Hi all! Since I'm a new here I guess I expect being flamed by some, but please, find it in your heart to help.

I've always read that it's good to decompress mp3s and other compressed formats to wav by a standalone program rather by Nero, which I use for burning. I've done this by using CDex and it has worked without any problems. Sometimes I just drag & drop mp3s in Nero so it decompresses them. I really haven't noticed any differences between these 2 methods but am still skeptical bout the queality.

So, what to use for decompressing? Thank you all!

No.
It all depends on the used decoder.

The decoder in Nero 5 was flawed, but now it's OK.

That said, Nero won't warn you if the MP3 tracks are corrupted.

Good to know. I use Nero 6 ever since it's release so I can just start dragging and dropping at will. Now I'm reading about Burrrn. Can it decompress compressed audio by itself?

Corrupted MP3's? What do you mean by that? I always listen to any audio before i burn it.

http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....hl=burrrn&st=0&

Search function helps

I decode almost everything with foobar2000.
It is very fast and can detect mpeg stream errors,
as well as apply dsps or dithering while decoding.

So in the end it really doesn't matter what I use for decoding? foobar2k/built-in decoders in Nero6 or Burrrn? Even if there are differences they shouldn't be audible, correct?

well i woudl alwasy recommned decodin before burning.
becuase if you are burning at 48x you got to have a real fast cpu to keppe op deconding 48x realtime

if you can keep up the stream of data you will get click and pops in the audio on many portable palyes due to bufferundrerung technincs

Cool, I always burn below 20x, so that shouldn't be a problem.

If you care about gapless decoding of lame-encoded MP3s you should consider decoding using foobar2000's Diskwriter or using its "Write Audio CD" component (foo_burninate), which uses Nero's burning engine.

dev0

Using foobar to decode:
1- You can apply DSPs
2- You can apply Dither
3- You have gapless playback
4- You don't have to worry about burning underrun problem

Using nero to decode:
1- You don't need HD space for the WAVs
2- It's easier

You can choose which one you want… I would stay with foobar.

How exactly do you convert to .wav and burn CDs with fb2k? Do you need plug-ins and what might their names be?