Adaptec Easy CD Creator 4 Deluxe has lived up to its name and reputation. I bought version 4 because I was fed up with version 3 and its many inconveniences. I feel that a CD creation program should be a quality one that is easy to use. The following is a detailed description of the many great features that come along with this product, along with the one problem that I have had since purchasing it about six months ago:


Pros:

Mp3’s to CD –
This feature is the main reason why I bought this product. With older versions such as version 3, you had to convert mp3’s to wav format before you could burn them on to CD. Let me tell you, this is the biggest pain about burning CD’s. In addition, converting to wav format results in a severe loss in quality and it is a huge hassle. When I used version 3, all my CD’s sounded like the came off the radio! With version 4, all you have to do is add your list of mp3’s to a simple menu to begin burning the CD.

Spin Doctor –
I am a musician and I enjoy recording my performances on minidisc. When I want to convert the minidisc to CD, I use the CD Spin Doctor. This feature allows you to sort songs into different tracks, balance the loudness, and clean up popping and other imperfections in the tracks. The Spin Doctor has turned my live recordings into a beautiful album that I can distribute to my friends.

Session Selector –
Another great feature, which comes with version 4 and not version 3, is the session selector. This allows you to burn more than one session on a CD and then view different sessions. This only works for CD’s with data information because audio CD players cannot read more than one session. The session selector is excellent for preventing the waste of CD’s because you don’t have to use a different CD every time you want to burn more data onto a CD.

And More...
Version 4 also has many other cool features: It allows users to sort various video and photo files into a video album. This is great for family gatherings and work presentations. Adaptec has really fine-tuned its jewel case and CD labeler applications, since version 3, to make them a lot more user friendly!


Cons:

Sudden Stops –
The one and only problem I have had with this product is occasional stoppages during the burning process. Sometimes, when I am about ¾ of the way done, it will just stop. However, this is only a minor problem because I can just cancel the process and restart from wherever I left off. In addition, it only happens about 20% of the time. I’m not sure whether it is the software itself of my actual CD burner, but it is not an inconvenience at all.

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Conclusion:
Adaptec Easy CD Creator 4 is a great investment for anyone who is serious about music and wants to burn top quality CD’s directly from mp3’s or other CD’s. The people at Adaptec really fined tuned a lot of the features of this program in comparison to version 3. When I bought my HP desktop it came with version 3 and I soon switched over to version 4. Although it cost me about $70, it was well worth the money. Version 4 has saved me a lot of time and frustrations. With the CD to mp3 feature, every CD I burn is now clear and crisp!


Recommended: Yes