How to Convert CD to MP3 in 4 Ways

With the rising of digital music, people can listen to music nearly anywhere and anytime. CD albums are rarely sold.  Besides, more and more devices like laptops, computers, and cars lack a disk drive, making it hard to play music on a CD. If you want to listen to songs on your CD collections, the best way is to convert your CD to MP3 so that you can keep and play these songs on portable devices. Now let's see how to convert CD to MP3.

To convert CD to MP3, you need to have a desktop/laptop computer with a disk drive or an external CD drive if there isn't one. Get this ready before you proceed. There are multiple ways to rip audio from a CD, we will talk about 4 easy ways to convert CD to MP3 in this blog.

Part 1. How to Convert MP3 with EaseUS MakeMyAudio

If you want to extract an MP3 copy of songs on a CD, you can use a CD ripping program. A CD ripper helps rip music from a CD and convert them to MP3 simultaneously. One of the handy tools to convert CD to MP3 is EaseUS MakeMyAudio. This simple yet functional tool can copy CD to your PC within few steps. Below is a brief step to rip CD to MP3 using EaseUS MakeMyAudio.

Step 1. Insert the CD into your computer CD drive and launch EaseUS MakeMyAudio. Click "CD Ripper" > "Add Files" > "Audio CD" and select the source CD. When a popup appears, click "Ignore" to continue.

Step 2. Then the CD ripper will read the audio files on the CD. Select the target audio format, quality, and storage path accroding to your need. Then click "Start" to begin the CD ripping process.

Step 3. When it has done, go to the selected folder to check the audio files you rip from the CD.

After the process is completed, you can check out the exported songs on your PC. Then you can move these songs to any portable device for listening. Here is a guide on how to transfer MP3 to iPhone. 

Part 2. How to Rip CD to MP3 using Windows Media Player 

The second option to copy a CD to a PC is using Windows Media Player, the built-in player on Windows-based devices. Besidsing being a media player, Windows Media Play offers extra services like rip music from a CD, burn songs to a CD. By installing some plug-ins, you can extend the functionality of Windows Media player, like trimming MP3 files and converting M4A to MP3. Now let's see how to use Windows Media Player to easily rip a CD to MP3.

If you could not find Windows Media Player on your PC, you can install it in several steps. 

Click "Start" > "Settings" > "Apps" > "Manage optional features" under Apps & Features > "Add a feature" >"Windows Media Player" and click "Install" to get it on your Windows PC. 

Step 1. Launch Windows Media Player on your PC.

Step 2. Put your CD into the disk drive on the PC. Then two options "Rip CD" and "Ripping settings" will automatically appear on the Menu section of Windows Media Player.

Step 3. Click "Ripping Settings" > "Format" to choose "MP3," then go back to "Audio quality" to choose quality for the ripped audio. You can set the location of the ripped music by hitting "More Options" in the "Ripping settings" option.

Step 4. After you finish the settings, you can click "Rip CD" to start converting CD to MP3 on your PC. The time it takes depends on the file size, but it won't be too long.

Part 3. How to Export CD to MP3 on PC with iTunes 

iTunes can help you export songs on a CD to MP3 as well.  We all know iTunes is Apple's media player on PC, helping Apple users to manage their media sources. It is mainly used for playing music/videos and syncing data between PC and iOS devices. While if you take a deeper look at iTunes, you will find a bunch of unknown usage of this tool. Converting a CD to MP3 is such a function you've ignored. Find how to rip audio CD to MP3 below.

Step 1. Insert your CD into the PC. 

Step 2. Open iTunes and click the CD icon on the interface to open the CD page.

Step 3. Click "Import CD" and there will be a popup named ad "Import Settings." Choose "MP3 Encoder" for the setting "Import Using" and make your selection for audio quality in "Setting." This makes sure the CD is exported in MP3 and defined quality.

Step 4. Click "OK" to start to import CD to iTunes. There will be a Window in which you can untick songs that you don't want to rip from the CD. After the process is completed, go to iTunes Library and find the exported CD audio files. 

Step 4. Right-click on any import song and choose "Show in Windows Explorer" to locate them on your PC.

Part 4. How to Convert CD to MP3 with VLC Media Player

Most media players apart from Windows Media Player support ripping audio from CD to MP3. One of the popular media players that help in this is VLC Media Player. VLC Media Play converts CD to MP3 in several steps. See below for details.

Step 1. Install and launch VLC Media Player on your PC.

Step 2. Click "Media" and select "Convert/Save" to open a popup.

Step 3. Click on "Disk" and select a type for your CD (it should be "Audio CD"). Then click "Browse" to select a disc. Then click "Convert/Save" to open the "Convert" window.

Step 4. In the new windows, set "Audio - MP3" for the option "Profile." Click "Browse" to select the location for the converted audio on your PC.

Step 4. After all steps, click "Start" to rip audio from the CD to your PC in MP3. Wait for the process to complete.

The Summary 

With the decline of CD industries, you will find fewer devices that support playing a CD. It is a wise choice to rip audio from your old CDs for better preservation. The four solutions outlined in this post can help you convert CD to MP3. If you don't want to lose your classic music or want to enjoy them on your digital devices at any place, try any of the ways to rip your audio right now.