Audio CDs - what format should I use to burn my Audio CDs?

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I read this and it explained nothing, I had better luck googleing my question

I'm a little let down after spending such time reading this whole page of information. As I was merely looking for what type of format to use while trying to burn an audio cd for my car, I think this went FAR into too much detail. As they say in the military: K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple, Stupid. Don't get me wrong though, I'm sure all of the detailed information is helpful to someone, I on the other hand will continue my search for what info I was looking for

Commercial audio CD's are in .cda format. Uncompressed, and as noted above, takes up a whole lot more space on a disc, but with the highest quality reproduction. Older cd players like those in many cars or home stereo systems will only recognise this format.
most downloads from the net are in .mp3 format. uses about 1/10th the disc space, but will also have lower reproduction quality. It's the price you pay for saving space. Many new car and home systems now will play almost any format, whether it's .cda .mp3 .wma .wav or other common ones. it will be a case of finding out what format your car player will handle. But it will most definitely take the .cda format.
Burning speed? thats really all it is. the speed at which burner lays the data onto your disc. it wont affect how it is played back, only how fast you can burn the disc. So its usually best to use 1 setting below the maximum for either the burner, or the disc you are burning to (whichever is lowest).

When using Frostwire or Limewire, how do I change the format so that my cds will play on a regular cd player. I use to have no problem. I do not know what I did wrong. Thanks.

This was EXACTLY the type of information I was seeking -- trying to learn more about the difference between the formats. Thanks!

I see in the comments already posted that many, probably knowledgable, people talk about cd players being able to play music with a .cda extension. Well my understanding is that .cda is merely a shortcut and contains indexing information and no audio at all. You can easily prove that by hovering over the file and seeing that it tells you there are only a few bytes on it, typically 44.
But what I'm finding is that even a cd burnt on Windows Media Player (which will also all have this .cda extension) will not play on an older cd machine or car cd player IF it has any mp3 tracks on it. I can't currently prove my theory by changing the format from mp3 to wma because my expensive (£44) Nero 8 program which has never been reliable, now refuses to do anything except lock up the computer, whatever i ask it to do. I've wasted hours/days trying everything, including downloading a new version.

Just a quick update on the post I made yesterday: I tried what others have said about only using CD-R discs and it worked for me too. So that disproved my theory about having mp3 tracks on material to be recorded/played back.
CD-RW discs wouldn't play in the player that was available for the fashion show my wife was in. So that got me out of a hole! Still got to sort out the Nero problem though. (I tried posting this yesterday but after having Nero running I couldn't even load web pages. And I had to turn the power off, again, to do a reboot!)

if my songs are in other formats like WMA, will the program automatically convert it into audio cd formats?

my pc is installed with the nero...

LEO , CAN I USE "REAL PLAYER" TO BURN THE SONGS I HAVE STORED IN THE "REAL LIBRARY" ?
THANK YOU J.M

Great article ,Worked a treat

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