CD-R's...any advice?

The big brother Indy Mike has asked me to do some dubs onto CD-R for him. My question: Any one brand stand out as better? My first attempts have been on Memorex CD-R's, but I'm always looking for a way to improve the end result.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Taiyo Yudens are the only CD I've ever seen any of the big mastering guys use. Bob Ludwig, Hank Williams, Denny Purcell, Glenn Meadows, etc...

I use them too. Never had a bad one.

A spindle of 50 is around $30.

 

Not sure how current the information is, but you might want to check this link.

CD-R Quality

 

I use Taiyo Yudens for stuff I'm going to throw in the car, Kodak Golds (no longer sold, but you might find some on the net if you look hard enough) for archive purposes.

Unfortunatly it tends to be hard to find Taiyo Yudens branded as such in the US. In the recent past most Fuji discs that you could find were made by Taiyo Yuden, but I don't know if that's still true.

To be sure, I suggest buying them through www.am-dig.com .

 

I hear that the Kodaks are pretty kick ass. The brand you should check out is Mitsui. I am not sure how many studios use them, but working in the biz, I get a LOT of advance CD burns on these. I don't know off hand of any great praise for them I can direct you to, but I know they are highly regarded. I am planning on purchasing some soon.

BOB

 

Guitar Center sells Tayio Yuden. I think Musician's Frend does too.

I have a stash of Kodak gold and gold/silver.

For important burns i'll use:
Kodak
Tayio Yuden
Sony
Verbatum
Mitsui

For other stuff i'll use Imation or Memorex. I will not use Maxell or TDK, although I realize that the same company, Ritek, makes blanks for those and Imation and Memorex.

I absolutley will NOT use Fuji! NO Fuji I have ever used has lasted more than six months without uncorrectable errors!

 

Unless Kodak still has some in stock on their website, you can't get them anymore. Kodak left the CD-R business. Too bad someone doesn't buy the patent or something and resume production of them.

 

I was just in Tower yesterday, and fuji was giving a $10.00 rebate on a ten pack which they were selling for $12.99!!BTW, I didn't take the bait!

 

In Best Buy in Tucson they were selling Imation 50 packs for about the same price with about as many rebates making the pack about $2 or $3. I don't do rebates for small items.

Rebates and advertizing rebate prices has become standard in US retail marketing. They advertise a rebate price instead of actually reducing the price. So, this makes you realize that there really is no sale. It's just a gimmick to get people who don't read fine print into the store. Can anyone say "Publisher's Clearinghouse"?

 

Mitsui Gold were the only ones my old portable player was ever happy with. (OTO, my DVD player didn't like them.)

 

I've only been burning since September '01, but so far even the oldest discs play just fine, regardless of what deck they're played on. The early problems I had--and occasional ones now--seem to come from glitches in the burning process(which I reduced to 4X, which is working fine for me). Once I check the final product and it plays okay the first time, that's usually it--so far. The brands I've used--Sony, Imation, Teon, Maxell, Kodak, Memorex--all seem to burn the same; it seems irrelevant what brand I'm using. Ten years down the road I may feel differently....

There was a thread not so long ago about 'black' CD-R's, but it doesn't seem to me the actual color of the disc itself should make any difference.
I am curious to hear more from the gang about Taiyo Yuden, Verbatum(which I may have used a few times)and Mitsui, and why these are held in such high regard. It hadn't occurred to me that there was a possibility CD-Rs, like vinyl or tape, would have varying degrees of quality. Being a digital creature, I assumed CD-R's were all going to work equally well. Silly me...

Interesting subject!

ED

 

Ed,

It isn't if a disc burns and sounds OK today, it's whether the thing will develop uncorrectable errors in a short amount of time that can render it essentially unplayable. The secret is in the dye and quality of the manufacturer.

Taiyo Yuden invented the CD-R format. They have high production standards and produce a high quality blank using Cyanine dye.

Verbatum uses a propriety Azo dye that is claimed to have high UV resistance and as long a life as Phtylocyanine dye, which is what Riccoh invented. Ritek and Sony now use Phtylocyanine.

Mitsubishi Chemical makes Fuji blanks.

Mitsui makes their own domestically. Mitsui is also held in high regard by many.

TDK, in particular, has been a controversial bag. Many claim that their blanks just will not burn for them. Some, including me, have problems with them playing in all CD players. TDK blanks have a history of being unstable. They are one of the oldest companies making CD-R, and have used all types of dyes in their products. For the regular consumer grade they have contracted out to Ritek and CMC Magnetics just like Memorex, Maxell, Imation, and others. Some of these companies still make their own professional grade blanks for a premium price.

Teon, Nashua, Princo, other off-brand names, and no-name blanks are a tossup. Sometimes they are overproduction runs from the major manufacturers, other times, they are really cheapos made in God knows what! The teens like the cheapos but will they last? Some of these manufacturers have bad reputations, and deserve it.

 

Thanks for the info, Grant. That's why I'm going to pull some early ones soon and see how they are a year down the road.

ED

 

"There was a thread not so long ago about 'black' CD-R's, but it doesn't seem to me the actual color of the disc itself should make any difference."

Funny that this was mentioned, as I have had trouble with the black colored CD-R's that came my Memorex CD-R package. They indeed had more problems with recording and playback in other decks other than the Sony they were recorded on.

And here I thought I was going nuts (okay, more nuts than I already am ).

 

Maxells that are produced in Japan have a different dye. You can buy them domestically and they are very good CD-Rs. You just have to check the label.

 

I got a spindle of cheapy cheap memorex CD-r blanks in compusa, with a mail in ebate they were like 20 cents apiece----they have a very high rate of failure in the phillips stand-alone burner.
(The phillips has a lip at the bottom of the tray, you can put a music CD-r in and initialize it, then slide the tray out, and put in a regular CD-r. Heh heh! only the early ones are like that).

they work all right in the computer burner.
I hail the Kodak discs, it's sad they aren't gonna make more.

 

Well, looks like I'm pulling my pair of custom Velvet Underground comps, because both of those are on the Memorex black discs. Should be an interesting afternoon.... Hate to find out they're frigged or anything....

ED

 

http://salesassociate.com/ttapes/products.asp?ID=1&Category=392

The last place I bought Kodak discs still seems to have some.

 

Yamaha info on blanks - Jitter

 

I haven't have a single problem with any of me Memorex black or other colored discs. After three years they all still play just fine.

 

Same here; just finished Disc 1 of the VU comps, and after over a year, still plays perfectly.

ED

 

Really?? Every source I've ever read is that they are outsourced to Taiyo Yuden. Have they changed recently? If so, bummer.

HZ

 

I would imagine that there is a minimum industry standard for CDRs.

Lately I've been using the Staples Gold CDRs. Staples. previously carried Gold discs carrying the IBM logo. They almost look like the
the gold APO's and DCC's.

I'm curious about the Tayio Yudens.

 

Excuse what are probably two stupid questions.

I'm guessing that "NOT FOR USE IN CONSUMER AUDIO BURNERS" means that they can only be used to burn CDs in a PC or MAC?

And if the old Kodak CD-Rs are rated for up to 24X, they can still be used in a burner rated to write up to 44X? The burner will then be limited to the speed allowed by the CD-R being used?

 

Yes, They're for PC Burning only..Not for use in Standalone Home Audio Recorders. Although some Standalones can use both.

Sure! You can use a 24X in a 44X Burner...Yes.