Quality CD-Rs: Recomendations?

[The Studio Pet-Rock]

In the last three months, I've had several of my CD-Rs "peel" for no obvious reason. Earlier today, I had brought one out to my car to hear some mixes I've been working on. Popped it in, nothing. Took it out, flipped it over to look for any debris that might be causing the problem, and a dime-size piece of the foil just fell off! Okay, so maybe I deserve it. (Bargain-bin-$8.99 for-a-spool-of-50 pieces of crap.) Which brand do you use? I'll pay the extra $$. This is just pissing me off now. :mad:

[Salyphus]

I posted this earlier in a similar thread: As far as CDR reliability goes, the thing to look for is the type of dye that is used to manufacture them. Some types of dye are much more stable than others; some will fail if exposed to sunlight for example, whereas others aren't affected by that. I've done some research into this and everything I've read suggests that Phthalocyanine is the most stable dye for CDRs. This is the dye that Kodak used for their highly-regarded CDRs (sadly discontinued) and it is also what [b]Mitsui[/b] uses, which are considered by many to be the highest quality consumer level brand of CDR available. The other factor is quality control. Some companies use Pthalocyanine but their quality control may be suspect (Ritek for example), meaning that if you get a good disc it should be stable but you also may get some bad discs. [b]Taiyo Yuden[/b]] has a reputation for really good quality control and are highly regarded. Unfortunately they use Cyanine dye so their discs aren't as stable as they could be. It's a tradeoff. The [b]Fuji[/b] 'Made in Japan' CDRs in the blue packaged spools are the Taiyo Yuden, and can often be found at discount prices. These days Mitsui is probably the best bet if you are concerned with disc stability, longevity, and quality. Of course it makes sense to do some research and come to your own conclusions, but I hope this is useful.

[Joachim P. Dyndale]

Sounds like Mitsui would be a good choice. I'll add another to the "recommended list": Verbatim. Very good. Never had any problems with them whatsoever.

[not Cereal]

rub some sunblock on the cd-r to prevent the peeling. **YOOOOU bought a cd burner?

[Anifa]

Mitsui Gold, no doubt, is an excellent choice; however, you need to be sure that you do not buy their lot made in Taiwan as they are not of the same quality as those manufactured in the United States, Europe, and Japan. Read this article: [url=http://www.cd-rw.org/news/archive/3153.cfm]Mitsui Gold CD-R media made in Taiwan[/url]

[DC]

I've had really good luck with tigerdirect.com's brand which is 50 on a spool for $10.00. Nary a dud yet.

[Intheether]

Ditto, Mitsui & Tayo Yuden. In my experience, the best cdr's are TDK Certifed+. They cost about 4 bucks a pop but I use them to burn final masters. I know [url=http://www.zzounds.com]www.zzounds.com[/url] carries them.

[Steve LeBlanc]

yep, Mitsui or Taiyo Yuden. I buy them in bulk from [url=http://www.snjcd.com/cdr_products.shtml]S&J CD duplication[/url] They have great prices and they're good guys to boot...their duplication services are also really good for a low price.

[The Studio Pet-Rock]

[quote]**YOOOOU bought a cd burner?[/QB][/quote]Yeah, & I'm getting sick of ending up with defective coasters:D Okay, time to find some Mitsui CD-Rs..... preferably not made in Taiwan. Are these readily available at any of the major outlets, or would I have to order? I just looked at one of my "chaffing" CD-Rs. They are made by Fujifilm. Don't buy these. :eek:

[not Cereal]

mike just pickup a pack of imation cdr's. theyre cheap and thats what i use. btw do you have a dedicated [b]cd-r[/b] burner or is it a [b]cd-rw[/b] burner? "my" :mad: new g4 has a cdrw in it and it burns cdr's ok, though i know of folks that have problems here. just buy a 10 pack of imations for $10 and they come with boxes and evrything, or a 50 pack without boxes is like 20-30 bucks.

[not Cereal]

these: [img]http://www.didoco.com/img/item/IMATION.jpg[/img] thats what i have always gave you unless it was a maxell. those still work no?

[Anifa]

the studio petrock, Here are some supply houses for you... Mitsui Gold Diamond is probably the best. The Silver Diamond is quite a bit cheaper, but will certainly beat the quality of ANYTHING you'll find on a shelf at the open market catch all electronic retailers. [url=http://www.tapewarehouse.com/index.cfm]Tape Warehouse[/url] [url=http://www.cdrplanet.com/cdrplanet/index.html]CDR Planet[/url]

[Salyphus]

Imation, Maxell, Memorex, and most other companies don't actually produce CDRs, they just repackage them. I would stay away from them.

[Chip McDonald]

The peeling thing is a different issue. I've seen some cheap ones peel. I'm speculating it has something to do with moisture acting as a solvent, actually; I've used "coasters" as actual "coasters" a good bit, and the cheap ones peel after condensation regulary gets on them. So maybe water is bad for some cd's. Remember, you heard it here first.

