes of the compilation, such as the name of the CD, different characteristics and restrictions.

    On the ISO tab you can toggle between Mode 1 and Mode 2/XA format as required. You should not need to verify the format – in the past there were problems with CD drives that could not read Mode 1 CDs, but very few of these drives should still be in use today. If these options are grayed it means that selection is not logically meaningful at present. Mixing Mode 1 and Mode 2/XA tracks on a CD would result in an unreliable and potentially unreadable CD format.

    In the 'File/Directorynames length' section you can specify the ISO level for the length of the names. Up to 31 characters are permitted for Windows 95 and higher. Names cannot be more than 11 characters long for Windows 3.1 (8 for the name and 3 for the extension). ISO Level 2 will be best in most cases – if you know that the CD must also be readable on a Windows 3.1 system then you should select Level 1.

  4. On the Label tab you can give your CD a name and overtype the default name 'New'. You can use letters A-Z, digits 0-9 and the underscore character (_) – diacritics (accents) and spaces are not supported.
  5. On the Dates tab you can specify the date of the compilation and of its files. The current date and time are entered for the compilation as default, also the creation date of the files.
  6. You can enter additional information about the CD you wish to burn on the Audio CD tab.
  7. Use the CDA Options tab to specify the strategy which Nero will use to handle the CDA files on an Audio CD (see also: Dragging & dropping audio tracks).
  8. Use the Misc tab to specify which files will be buffered in the cache. Files that are on slow media (floppy disks and network drives) and are very small are moved to the cache by default. You specify the location of the cache on the Cache tab in the File menu (Preferences option).
  9. Once you have selected your settings, click the New button on the right. You will now see the empty compilation window for CD.

    If a File Browser is not open yet you can open one by selecting New File Browser from the View menu or clicking the appropriate 'File Browser' icon. To specify that Nero is started with an open File Browser, check 'Start with File Browser' in the 'General' section on the File Browser tab (File -> Preferences).

  10. Compile the audio files for the Mixed Mode CD using Drag&Drop editing by simply clicking on the required files in the File Browser and dragging them into the audio area of the compilation window. This area is in the lower section of the compilation window and includes columns headed 'Track', 'Title', 'Duration' and 'Pause'.

    Clicking the right mouse button opens a context menu where you can selectively add or omit certain file types. In addition there are a number of commands that you will also find in Windows Explorer, such as 'Copy', 'Open' and 'Cut'.

  11. Compile the data files for the Mixed Mode CD using Drag&Drop editing by simply clicking on the required files in the File Browser and dragging them into the data area of the compilation window. This area is in the top section of the compilation window and includes columns headed 'Name' and 'Size'.
  12. Click on the Write CD button or select the Write CD command from the File menu to open the write dialog box. This option is only available when the compilation window is selected, as can be seen from the fact that the title bar is blue. If the File Browser is selected (and the title bar of the compilation window is therefore grayed) the option is not available and CD writing cannot be started. In this case click anywhere in the compilation window.

    The 'Write CD' dialog box now opens - it is the same as when creating a new compilation but the Burn tab is now in front.

  13. In the 'Action' section activate the other check boxes you require in addition to the 'Write' check box. You will find more information about this section in 'The Burn tab'. You must remember that when you create a CD with only one session you must activate the 'Finalize CD' checkbox.

    Caution:

    You must ensure that the 'Finalize CD' checkbox is activated. This setting write protects the CD and no further writing is possible.

  14. Click on the Burn button to start the burn process (or the simulation - depending on the chosen option). All the selected steps now run in sequence until writing is complete. You can monitor progress in a status window which shows the individual steps being logged as they are executed. A typical final message would be: 'Burn process was successful with 12x (1800 KB/s)'. The CD is then ejected. The messages shown can either be saved, printed or discarded. Close the window by clicking on the Discard or Close buttons.
  15. You can now check what has been written to your new CD by inserting it again and clicking the 'CD Info' icon.

    Important: If your burned audio tracks crackle, hum or hiss, you probably have problems with the so-called 'Audio Jitter Effect'. This is due to basic problems which the hardware has when reading audio data and has nothing to do with Nero.

    Please refer to: 'Verifying audio read quality' and 'Setting speed on CD/DVD-ROM drives'.


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