How to Burn a Disk Image File (ISO, DMG, etc) from the Finder of Mac OS X This is exclusively for macOS High Sierra, Sierra, OS X El Capitan and later, where the feature no longer exists. Note this is not necessary in older versions of Mac OS X, which allowed burning ISO files from Disk Utility.

That's why such discs, signified by an 'RW', are almost wholly incompatible with most audio CD players.But not to worry, you can still burn disk images and data discs in modern MacOS and Mac OS X releases, and you can start the process either from the Finder or from the command line on the Mac. Their 're-writability' required a different metallic surface than 'normal' CDs. Those never caught up because of higher prices, lower speeds, and even more flakey compatibility. Re-writeable optical media were even more quirky. Some could play written CDs just fine, but many would produce an audible whine, skip tracks, or fail to recognize a written CD.

However, audio CD players were primarily designed for commercial pressed discs with well-defined tracks. This wasn't a problem when using CDs for data storage and accessing them on your PC. And no, we're not exaggerating.Īn extra problem was that the faster a CD writer 'rushed' to write on a disc, the less defined the spiral tack on them. Cheap discs could even explode when used with devices that exceeded writing speeds over 42x. However, such rotation rates also demanded high-quality optical media. What all optical discs had in common was how sensitive they were to damage, which is why we suggest you also bookmark our guide on how to repair damaged CDs or DVDs and recover data.Īudio CD Limitations: How to Avoid Whine, Skips, and Maximize CompatibilityĬD writing devices kept evolving and, in the process, speeding up until they reached speeds up to 72x. That's why such devices were also called 'CD burners'. Writing on them was achieved thanks to a powerful laser in CD writing devices, which heated their surface to create those pits. Writable discs had a thermo-sensitive chemical structure. The pressure was what created the track and pits on their surface. A laser head in a CD reader could then 'scan' that track and, depending on the elevation of each point, 'read' data as zeroes and ones.Ĭommercial CDs were pressed, literally, from a master disc. Data was stored on an imperceptible spiral track on the metallic surface as a sequence of pits. Those little discs were a combination of a protective plastic layer and a thin metallic surface. So, let's see how you can turn your modern MP3s into old-school Audio CDs, just like the older folks did back in the day How Do Audio CDs Work?ĬDs are all but obsolete today.

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