Can I write (200 MB - 150 min) music to a (700 MB - 80 min) CD?

You can write 200MB to the 700MB disk if the disk remains a data disk.

If you want the CD to play in home audio systems/stereos then the MP3 files will be decoded to raw PCM (like a WAV file) during the writing process and the disk will be written using a "time-based" calculation and your 150mins won't fit.


700 MB is calculated to 80 minute in CDDA (Compact Disc Digital Audio) format. What you asked is a little bit ambiguous so, here's a break down of what you may have asked:

  • You can burn 80 minutes of music (where MP3 is reformatted to CDDA, which you can listen to on most CD players lying around)

  • You can burn 700 MB of music (where MP3 is recorded as such - as data, not as audio - and you can only play it on CD players that recognize MP3 format, remember, as data, not as audio)

But you definitely and absolutely cannot burn 700 MB and 80 minutes of MP3. The 700 MB (digital format) equals the amount of "analog" (audio) minutes.

You must remember that MP3 is an audio digital format where 320 kbps (or 128 kbps, or 256 kbps and such) is the sample for every "x" MB from the original master (mostly, CDDA format) and is used nowadays to stream.

So, you should choose which format will you use. If you have too many files to burn, use MP3 (burn as data) but you will be limited to PCs, car radios, or CD players with compatible format, but if you have a few files (totaling no more than 80 minutes of total play time), you can burn it as audio so you can have more compatibility with standard players.

Additional FYI: the fact that you may record an MP3 into a CD, doesn't mean your MP3 file "masters" by itself. You will get the same audio quality on your audio CD as was recorded in your original MP3 source (whether your library or other library).


The "700 MB / 80 Min" label is describing two very different way of burning a CD.

A CD can be burned as a "Data" disc or as an "Audio" disc.

700 MB is for data version. 80 Min is for audio version.

When you burn a CD as an Audio CD, it will fit 80 minutes of music. This limitation is standardized and you cannot really mess around with the music to change this. It'll fit that much and no more, regardless of what you do with your music quality.

If you burn the disc as a Data CD, the limitation then becomes only 700 MB. Duration has no meaning. If you encode your own MP3 for talk shows or audio books, you can easily do a 1 hour/10 MB compression, giving your 700 MB disc a whopping 4200 minute (70 hours) duration.

For maximum compatibility, an Audio CD will basically work in any player that is compatible with CD-R media, which means most players built in the 21st century. MP3 playback is not necessarily present in all systems, even brand new ones.