Better Burning
 A CD-RW drive is only as good as its software. We take five
feature-rich
 mastering packages for a spin.

 Melissa J. Perenson
 From the October 2001 issue of PC World magazine

   In this story ...

  So you've purchased a CD-Rewritable drive--maybe one of those
reviewed
 in our
 roundup?
 What you can do with your drive depends on the software that runs it.

 Often, the software bundled with the drive provides only basic
functions
 such as burning data to a CD-R or performing packet writing. And that
 bundled software
 may be a somewhat older or stripped-down version; for example, many
 drives this summer were shipping with Adaptec Easy CD Creator 4.0, the
 predecessor
 of Easy CD Creator 5. Drive vendors may also bundle their own, branded
 programs; Hewlett-Packard, for instance, supplies its basic HP MyCD
 software with
 its drives.

 Whether you're a neophyte who values simplicity or a power user who
 wants more features and more control, changing your software can help
 you to get the
 most out of your new or existing CD-RW drive.

 Is such an upgrade worthwhile? The answer is a conditional yes.

 If you simply want to write computer data onto a CD-R or CD-RW disc,
the
 package bundled with your drive may be sufficient. On the other hand,
if
 you want
 to do more than that (such as making audio CDs from digital audio
files)
 or if you find the bundled software difficult to use, the programs we
 review here
 can supply the features you need and make the process of burning discs
 easier.

 With upgraded software, a CD-RW drive can do so much more than
 straightforward data backup. For example: Easy CD Creator 4.0 Standard
 (bundled with many
 drives) can't edit audio tracks or create Video CDs, but the 5
Platinum
 version can do all that and more. And whereas NTI's CD-Maker 2000
 (bundled with
 16X/10X/40X Pacific Digital drives) won't allow you to make MP3s from
CD
 audio or record live audio, the same company's CD-Maker Professional
 Edition will.

 But a CD is a CD is a CD...right? Not exactly. You can use a variety
of
 CD formats and pick from a plethora of options as to how to burn them.
A
 multisession
 CD, for example, lets you add data to a disc after the first burn.

 Other formats include Mixed-Mode CD (which stores audio first and data
 second, letting you play the disc on a CD player and read the data on
a
 CD-ROM drive);
 the aforementioned Video CD format, which enables you to store up to 1
 hour of MPEG-1 compressed video on a standard CD; Macintosh-compatible
 HFS CD; and
 hybrid CDs (which can be read on both PCs and Macs). Many of the basic
 packages that come with CD-RW drives omit some or all of these
 specialized formats.
 Burning Tales

 For this review, we tested the speed of writing data to a CD-R disc
 using each of the programs, but we found the programs' speed
differences
 to be minimal.
 So we judged the programs on features and ease of use. We did not test
 the speed of writing to a CD-RW disc.

 Although all of the programs we reviewed perform most of the same
tasks,
 each has a different range of features. Stomp's $50 Click'N Burn 2.0
is
 the least
 expensive product, while the priciest is Roxio's $80 Easy CD Creator 5
 Platinum (Roxio is an Adaptec spin-off company). Rounding out the
field
 are Oak
 Technology's $65 SimpliCD, Ahead's $69 Nero Burning ROM 5.5, and NTI's
 $70 CD-Maker Professional Edition.

 Most of today's CD-RW drives conform to the industry-standard
Multimedia
 Command set. MMC determines how the software controls the drive, so
any
 CD-RW mastering
 program should work with almost any drive. However, the software will
 take advantage of a drive's full capabilities only if it supports that
 drive; with
 such support, the software can understand how to use specific
features,
 such as buffer underrun compensation technology (discussed in
 "CD-RW ASAP" ).
 It's a good idea to visit a software vendor's Web site and see if your
 drive is supported before you buy a package.
 Click to view full-size image.

 In our tests, we found that the best overall package was Oak
 Technology's SimpliCD 1.0--it's the winner of our Best Buy award.
Close
 behind SimpliCD is
 Stomp's Click'N Burn 2.0, a powerful program with an easy-to-follow
 interface, although some of its features (such as burning a CD from a
 hard-disk image)
 are clumsy to use. The streamlined interface of NTI's CD-Maker
 Professional Edition helps that program do a better job of burning
from
 an image, but it
 doesn't do a good job of creating audio CDs, as you can't shift tracks
 around once you add them to the burn queue. Power users who want
 complete control
 over the burning process may prefer Ahead's Nero Burning ROM 5.5.
 Roxio's Easy CD Creator 5 Platinum offers the largest number of
 features, but it is the
 most expensive package we reviewed.
 Simpli the Best

 SimpliCD isn't the most powerful or the most full-featured product in
 our roundup, but it balances form and function very well. And at $65
 ($50 for the
 downloadable version), it's a reasonably priced upgrade.
 Ahead Nero Burning ROM 5.5

 What's Hot: The strangely named Nero Burning ROM 5.5 offers a vast
 number of options, all of which the well-written help file covers. For
 example, the program
 enables you to write to hybrid CDs and to Macintosh-compatible HFS
CDs,
 and it has an integrated MPEG-1 encoder for creating Video CDs. Other
 features
 include Nero Imagedrive, which creates a virtual CD-ROM drive that
lets
 you view the contents of an image file without having to burn the
image
 to disc.

 What's Not: The wizard that takes you through the burning process
points
 you in the right direction but still leaves you mostly on your own in
a
 sea of
 bewildering options. Between the complex interface and the project
 wizard, you frequently end up clicking through numerous screens to do
 tasks that other
 programs let you do in one or two screens.

 About This Product

 Summary
 Latest Prices

 What Else: Nero Burning ROM 5.5 comes with an MP3 encoder, but it will
 encode only 30 files in total. To do more, you have to buy the full
 version of the
 encoder, which costs $15 extra.

