Which CD-R's suck?

[David Mason]

The last hundred I bought wouldn't play in a lot of machines, which sort of limited their usefulness. I can't find a brand name on them... there are some Philips and Maxell (80-minute, 700MB) ones available that cluster around $22-$23 per hundred. I'm just wondering if anyone knows of specific brands that do, and don't, work in a wider variety of drives and machines. (my CAR.... )

I'll pay more, if something works better...

[Jack Stoner]

It may not have been the CD discs. Burn speed has a lot to do with playability. I use 8X as my audio CD burn speed (for regular audio CD's, not MP3's). If audio CD's are burned at high speed they will either skip, or not play at all in many audio CD players.

Burn them at the slowest speed of your CD drive. Most older PATA (IDE) Interface drives will go down to 8X. All SATA drives, except one model LG CD/DVD Burner drive, will only go down to 16X. This is OK for some audio CD players but may not play in some others.

MP3 audio CD's do not have the burn speed issue and you can burn them at full speed. However, MP3's will only play in MP3 compatible audio CD players. Not all Audio CD players have the MP3 capability.

I do a lot of audio CD production, some in conjunction with my home recording studio and others just CD duplication for local singers. I have a bank of 5 PATA CD/DVE burners (connected via USB) and I can burn 5 discs at a time.

DO NOT use paper labels. The can flake off and cause damage to CD players. Automobile manufacturers will not honor warranties if they find paper labels have been used in a car CD player that has failed. I use Ink Jet printable CD-R's and print the CD label with an Epson printer that has the CD/DVD printing capability. If you don't have the printing capability just label the discs with a "Sharpie" permanent marker.

I use ink jet printable Taiyo Yuden "Professional" CD-R blanks. They are considered the best, but you don't really need those, the only "not recommended" is Memorex CD-R blanks.

[David Mason]

I was just informed elsewhere that there's a specific "Red Book" standard to use, and of course:

The standard is not freely available and must be licensed from Philips.

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Book_%28CD_standard%29

Getcha coming and they getcha going... I guess I need to do some experimenting with what Mr. Stoner explained, maybe just pounding enough goo into the grooves* will overload the piracy dyke. Thanks! It's solely for song-learning loops for me and the maties & music to listen to in my car - I'm so bad at trying to make a profit from stuff, the record industry cabal is in no substantial danger from me. Like, BOO!

*(Yes. I AM an audio expert. Send money....)

[Jack Stoner]

You don't really have to be concerned with the "Red Book" as all current CD burning programs and drives conform to the Red Book standard. That was originally written when audio CD's were in their infancy and most CD burning was limited to studios and commercial venues and not home CD burning.

The biggest issue, as I pointed out, is the burning speed for the audio CD-R's. This is the overwhelming reason (discounting defective blank discs or a hardware problem with the actual burner drive) for problems playing standard burned audio CD's.

[Jack Stoner]

Some additional info.

When you burn the audio CD's, use the "Disk at Once" method (NOT Track at Once). Most (all recent in the last 5 or 6 years) CD/DVD Burners have "Buffer Underrun" or "Burn Proof Technology" capability, make sure you check to use that on your CD burning program. I use Nero and it calls it "Buffer Underrun Protection". Nero also has an option to verify the written contents after burning and I also use that option, it takes extra time when burning but a worthwhile option.

Here is the link to the Taiyo Yuden (now labeled JVC) CD-R's at B&H Photo. Click Me

[Bill Ford]

I have been using Gigaware brand, get them at Radio Shack on sale $9.99 for a 50 pack, they have subject lines that I use a Sharpie CD/DVD marker to label.I have used these for about 2 years with good results. I burn 10+ every week for Church services.

I use Nero,and Ashampoo...Bill