CD-R recommendations for CD recorders

Anyone still using a CD recorder? I have a Sony one from the early '00s that I haven't used in forever. I don't have a USB turntable, so this is my only option for doing needle drops.

Are there still blank discs on the market that will work? (the standard "music" discs for computers will not)

Does anyone have suggestions? I used to buy Maxell discs that were marked "for audio recording" but no local stores carry them. Before I order some from Amazon, I'd like some advice. Thanks!

 

Very best CDRs: MAM-A Gold
Next best: Taiyo Yuden

Most people will tell you to use the TYs unless maximum longevity is one of your goals. Neither has a sonic advantage over the other IMO.

And get the 800MB disks, not the 650s.

 

I recently had the same problem as you. I have an old Philips 880 CD-R recorder I got in the late 90's to transfer 100's of Bob Dylan shows from tape to CD-R. I could use the "swap trick" on mine to use regular CD-R's (it then sat idle for years & I discovered that trick no longer works).I recently got back into vinyl and , like you,wanted to use it for needle drops. Finding "audio only" CD-R's that work was a crap shoot.I've tried many and have found one brand that works at least 60-70% of the time. I bought as many of that brand as I could find.You have to experiment and search the internet to see which ones work on your machine & then buy as many as you can. I don't believe many companies make these anymore so time is running out for both of us. I believe there is a way to convert these so you can use regular CD-R's but it involves using a soldering gun. And with me, that could get ugly real quick. I also have the nearly impossible feat of trying find 74 minute "Audio Only"CD-R's because my machine is so old that it doesn't understand the 80 minute ones at all.Hope that helps. First step is to search online for the "Audio only CD-R's" and buy different brands and see if any work. At the worst you can always use the ones that don't work with your computer. Good luck!

 

MAM-A/MAM-E Music CD-R the best for consumer machines like most Sonys, the Philips, the HK, some Marantz, Pioneer, and similar. Verbatim Music CD-R, Maxell Music CD-R and Sony Music CD-R do fine in most such machines but lesser than the MAM-A/MAM-E Music CD-R which is the best Music CD-R media made with the lowest BLER count and slow speed rated. P.S. Bob M. You can buy Maxell Music CD-R at Walgreens drug stores, they stock them.

 

The Mitsui (MAM-A & E) are the ones that I use with about a 60%-70% effectiveness. I also can only use the 74 minute ones on my Phillips 880. So they are very hard to find and very expensive on eBay. I've found that all other brands simply do not work.

 

Make sure you buy ones that say "CD-R music" or else they won't work.


I use these :

http://www.amazon.com/Maxell-Music-minute-700MB-Media/dp/B00006IAAN/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421203613&sr=8-1&keywords=cdr music

They are cheap and I have never had a problem with one.

 

Since its self evident you own or have access to a computer how about making your "drops" direct to hard drive? Make CD-R as required. Archive to external drive(s).

 

Back when I had a Pioneer PDR-509, I bought a small amount of Audio CD-RW's. Since I couldn't do the Philips swap trick with that machine, I would record on the Audio CD-RW and then copy it on the computer to a regular lower cost data grade CD-R. Plus if I screwed up the recording, I could do it over without going through "coasters". Though prices have significantly dropped on Audio CD-R/Ws, if you have a standalone burner, using a CD-RW first still gives you the benefit of not wasting money on mess-ups, plus you can rip and edit in the PC before burning a final disc, or simply save to a file and keep using the RW 'til it goes bad.

 

Not sure how to do that. I don't have a USB turntable; just the "classic" DJ style Technics kind. It's pretty easy to burn vinyl to disc in this way; I just need blank discs that will work.

Thanks to everyone for the responses and advice!

 

Maxell CD-R MUSIC will do you just fine.

