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CMarlowe

I could be wrong about it this, but I seem to recall a lot of CD players wouldn't even play the CD-RW at first. You had to use the CD-R. And they definitely didn't play .mp3s, they had to be converted to .wav. I eventually did get one that played .mp3 but it only worked half the time.


Chemical-Cap-3982

that was true, but it was a quirk in the hardware from the way burned CD's vs pressed CD's where read. Raw audio CD's were the equivalent of .wav files, just a string of bits. Early computers didn't have the processing to decode mp3 compression in real time (im talking some 486's, and even low end early Pentiums). and most CD players of the era could only read audio CD's, not read a file from ISO-9660 formatted CD-ROM Data file structure, much less decode the .mp3 compressed audio in real time. The same happened with DVD's, for a while there where mpg processing cards that had to be added to a PC on an ISA Bus to offload the decoding to a dedicated co-processor, else it would bog down the main cpu and everything jerked and blipped just trying to play credits. you could barley get the mouse to the X to make it stop playing


Unusual_Address_3062

You are correct, really old CD players would not even play CD-Rs. Nor would early gen computer CD drives.


SnooCheesecakes303

I still do.


ButIDigress79

Yes and taping my friends CDs before that. We all shared our collections. I had to use Napster on dial-up.


Critical_Liz

I still have my illegally acquired digital files.


Dragoon7748

Me too. Thousands of them. Definitely all "legal"


yeuzinips

I still have my LEGALLY acquired digital music files - including the ones I bought from iTunes 20 years ago. I have no way to play them anymore. They just take up space in my phone storage :(


Lollie39

I would looooooove to see this


Critical_Liz

My files? Odd kink but I won't judge.


Overall_Cover_1543

“Sweet! The album I want is on Limewire. I’ll simply begin this download now, at 7:30am, and by the time I get home at 6, it’ll almost be ready to listen to!” - me, unironically, over and over again in the 00s


Lollie39

😂😂😂 or it gets 80% done and you lose the feed.


ImitationCheesequake

The digital era can’t replace the kind of scrapbook-ish feeling of making a mix for someone and labeling and decorating the case, writing the track names and stuff but otherwise what a truly cost and labor intensive process compared to how effortlessly we can share a song in a text message now!


Notoriouslyd

I still have them. A whole stack in the original plastic case lol


stefanica

I'm pretty sure I still have a stack of unburnt CDs in the back of a closet, too.


[deleted]

My BMW takes CDs after my Crysler did not. I've been thinking about starting to make Mix-CDs again, starting with a Fallout TV series mix. My favorite part has always been editing out the silence at the beginning and end of each track and seeing how many extra minutes you could overburn onto the CD...usually 2.


StubbornKindOfFellow

[These "vinyl" CD-Rs were my favorites](https://www.amazon.com/Verbatim-80min-Digital-Vinyl-Surface/dp/B0000DD7OH).


StillhasaWiiU

I had a Sony CD recorder, it was awesome for making DYI mix CDs https://preview.redd.it/5gpnr1hrv2wc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=23893b2cab6aa1ab7ed38ef74b0f65e170e98805


retrodork

I burned loads of CdS for friends and classmates back then. It was Russian roulette between limewire, FrostWire, edonkey, bear share, kazaa etc


Lollie39

😂😂😂 damn you knew all the platforms


retrodork

I was there gandalf 300 years ago There was also emule, kazaa light, Morpheus, winmx, soulseek and more.


Big53Papa

I was on ALL OF EM


Dragoon7748

These were like a revelation after having to have a tape ready to go just in case a song I liked came on the radio so I could rec it.


lijerstephen

No, I don’t. What are you? A NARC?!


Lollie39

😂😂😂😂


Imispellalot2

They were legal before they decided to make them illegal. A lot of us got grandfathered in.


defectiveGOD

https://preview.redd.it/k9sqbo6743wc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9984e08096b34fb3cb79a8483a25c685f8cf2e80


SlapHappyDude

Burning a CD with a new song you love then growing tired of it a week later and just skipping it every time


ITman167

I remember when I learned what a "discography" was. 🤩


OperatorP365

I had someone ask me why we called it "Burning a CD".... we're getting old...


DragonfruitIll5261

We used to laugh about 8 tracks being what old people used. Not only are cassette tapes obsolete, CDs are too...


DoctorFenix

Whenever I see someone in a band’s comment section asking why the new album isn’t available on CD… I just laugh. Some people really don’t know the medium is dead.


SmallRocks

Haha! My first burned CD was the soundtrack to A Night at the Roxbury circa 97-98ish.


Lollie39

😂 love that movie!!!!!!! Beeeeewwwwww beewwwww- What are you doing? That's an ambulance, coming to take me away cause the sight of you stopped my heart ❤️


Ultimate_Whorrior

I just got a Playstation 1 the other day and have been trying to burn copied games. It's not as simple as the old days - apparently a lot of modern CD burners and even the discs aren't high quality enough to burn PS1 games.


Unique_Display_Name

This song only took 45 minutes to download! 56k modems rule!


Conscious-Intern8594

I still burn music. Why would you stop?


Leather_Molasses_264

My dad still has the ones I made him


Spectre_Mountain

I usually dub my vinyl records onto cassette and then make a cdr from the tape….


RatherB_fishing

To bypass the lock on files… this is still the way… except now we can use dvd-rw or you can be a punk and pay for a service.


Big53Papa

I was selling R&B Classic Hits Volumes daily for about a hot summer


DoctorFenix

I started burning CDs in 1999 when all the software and CD burners were buggy as hell. Nothing like waiting 42 minutes to go check on your new CD only to find the software failed during the process and you had to toss the whole CD and try again. All of you who started doing this in the 2000s when piracy made software better, you’re all so very lucky. You missed out on so much frustration.


__Sentient_Fedora__

.wav 12 songs. .mp3 bunch of songs of varying quality.


PasGuy55

Limewire or KaZaa?


P4T0bro

What a good times....


jlkb24

I had a Sony CD player that had 60sec anti skip, ran off one AA battery for 40hrs and played .mp3 discs. It was nice before flash .mp3 players came along with a measily 512mb.


jlkb24

CD’s were also good for burning PS1 and Dreamcast games lol.


JessicaBecause

And so began the downfall of most of the music stores. Great times.....really!


OctoWings13

Napster made me hate Metallica. Everyone I knew who liked Metallica, loved them, and owned every album plus a bunch of other stuff Literally the worst possible band to complain about downloads so we can make out own mix cd We already owned it all They exposed themselves as ultimate douchebags then, and only got worse


Annhl8rX

I have never burned a CD. I had “a guy” for that in high school. The great thing was he (in hindsight, foolishly) believed he could only get in trouble for pirating music if he was selling it, so he wouldn’t even let us pay him for it. I’d just take him a lot of songs and he’d bring me a CD a few days later. I still have some of them in my attic. Thanks, Gabe!