What kind of CDRW do you use?

[skynare]

Hi.

I'm going to buy new CDRW and I am researching now.

I heard that commercial CDs are burned on 1x speed.

But most CDRW drives I found support only 2x or 4x writing speed for the lowest.

So, I was just wondering if musicians use different kind of CDRW drives or not.

Also, why can't I burn music tracks on 8x or higher speed?

[RABid]

If I buy an internal drive I usually get the Toshibe CDRW/DVD combo (It does not write DVD's). It performs well and only takes one drive space to cover all needs. For external SCSI I researched the sites for most hardware samplers and bought a Plextor because it was listed most often as being compatable with hardware samplers.

 

Burn speed is not the major issue. If you plan to write a CD and send it off to have a company replicate it, talk to them about their needs. Many want a CD that has been burned without any pauses (Continuous mode? I forget the exact term. Someone help me out.) Some CD drivers and programs support an option to never pause once the process has started. (It causes a speed bump that is felt by the mass burners during the replication process but not usually noticable in everyday use.) If something in the system causes a pause, the write fails and you start over. This setting is usually avoided by the public because it causes more burn failures.

[1Empress_Scorpio]

If you can help it DO NOT USE CDRWs to burn any sort of music, CDRs are the way to go. Specifically the light-green, blue green or even silver-silver CDR dyes are the best to use for burning music: eg -- Maxell and Memorex are optimal!

 

CDRWs should be used for DATA storage and backing up ONLY.

Basically the slower the burn speed, the more thorough the burn into the dye -- giving longer lasting life for more plays.

 

"Disc-at-once", is the term used to describe burning music without the 2second pause. These is only good for if you have tracks which cross-fade or merge seamlessly from one track to the next. Usually I find that when I finalize and master the final cut tracks for burning onto CD, in my wave editing / mastering software -- I must make sure that the track has a good 2 seconds to fade in. Or eles you loose a few mila-seconds of the track upon playing it back.

 

Plus-- CDRWs once burned from one computer, can not be used on another computer! CDRWs are CD - re-writalbes usually only the computer which wrote the data is the only one which can read and re-write into/from it. CDRs are CD - recordables and should be used for music burning or permanant data storage.

 

There was a website to which I learnt this all from but I can not find it again. I think it was through the downloads.com site. Not sure; will let you know though if I come across it again!

 

 

Happy burning CDs,

 

vi an

 

 

www.mp3.com/just_vi_an

[RABid]

Yep. Disk at once. That is the term I was trying to think of. While I agree that you probably want to use CDR's, I have not had any problems with CDRW's in the past year or two. The technology has greatly improved over what it was a few years ago though you may have trouble with older players. Also note, while many DVD players with play CD's they may damage CDRW's. Never try to play a CDRW in a DVD player that does not specify compatability with CDRW media.

 

From the origional message I take it that you want to burn CD's of your own music to sell, rather than burn a CD to send to a company for mass production. Is this correct?

[KTempo]

Empress--

 

Can you please list the brand names of CDRs that are better to use for recording. It is not always possible to see the flip-side of a CDR in stores. Though, I've been using Maxwell, FujiFilm, and Imation. More of the first two BTW.

 

Oh, I'm using an internal computer burner @16x by AOpen with Nero burning software.

 

[Roto]

Most commercial cd's aren't burned, they are stamped or something to that effect. Mass produced cd's have dimples, and cd-r's use dyes that change color when burned by the laser so that they resemble those dimples. Some players, especially the older ones had lasers that were to weak to read cd-r and cd-rw's.

 

I wouldn't know what kind to recommend. Some say gold, some say silver, some say green and some say blue. Definitely use cd-r's and not cd-rw's. Definitely use disc at once mode to record. These days that would be enough to work with most players.

[1Empress_Scorpio]

Most commercial CDs are "pressed". Its starts off as a clear plastic disc; until the info for the CD is then pressed into it. Its a crystal which stores the all the info, that is how you get the reflection and diamond effect on the flip side of a CD. The design is then ink jet printed onto the surface.

 

A pressed CD or a burned CD. As long as your CDRs are compatible with your writers (which you learn about as you go along in your journies of burning CDs and trying out the various brands) -- all is well! To write at any speeds lower than "8 SPEED" anything greater and you run the risk of not burning enough into the dye; will offer you omptimal performance, life span (number of reads) and accuracy in info reproductions. NOTE: Clean your lazer lens atleast once every 2 weeks. If you have a dusty collection of CDs it is advised to clean your CD-ROMs once every week!

 

Persoanlly nothing beats burning your CDs yourself at home. You get to evaluate each finished CD -- for sound accuracy/quality as well as all the many - many details involved with making a CD to "sell" or what not.

 

When you send your mastered CDR to the company of your choice to press a "commercial" CD, you can't exactly trust that your $5000.00 for 10 000 or so CDs will turn out just as you please. On top of that, depending on what sort of packaging you intend your "release" to embody -- it could cost you over $10 000.00 for 100 000 CDs and with no idea what so ever, if they are going to sell or not??? The minimal amount of CDs you can press with any given pro would be a ball park figure of: 1000 - 5000 CDs no less. It is worth the risk though if you are seriously considering mass producing your own works.

 

How ever if you are starting out, people are more impressed that you did it all by yourself. Because they have a sense of you that -- when you become "big" that those CDRs you burned yourself could be worth big time! Its your call, so give your selves more freedom and choice!

 

"ktempo7of9@aol.com wrote: Empress-- Can you please list the brand names of CDRs that are better to use for recording. It is not always possible to see the flip-side of a CDR in stores.

 

I am getting to that, I am still dilligently looking for that web-site on all this and more.

 

But here is my "top 5 list" of CDRs to choose for best results in burning "your own music CDs":

 

1-Maxell

2-Memorex

3-Sony

4-Fugi (Gold)

5-Generic

 

True silver/silver CDRs are very new technology at this point in time -- therefore the lack of stock and little demand equals higher price. Here is a list of what dye colors to look for: "top 5"

 

1-light green

2-blue green

3-gold

4-dark green

5-dark blue

 

Always burn between 1 - 4 speeds if you can help it. I mean, I have CDs out that are over 72 mins in length and burning at 1 - 4 speeds only takes around 25 - 40 min. In that time span, I can cook a meal, do the laundry and design the next COVER design! Plus I'm not all at once pressing tens of thousands of CDs at one time, then come accross a poorly sounding CD and wondering if the rest may have similar defects?!

 

be back soon with more

 

all the best!

 

Vi An