[KHAN]

I usually get the Verbatim 80 pack in the slim line cases at Sam's Club for $30

[The Studio Pet-Rock]

Hey, Anifa, thanx for the links ;) [quote]btw do you have a dedicated cd-r burner or is it a cd-rw burner?[/quote]It's an HP cd-rw. The unit itself has caused me no problems. I considered the possibility that maybe some sort of mechanical error inside the burner - such as something making contact with the top of the cd - was the cause. There are no indications of this on the cds though. [quote]I've seen some cheap ones peel. I'm speculating it has something to do with moisture acting as a solvent, actually; I've used "coasters" as actual "coasters" a good bit, and the cheap ones peel after condensation regulary gets on them. [/quote]I've seen this to, but this usually involves a substantial amount of liquid. I take great care in handling all my cds. They are in their respective cases whenever I'm not listening to them, kept out of direct sunlight. And if I bring them in from outside on a cold night, I give them time to *warm up* before I use them - specifically due to the condensation issue. But I digress: These were cheap-o cds. Perhaps even the slightest hint of an H2O molecule is all it took. Junk. :(

[Anifa]

You are welcome Studio Petrock. On my website, I have a set of dedicated links that go into extremely technical information that focuses on the process that goes into the manufacturing of CD-R's, CD-RW's, DVD's, and etc. Some of these links also go into detailed information as to the differences in applications, and also in which type blank media is best for what type result you are hoping to achieve; whether it be for music recording, video gaming, data software, and etc. [url=http://www.musicbizbuzz.net/recordindustry/mediastoragesoftware.htm]Media Storage Software & System Device Manufacturers[/url] You'll find this information in the immediate links supplied under the subtitle of "Technology: Selecting the Proper CD" There are more suppliers toward the lower portion of the page, but I don't know if they carry Mitsui Gold without looking. There is a wealth of technical information for ANY recording engineer, from novice to expert, under those dedicated technical links though. Happy hunting.

[where02190]

we use exclusively Sony Supremas. Available from Bestbuy for around $24/50 spindle. Never a frisbee, never any deterioration, total compatiblilty. Hope this is helpful.

[Anifa]

I dusted of the recording gear and fired it up this weekend. I'm going to take a break from all the responsible stuff for a change and record like a maniac. I'm probably going to spring for some Mitsui Gold's, I'll be buying a spool of 100. I wonder if a whole bunch of us pooled together, if we could get a vendor to give us a group discount; anyone think it's worth a shot to inquire? I've got some of those over the counter CD's and I'm not impressed at all; some sound good, others have problems. They are not consistant in quality. For those that have plenty of time to waste it might not be so bad to pick and choose which disc is not going to have the flaws in it; but it's worth the extra money to have the certainty that EVERY disc has been tested to meet the high expectations that merit the name. I don't have time to fine tooth comb every spin to make sure the disc didn't have any flaws.......... AFTER I've spent the time to burned a full project. One bad disc in a whole spool of 100 can make up the difference in money with TIME SPENT correcting the situation. Another thing, as far as analog recording, as at one time it's all I did; I remember purchasing a lot of 200 (100-15 min runs/100-50 min runs)of cassettes from a local manufacturer that was actually HIGHER IN PRICE than the normal company that I ordered in from out of New Jersey. I wanted the tapes YESTERDAY and didn't feel like waiting on the shipment. The metalic coating on the tape started flaking off within six months. Needless to say, I had some materials that I had to completely rerecord just to have a MASTER again; also, I lost some good ideas that I had only recorded to the tapes that self destructed. I refuse to go cut rate when purchasing media storage discs or tapes. Too much work goes into the mixing and mastering of a production to trash it with inferior quality on the finished product. Also you run the risk of losing valuable data and recordings if you are not amply backing up your copies. I use the over the counter stuff to do test runs, and to give to friends that are always asking for CD's; for every few songs :rolleyes: .

[fantasticsound]

I've used Pioneer, Microboards, TDK, and Imation (and probably some others) in the two years I've had my HP Pavillion, 600MHz Celeron w/CD-RW drive. So far, I've never burned a coaster except when attempting to use Direct CD software that's supposed to utilize the drive as a removable media "hard drive". And I believe it's the software or a software/hardware issue that caused that. The point is, none of the above manufacturer's discs have given me problems with burning, read reliability, or ruggedness. I have CDR's that travelled all over the Persian Gulf and were exposed to extreme heat, dust (sand) and being thrown around (albeit in a disc wallet). If I were mastering someone else's product, I might spring for the Mitsui Gold, based on the responses here. But I can't say there's a logical reason to do so, IME. For my own purposes, I'll keep using relatively cheap media until I find a reason to switch.