WAV to MP3 Converter

Download and install the Digital Media Converter from the DeskShare website. The download is free and there is a free trial.

Insert the audio CD with the CD files into the CD drive on your computer. Launch Digital Media Converter on your computer.

Add your CDA files by clicking the "Add File" button from the toolbar. You can add more than one file at a time for conversion.

Locate the "Convert" button on the toolbar. Click on the small arrow on the right side of the button to get a pull-down menu of conversion options. Select "MP4" from the list of file formats.

Set your output location by clicking on the "Settings" button from the toolbar. Click the "Browse" button by "Destination folder for converted files" to select an output destination for the new MP4 files. Click "OK" when you are done to close the settings window.

Click the "Convert" button on the toolbar. The files will begin to convert and the status column will update with the progress. There is also a progress bar at the bottom of the screen. When all CDA files have been converted, a "Conversion Summary" screen will appear. Click "OK" and you will be able to use the new MP4 files.

Download and install Free CD Ripper. A link can be found below in the Resources section.

Open the program and place your audio CD into your CD drive. The program will then read the CD and all the songs will be listed in the main window. In necessary, input all the proper song information, like the title and album, by clicking on the track and typing in the information in the top half of the window.

Click on the "Folder" button at the top of the screen and select which folder you want the songs to be saved in. Then, change the output format to MP3 in the upper right hand corner, if it isn't already set.

Press "Extract" in the upper left hand corner after everything is finished.

Download a CDA to WMA conversion application. AllinONE CD to MP3 Converter, Total Audio Converter and WMA MP3 Converter are inexpensive at under $20. These programs also come with a free trial period for a tryout. SC Free Audio Ripper is also available. This application rips your music CD (CDA format) into several types of files including WMA.

Launch your CDA to WMA converter. A window will open with options on the left or right side of the screen. Some programs may have a tool bar at the top.

Click on the "Add Files," "New" or "Add" buttons. This depends on the converter that you have. Some programs also allow you to "Add Folders." Look at your drive for the CDA file formats. Select the "Open" button after you highlight the CDA format. The audio file will appear in the "Source" or "File" box. Repeat this step until all of your CDA files are ready to convert.

Change the "Convert" format. Usually, this option is on the side or between the boxes on the conversion tool. Select the "WMA" option from the drop-down box.

Select the "Convert" button to begin. This will take approximately five minutes depending on your PC and the amount of files to convert.

Learn how the files work. CDs use CDA file,s which really are just pointers to the music and aren't actual files you can copy. CDA files don't even really exist on a music CD, they are merely files created by the computer's CD drivers that point to the location of a track. MP3 is a file type that uses compression to save space.

Make space for your files. When you convert files from CDA you are copying analog data from its location on the disk, converting it to digital format and storing it somewhere else. You need to have a folder for the music to go into and you need to have enough space to store all of the music you want to copy. This process is commonly referred to as "ripping." On average, you'll probably need about one megabyte for every minute of music you want to store.

Choose a program. In order to rip CD music into MP3 format, you need a software program. You can use iTunes or Windows Media Player for free, and there are dozens of other free programs. Windows Media player is already available as part of Windows and iTunes is a free download but also comes with access to a digital music and has an excellent program for looking up the titles for your music and attaching them to the MP3 files. This is important because CDA files don't have the song titles attached to them.

Double-check your setting. Whatever program you use you will need to look for settings or options to let you specify where you want to save your files and in what format. MP3 is the most open format that virtually any player can read but the default format for some player like iTunes and Windows Media Player is a proprietary format than only those or a limited of other players recognize.

Copy the files. Put the music CD into the CD-ROM. Start your program by selecting it from the program list. Once the program starts, select the setting for copying or ripping files. Select all of the music files you want to copy by putting a check mark next to those files. Now click "copy" or "rip." After a few minutes, you will get a message telling you the process is complete. Your CDA files will be in MP3 format.

Download and install the River Past Audio CD Ripper (see link in Resources). It is free to try, but you will need to pay to keep it.

Launch the River Past Audio CD Ripper on your computer and use the drop-down to select the location of the CDA files if it has not defaulted to them. The River Past Audio CD Ripper will default to the location of your CD disc drive. If you have the CDA files stored on your computer, select that location.

Put a check mark in the box by the CDA files you want to convert. By default, the River Past Audio CD Ripper will put a check mark in all the boxes. Click the box to remove any check marks you do not want.

Click the arrow by "Format" to see more options. Select "WAV" from the drop-down as your output file type.

Click the arrow by "Output Directory," and then click "Browse" to select the destination for the new WAV files.

Click "Convert" from the toolbar to convert from CDA to WAV. A pop-up will let you know when the conversion is complete and when you can use the new WAV files.

Download and install IntelliScore Ensemble from the IntelliScore website (see Resources). It is a free download with a free trial, but you do have to pay to keep the software.

Launch IntelliScore Ensemble on your computer. The New Project Wizard will start automatically. Select that your music is on an audio CD to set the input file type. Click "Next."