 

I have a Philips CDR-800, and it isn't fussy at all. Every disc that is labeled "recordable" works, no failures. Of the several brands I have used, the two most recent are Polaroid CD-R music, Memorex CD-R Music, and Sony CD-R audio. Both are light aqua dye almost clear which have a long shelf life, I have read. ( I forget the chemical name)

 

When making needledrops, I use audio CD-RWs on my Sony machine. I have a number of these (bought many years ago) and they can be used over and over again. I then make a digital copy on my computer to a regular (i.e. non-audio) CD-R.
The advantage is that the ordinary CD-Rs are easy to get, and the initial recording from vinyl to CD-RW can easily be wiped if an error occurs at this stage.
I don't know how available CD-RWs are nowadays though.

 

This is exactly the way I do it. (Except using an old LG CD-R machine).

 

Music CD-RW is hard to find. I just got some TDK Music CD-RW blanks on the bay. I have an old Philips standalone I am using as the laser went on my Tascam CD-RW 750 (it did many years of yeoman service).

 

My lame brain after midnight, a correction: It's the CDR-880 that isn't fussy, and my three most recent recordable disc brands that work without fail. The disc and packaging must state "recordable".

 

I think I might give mine a good cleaning and see if that will help in it being so fussy. It did stand idle for years and I did "swap trick" a lot in the day which also may have affected it's performance.

 

I got lucky at Goodwill the other day and picked up 4 spindles of 50 for $3.99 each. Maxell CDR music discs. I am set for a while!

 

As long as they have the gold label side. I bought a box which had silver labels a few years ago and they were all useless within 2-3 months. I'd avoid the Maxell 'Colour' packs, too. Now I use my (admittedly ancient) laptop for doing comps, I use Verbatim 'Extra Protection' discs and after burning around 300 since last August, all are still perfect.

 

As far as I have ever seen, the Maxell MUSIC's have always been gold. Now, the silver are the DATA brand, which with TDK's dissapearing I am acquiring a stock but haven't really used any yet to see their quality. Years ago, friends would give me any CD-R's and they had nothing but problems, it's too bad now that when blank media seems to not be needed as much, I find CD-R's are next to bullet proof anymore. I rarely have any problems.

 

In the UK there were definitely silver music blanks; out of twenty discs (two boxes) only one is still playable. Never had a problem with the gold ones.

 

I'm thinking of doing this to my Phillips 880 .... Has anyone tried it?.. Or does anyone know of an easier hack??

http://www.modchip.it/shop/detail.asp?idprod=31&lng=en

 

Easiest is to go professional.

 

Back in the early 2000s I bought Sony CD-R Audio (made in Austria), Sony CD-R Music (Made in Taiwan), Memorex Music CD-R (Made in Taiwan) , and Maxell CD-R Music (made in Japan).
All of these CD-R discs had the blue/green color on the burn side of the disc. As for performance/quality the Sony CD-R Audio Made in Austria was better than the Sony CD-R made in Taiwan. Going from memory the performance/quality of the Maxell CD-R Music made in Japan was slightly better than the Sony CD-R Audio made in Austria.

Around the middle 2000s I noticed the Sony CD-R Music discs sold in my area were being made in Taiwan and had a silver color burn side, no longer the blue/green color. Performance/quality was poor, imo. So I quit buying the Sony brand. Around the same time Memorex went with the silver color burn side as well. Those too were inferior to the older blue/green color burn side discs.

Next thing I discovered Maxell was making some of their CD-R Music discs in Taiwan also with the silver color burn side. Again the performance/quality was poor compared the Maxell's made in Japan with the blue/green burn side of the disc. Good thing at the time I could still find the Maxell made in Japan with the blue/green color burn side discs. I bought up a bunch of them. I still have at least a couple hundred still in their factory sealed packages.
For what it's worth I read years ago the Maxell CD-R Music discs made in Japan were made in the Taiyo Yuden factory in Japan.

My first CD-R recorder was a Pioneer PDR-609, which I still own. Later I bought a Sony W222ES CD-R recorder.

As always, YMMV.

 

I used to have a Tascam CDR700 and it died too. I always thought it was from lightning, but now I realize it probably was the laser. Great machine, wish I still had it even though I don't know what I would use it for anymore.

On a sidenote, I still see the "for music only" CDR's every time I am at B.J.'s wholesale, so try them.