Lots of things to take into account here. First of all was the volume turned up? Then at what bit rate were the files encoded at? Are the files MP3s or WMAs or ATRAC type files? You might want to try making an MP3 CD from scratch, without copying it from an RW, as there can be stuff lost in the copying from a CD RW to a CD R. Daft question but do the head phones work?