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
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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
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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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