 Upshot: Users who want flexibility and don't mind a challenging
learning
 curve will get the most out of this program.

   NTI CD-Maker Professional Edition

 What's Hot: Every task in CD-Maker Professional Edition uses the same
 simple, two-step interface, which keeps things easy. Drop-down menus
for
 the source
 and destination drives make this software the least complicated means
of
 copying a CD. The program also allows you to save an image of a CD to
 your hard
 disk and then burn that image to another CD.

 What's Not: You can't simply click on audio track names or file names
 and edit them directly while they're queued for recording; instead,
you
 have to right-click
 on each track, select Properties, and then edit the name in that
window.

 About This Product

 Summary
 Latest Prices

 What Else: The program requires you to turn off Windows' auto-insert
 feature, which tries to run a program from a disc when you insert it
 (other packages
 either don't require that auto-insert be turned off or automatically
 disable the feature). In addition, the software enables its
write-verify
 option by
 default, which lengthens the time to burn a CD but tells you whether
the
 procedure succeeded or not. To disable this default, you must hunt
 around under
 a menu. When you record from audio inputs (such as a tape player
 connected to the line-in socket of the sound card), the audio is
 recorded to the hard
 drive as a .wav file or directly to the CD-R.

 Upshot: CD-Maker's user-friendly interface is a major plus for
beginners
 and for those who don't want to click through multiple screens to get
 the job done.

  Oak Technology SimpliCD 1.0

 What's Hot: SimpliCD takes a different approach to creating data CDs.
 While the other programs make you select the data to put onto the CD
 from within their
 interfaces, SimpliCD puts a "SimpliCD ROM" folder on your desktop that
 you can access through Windows Explorer. When you find a file you want
 to copy to
 a CD, you either drag and drop the file into this folder or
right-click
 on the file and select the Send To command. When you're ready to burn
 the disc,
 open the folder, click the burn button on the toolbar at the top of
the
 screen, and follow the simple instructions.

 What's Not: Although SimpliCD has enough features to satisfy most
users,
 it doesn't give you the level of control over every aspect of the
 burning process
 that Nero Burning ROM does. The only downside to the interface is its
 colorful Digital Media Recorder, which is fixed in size and doesn't
make
 viewing
 full audio track and title names easy.

 What Else: Context-sensitive help walks you through spots you don't
 understand. You can access tasks--such as making a Video CD or slide
 show, ripping digital
 audio from a CD, or creating an audio CD--from the Windows system
tray.
 When you make audio CDs with songs from multiple CD sources in guided
 compilation
 mode, the application stores the songs temporarily on your hard disk
so
 you don't have to swap discs.

 Upshot: SimpliCD's unique approach makes burning discs a more
intuitive
 process. The program is easy enough for neophytes to learn, yet it
will
 appeal to
 experienced users as well.

  Roxio Easy CD Creator 5 Platinum

 What's Hot: Version 5 Platinum features a sleek, revamped interface
with
 an easy-to-navigate project selector for choosing what type of disc to
 burn. You'll
 also find plenty of audio-specific features: an MP3 encoder to convert
 CD audio to MP3; a normalizer that can help moderate the loudness of
the
 tracks
 in a batch; a sound editor; and Spin Doctor, which the company claims
 will clean up the clicks, pops, and hisses you sometimes encounter
when
 recording
 from vinyl or tape. The MP3 CD Project feature automatically generates
a
 playlist, in .M3U format, for CD players that can play MP3 files. The
 software
 supports Video CD creation, but you must use a separate, included
 application to perform the video encoding.

 What's Not: The full installation of Easy CD Creator 5 Platinum takes
a
 whopping 220MB of hard disk space. For the program to remember your
 settings between
 sessions, you may need to download an upgrade patch. You also have to
 use different interfaces for different tasks; that can be confusing
when
 you switch
 between tasks. To make audio CD mixes, you must swap your source CDs
 throughout the burning process--Easy CD Creator can't copy the audio
 tracks temporarily
 to your hard disk.

 About This Product

 Summary
 Latest Prices
 Full Specs

 What Else: If you're seeking artist and track data for audio CDs, you
 need to download a patch as well, because Roxio switched from
supporting
 Gracenote's
 online CD database to supporting Freedb's. Be sure to check Roxio's
Web
 site for another patch before using the software with Windows 2000: A
 bug in the
 shipping version caused problems on some systems that users could fix
 only by reinstalling Windows 2000.

 Upshot: Home users who plan to record CDs with tracks extracted from
 alternate sources (such as vinyl) will get the best value out of Easy
CD
 Creator.

 Stomp Click'N Burn Pro 2.0

 What's Hot: Click'N Burn 2.0's interface is a good compromise between
 simplicity and power. The starter wizard lets you easily pick the type
 of disc you
 want, with options for audio CD, data CD, and CD copying. A sound
editor
 is included.

 What's Not: The option for converting a disc into an image file is
 hidden in right-click menus. The software doesn't include an MPEG-1
 encoder for Video
 CDs.

 About This Product

 Summary
 Latest Prices

 What Else: The menu and right-click options are context sensitive, so
 you get only the choices appropriate to the particular screen you're
 viewing. The
 $50 Click'N Burn Pro 2.0 supports writing to as many as four drives
 simultaneously--a boon for people who need to produce lots of CDs for
 distribution.
 Stomp also produces a $20 cut-down version called Click'N Burn Plus;
it
 lacks some capabilities, such as creating Video CDs and recording live
 audio to
 CD.

 Upshot: A strong runner-up, Click'N Burn Pro 2.0 is a good fit not
just
 for consumers but also for business users who have multiple CD-RW
 drives.

<End of Article>


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