Matt_Eb wrote:Should I even bother to burn them to an audio CD-R, or should I store them as data on a CD-RW?
For longevity, CD-R is the way to go. By the way, you don't need to burn them specifically to "audio" CD-R. Regular data CD-R work just fine in a computer burner, whether you are burning data or audio.
Matt_Eb wrote:Is there any advantage to "Fast Copy(On the fly)" (where the CD and CD-R are both running during a burn) in terms of audio quality in the conversion to CD-R?
It is likely to give worse quality, if there is any difference, since when copying on the fly there is no chance to go back and re-read a sector if an error is encountered while reading it the first time.
Matt_Eb wrote:What is the highest quality way to store music as data? Windows Media Audio Lossless?
Any truly lossless storage should work. Storing as .wav is lossless and highly compatible, but it offers no compression.
Matt_Eb wrote:What is a higher quality way to burn .. using Nero 5.5 or Windows Media player9? (or other)
Burn quality is more influenced by drive and media. Unless there is a bug in the burning program, they should all give the same results. Having said that though, don't use WMP buring plug-ins. They cause too many problems. Stick with Nero.
Matt_Eb wrote:Forgive me as I am new to the scene and thanks for any help.
Tonearm has been pursuing the same grail you are. I suggest you find all his posts and read through them:
http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/search.php ... or=Tonearm
cfitz