A good-sounding mix CD can be a great Valentine gift that includes a bit of your own personality. CNet has an easy DIY guide - all you need is a basic computer, a few software programs and some of your time.
Important: You must always test the final Music mix CD in a few different CD players to make sure it works OK on different equipment.
Assemble the mix with Apple iTunes
Copy all the songs to your PC hard drive and create a playlist in iTunes. You can reorder the sequence by browsing to the playlist and dragging the songs around.
Add bells and whistles
A free sound editor, Audacity, lets you apply a variety of effects to an audio file including compression, delay, and phasing. Using Audacity's built-in recording feature, you can easily create voice-overs or add personal messages to the mix's recipient.
Design a CD cover - Burn your creation
Click the Burn Disc icon in iTunes' upper-left corner to write your mix to disc.
Design and print your CD jewel-box sleeve with AudioLabel. It will also import track information from your CD.
Important: You must always test the final Music mix CD in a few different CD players to make sure it works OK on different equipment.
Assemble the mix with Apple iTunes
Copy all the songs to your PC hard drive and create a playlist in iTunes. You can reorder the sequence by browsing to the playlist and dragging the songs around.
Add bells and whistles
A free sound editor, Audacity, lets you apply a variety of effects to an audio file including compression, delay, and phasing. Using Audacity's built-in recording feature, you can easily create voice-overs or add personal messages to the mix's recipient.
Design a CD cover - Burn your creation
Click the Burn Disc icon in iTunes' upper-left corner to write your mix to disc.
Design and print your CD jewel-box sleeve with AudioLabel. It will also import track information from your CD.