Ashampoo Burning Studio 18.0

From files and folders to movies, from slideshows to audio CDs, and from disc images to data backups, Ashampoo Burning Studio is the most comprehensive suite for transferring your data and media files to disc.

With a plethora of extra utilities, including presets for the most popular car radios to guarantee full compatibility, there is no burning task that this excellent app can’t perform.

Personally, I had never come across a burning utility with so many features and functions, not only related to the burning process itself, but also to the authoring of media discs, the creation of slideshows and presentations, or the design of the covers and inlays. This high-end commercial tool actually offers you in one package all the functionality that usually requires the purchase of at least half a dozen different apps. This wide variety of features may deter some inexperienced users from using it, but the program’s wizard-based approach actually compensates for its overwhelming comprehensiveness.

The main menu is divided into clear sections to burn data discs (CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray discs, etc.), produce audio and music discs, create movies and slideshows, design covers and inlays, clone discs, create disc images, and to back up and restore data. So far it doesn’t look too frightening. It is when you open one of these options that you realize the amount of features that you usually don’t find in similar tools. Thus, when it comes to data discs, the app offers tools to create encrypted discs, bootable discs, span a recording in various discs, or produce discs with an autoplay menu or autostart capabilities. When burning movies or slideshows to disc, you count with new wizards, you can now record your own commentary live, and use its dozens of effects, themes, transitions, and menu templates for more professional results. Burning music is one of the program’s great assets – with new support for APE, OPUS, FLAC, Ogg, and other popular audio formats, probably the feature that makes this tool stand out from the rest is its collection of templates for all the most popular car radio makes and models. You can also create what they call “the perfect MP3 stick” to guarantee that the format and the playback order are always the right ones.

Disc images and backup discs are also among the program’s highlights. You can create ISO images of any of your movie discs – or from any disc, for that matter – and produce exact copies of them in a straightforward way. Its support for CUE files, associated to FLAC, WAV, and MP3 files, will let you burn perfect audio discs ripped using that technique. Backup discs can be encrypted and password-protected easily, thus adding to your archive an extra layer of security.

Ashampoo Burning Studio can be as simple or as complex as you require. Do not let the massive choice of features and functions prevent you from enjoying its reliable burning capabilities – you can always rely on its various wizards to burn your discs and take your time to explore and try all the other possibilities. They will surely surprise you in a good way.