Insert the audio CD with the CDA files into your CD drive on your computer. Click "Next" once the button is clickable. You will not be able to click it until the program recognizes an audio CD in the drive.

Select the track or CDA file that you want converted to MIDI. You can select more than one at a time.

Click on the "Transfer Track" button. This will start the CDA to MIDI conversion process. A pop up appears when the conversion is complete. Click "OK" and you can work with the new MIDI files.

Download and install Burn4Free CD and DVD from the CNET Download Center (see Resources). It is a freeware program, so you will not have to pay to use or keep it.

Insert a blank CD into your writable CD drive. This will be the output destination for your CDA files.

Launch Burn4Free CD and DVD on your computer. You will see a toolbar with a lot of icons at the top of the screen and the bottom of the screen will be a white panel. Drag and drop the files that you want to convert into the white panel area.

Click on the "Preferences" button on the toolbar. Click on the "AUDIO -- CD Writer Settings." Check the default drive to make sure that your CD drive is listed. If you want the CD to eject when it is done ,you can put a check in that box. Click "Apply" and then click "OK."

Click the "Burn Audio" button on the toolbar. This will burn the audio files to an audio CD, which converts the files to CDA format. A progress bar appears while the files convert. A pop-up will let you know when it is complete. If you elected for the CD to auto-eject, it will eject itself. If not, you can click the eject button on the toolbar. Your CDA files will be on the CD when you want to use them.

Download and install Xillsoft Converter. See Resources for a link to download this program.

Insert the CD you would like to rip an audio file from and then click the "File" button. This will load all of the CDA files that are stored on your CD.

Select the checkbox next to the CDA files for the files you would like to convert.

Click the "Profile" box and then select an output file format. Select MP3 from the drop-down menu.

Click the "Convert" button located in the menu that runs across the top of the application. Your converted file will save to your computer.

Download and install a program that can record to CDs (burn) or copy files from them (rip), depending on how you want to work with your CDA files. Examples include Format Factory and Nero. Format Factory, which is completely free, can only rip CDs, whereas Nero, which is free for a limited time, can both rip and burn CDs.

Open the program you downloaded.

Put a CD containing audio files into your computer's CD/DVD drive if you want to convert those files into a format that is usable on your computer. Choose the "Rip" option or similar, depending on the program you are using. This will change your CDA files into a format like MP3 and import them into a folder of your choosing.

Put a blank CD into your computer's CD/DVD drive if you want to create CDAs by burning an audio CD from your music files. Click the "Burn" option or similar, depending on the program you are using, and choose "Audio CD." Add the music files you wish to burn by clicking the "Add File" button and choosing the files one at a time. Click "Burn" to create your audio CD, turning those audio files into CDA files.

Open Windows Media Player and then connect to the Internet. You will be set to receive updated news regarding your CD if it is available during the ripping process. This data will include artist, title, producer and other media information.

Click "Rip," point to "Format" and click "mp3."

Click "Rip" and point to "Bit Rate." Select a bit rate from 128 kbps (lowest quality) to 320 kbps (highest quality).

Insert the audio CD to be copied and the ripping should begin. If it does not, click "Rip" and select "Rip CD automatically when inserted" and choose "Only when in the Rip tab."

Click "Library" and locate the newly ripped file there and play it.

Click "Start" and then click "Control Panel."

Select "Tools" from the toolbar menu and then click "Folder Options."

Go to the "File Types" tab and use the scroll bar to locate the "CDA" extension and then click it once.

Look under "Details for 'CDA' Extension" and change the software it is registered to open with. To do this, click "Change" and then scrool down to select Windows Media Player or your desired audio player.

Check the box next to "Always use this selected program to open this kind of file " and click "OK."

Place a blank CD in your computer's CD writer drive. Close the disc tray.

Open your CD burning software. This can include software like Windows Media Player or iTunes. Anything that has the ability to burn computer files to CDs will do.

Set up a list of the songs you wish to burn. If you're using Windows Media Player you'll have to click on the blue "Burn" button at the top of the program window. Next, drag all of the music files you want to convert to .CDA files into this window.

If you're using iTunes you'll have to create a new playlist by selecting "New Playlist" from the file menu. Simply drag all of the music files you want to convert to .CDA files into this new playlist.

Press the "Burn" button in your CD burning software to begin the writing process. Depending on the speed of your CD drive and the number of tracks on the CD this can take a few seconds to a few minutes. Once the process is complete the disc will be automatically ejected from your CD writer drive.

Download and install a program that can be used for converting audio files. Examples of this include Total Audio Converter and ImTOO Audio Encoder (see Resources). Though these types of programs often cost money, they usually offer free trial versions that will suit your purposes.

Load the .CDA file you want to convert into your audio converter program of choice. Select "Open" from the "File" menu at the top of the main program window and then choose your .CDA file.

Set the "Output File Type" to ".WAV." This will tell the program that you want to convert the .CDA file to a .WAV file.

Click the "Convert" or "Start" button to begin the conversion process. When finished, the .WAV version of your .CDA file will be saved in the same directory as your original .CDA file.

Repeat these steps for any other file you want to convert from .CDA to .WAV.