Software Review of:
Click 'N Burn
Pro v. 1.5 

Installation
I usually don’t dwell upon installation but this one initially frustrated me.  I installed the software and got a message that it didn’t recognize my CD burner. I took a few days to calm down, then went to the Click ‘N Burn Web site. There was a list of supported CD-RW drives and sure enough, mine wasn’t included. In the download section, however, there was a patch, and the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) hinted that the patch might contain drivers for additional models. I downloaded the patch, rebooted my computer, and this time it worked. If you decide to buy this software, I’d recommend looking at the extensive list of supported CD-RW drives on the Web site. If yours isn’t listed, call technical support at 949-250-6771 or e-mail them to verify that the current patch will support your recorder.

Operation
Click ‘N Burn Starter is the equivalent of a wizard that contains the four most popular operations: Duplicating an existing CD; making an audio CD, making a data CD and (unique to Click ‘N Burn) DJ Burn. DJ Burn allows you to leave a CD-R music disk open, or unfinalized, so that you don’t have to record it all in one session. You can add a few MP3 tracks today, remove the disk, add a couple of .WAV files tomorrow, and end next week with some cuts from an audio CD or even a live recording from a cassette deck or microphone. In its unfinished state it will play on you computer only. When you’re finished, you finalize it. At that point, you can’t add any more tracks, but it’s playable on a standard stereo CD player. 

I made a compilation audio CD, extracting tracks from five different CDs. Using the Adaptec software that came with my drive, I had to insert each CD in turn and then, when I was ready to burn the compilation, insert them back into the drive in the EXACT same order. If I messed up the order, the entire process flopped and it was back to square one. The procedure in Click ‘N Burn was similar. I stuck in each CD, clicked on the tracks I wanted to copy to the new compilation, and then fed them back in for the actual recording. However, the order didn’t matter! This might sound like a small thing, but to me this feature alone is worth $49.95. The Starter held my hand during the entire process. It was foolproof. 

The 78-page manual is excellent. There are step-by step instructions for every feature, plus an excellent 19-page glossary of CD and DVD terms. The manual was very careful to include caveats about functions that might not work with all CD burners, and gives good advice about quirks in the burning process. 

I then moved to the full application, which has many more features. I was intrigued by the ability to create a CD that contained both data and music. Apaptec’s CD Creator won’t do this. There are two ways to do it in Click ‘N Burn. One is by creating a mixed mode CD. The manual explained the drawbacks of this method; the data gets laid down first, and some CD players might not know to skip over it and play static. I opted to create a CD Extra, also known as an enhanced CD, which creates a multi-session disc with the music laid down first. Again, the instructions were clear, and it worked just as it was supposed to.  I was able to open the data files in Windows Explorer, and the music tracks played perfectly in my boom box.

Other features

• You can burn audio CDs directly from MP3, WMA, and WAV files on the fly without copying them to your hard drive first, and mix the media.

 
• You can connect your stereo system to your sound card, and use your audio card as the source. Since the recording happens in real time, you'll need to use 1X recording speeds on your CD recorder. Many new CD-R/RW drives don't support 1X speeds, so if this is important to you, make sure yours does.

 
• You can create videoCD's from standard MPEG-1 files playable on most DVD players.

 
• Warp Drive lets you simultaneously master to 4 CD recorders, or split your recorders up to perform several different recordings simultaneously.

 
• Click 'N Burn Pro Tools includes CD Recorder drive Tune up, CD ripping to WAV function, Global CD Image Creation, and CD Drive diagnostics.

 
• Overburn Support allows users to burn more data to a CD than the reported data size of CD. Not all recorders support this function.

 
• You can add text to CD tracks if your drive supports it – mine doesn’t. If you have a CD player that can display song titles, this is a way to add them.

There’s More!
Bundled with Click ‘N Burn Pro is a copy of CD Stomper CD labeling software, complete with a free applicator and several sample sheets of labels. Last year I paid $30 for a similar Memorex labeling system, so don’t write this off as small potatoes.  The software is similar to the Memorex system, reviewed in the magazine a year ago. It has Over 1200 layouts, and lets you create your own from scratch. Like the Memorex software, I found it temperamental. I had trouble adding text where I wanted it and in making the text the size I needed, but after some fiddling it created an attractive label. It also comes with templates you can use to create labels in several other applications, such as MS Publisher, Word, Corel Draw and Photoshop. The applicator is easy to use and more compact and sturdier than the Memorex one. The labels sell for the same extortionate price, $25 for 100. It comes with a manual, but the screen captures seem to be for a different program – very confusing!

Buy it!
System requirements are a 166 Mhz Pentium, or faster; 32 MB of RAM, A CD R or CD-RW drive and Windows 95 or higher. Make sure you follow my earlier tip about checking your CD-R drive compatibility!

It costs $59.95 but there is a $10 rebate form available from their Web Site, Note that stores are carrying a rebate coupon that expired last year; the one on the Web is good until the end of March, 2001. You can buy it from their Web site for $56.26, including shipping. I saw it at Office Depot, so I’m sure it’s available at the usual San Antonio stores.

If you can’t find it, the manufacturer is 

Stomp, Inc
1012 Brioso Dr., #105
Costa Mesa, CA, 92627 USA
Phone: 949-250-6771
Fax: 949-250-6775.

This is a winner. If your CD-RW drive came with bundled software with minimal features, this is a great solution, especially if you also plan to buy a labeling system – the combo can’t be beat.