The distributor of a particular brand of CD-R that I currently use (Disc ID: 97m15s17f, Ritek Co.) claims a maximum writing
speed of 52x, I have determined these CD-R's will write at 2x and produce readable (music) discs free from audible errors.
Does this mean the OPTIMUM writing speed, the speed that produces a disc with the "sharpest" pits, is 24x ?
(Approximately half way between the two extremes, assuming the relationship is symmetrical about its mid-point).
N.B. Choosing AWS in IMGBurn results in a disc written at 16x.
speed of 52x, I have determined these CD-R's will write at 2x and produce readable (music) discs free from audible errors.
Does this mean the OPTIMUM writing speed, the speed that produces a disc with the "sharpest" pits, is 24x ?
(Approximately half way between the two extremes, assuming the relationship is symmetrical about its mid-point).
N.B. Choosing AWS in IMGBurn results in a disc written at 16x.
I recollect that a few years ago when I used to buy CD's from Sim Lim Square in Singapore the shop owner had said on several ocassions that if I was going to write an audio disc I should do it only at x8 speed. The discs were rated much higher , I can't recollect the correct speed, but were certainly over x24 rated. May have been x48 ! I had asked him about the 'almost black' coloured discs that my friend used to make audio CD's. I think that disc was actually dark red but looked 'black'.
I continue to record everything at x8 irrespective of the disc rating.and have never had a recording problem.
I also recollect reading that recording at too slow a speed ( like x2 ) on a high speed recorder ( say x48) is not recommended. I don't remember what the explanation was.
I continue to record everything at x8 irrespective of the disc rating.and have never had a recording problem.
I also recollect reading that recording at too slow a speed ( like x2 ) on a high speed recorder ( say x48) is not recommended. I don't remember what the explanation was.
Most test results show the optimum writing speeds for new drives to be one or two notches below Max for the drive itself, for c2 errors given better CDR disks. so for modern recorders at x24 seems much more reasonable over x2 or x4 speeds.
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It really depends on many variables, and with the nature of computers, where there is a wide variance in OS versions, OS's themselves, drivers, physical drive models, and media itself, you have a set of variables that extends toward the millions. In other words, no two users will experience the same results.
I have experienced poor quality with certain media. I now only buy Verbatim DataLife Plus, since it's one of the most consistently good media and it's easily available at mass-market retail locations.
When I have had problems with burning Redbook CDs I've always downgraded the burn speed and usually that works fine. 8x is probably a safe number but I've gone lower when I felt it necessary.
A more elusive question, and one that I personally would be more interested in, is the failure rate of seemingly good burns. In other words, do your well cared for disks (clean, handled properly, minor radial scratches from the so-called "CD safe" disk holders).
It's been my habit of late to burn at the default speed since it seemed to work well in the last few years. Bad disks hadn't been a problem for me for a very long while, and I'm just like everyone else ... sometimes I get lazy and sometimes you burn data to disk for others, standing over your shoulder, and the world if full of people who've been told by some pimply-faced kid that it doesn't matter, that you always buy the cheapest spool in the store, and burn as fast as the hardware allows. I might have to rethink the speed thing and go back to my old habits.
I have one disk right now of observably good condition that has now developed trouble reading a few early tracks in my car player. You can put it to my habits and experience with disks, proper handling, or to dumb luck, but this is a very rare thing for me ... I actually can't remember another bad reading CD or DVD -R or -RW I've made.
The car player has never given me problems before, although that is not a definitive reason not to suspect it now. For those that don't know, the CD is written opposite of LP records; ie from the inside out, so those tracks are indicative of problems at the smallest radius disk area.
I may go back to a lower write speed in the future. Perhaps worth noting also is this problem disk was not from my preferred stock and is a Fuji brand disk that someone probably gave me.
For what it's worth, Verbatim DataLife Plus and Taiyo Yuden were the best the last time i evaluated media, many years ago. I actually don't think I've ever had a bad disk from either of these two, and that includes reading disks I made 10+ years ago, both writable and re-writable. I'm still using some Verbatim DataLife Plus DVD-RWs that are close to 10 years old and were re-written weekly over about two years to move photo and video data to a server for web use. Note also that there are "other" Verbatim disks; my comments refer specifically to the DataLife Plus version only.
The Taiyo Yuden product is usually difficult to find at stores but is the "pro's choice", especially with firms like ad agencies, graphics shops, and video production houses, and usually purchased from specific vendors online or through industry vendors that cater to these businesses.
I used to be able to get the inkjet printable surface Taiyo Yuden at a local computer store, but that store is gone now. I don't print my music CDs but the full coverage surface is nice since the user-markable side (ie the silkscreen side of a non-printable CD) is the thinnest barrier to the foil or dye layer, so it offers good protection, even if left unprinted. It also is a more robust layer since some permanent markers have been known to degrade the disk physically; some suggest only writing on the area specifically marked for writing, but there are a lot of disks now that don't really have such an area screened on them.
You can buy the expensive "CD markers" by vendors such as TDK but to save a buck just get the Staedtler Mars markers, which are identical.
I have experienced poor quality with certain media. I now only buy Verbatim DataLife Plus, since it's one of the most consistently good media and it's easily available at mass-market retail locations.
When I have had problems with burning Redbook CDs I've always downgraded the burn speed and usually that works fine. 8x is probably a safe number but I've gone lower when I felt it necessary.
A more elusive question, and one that I personally would be more interested in, is the failure rate of seemingly good burns. In other words, do your well cared for disks (clean, handled properly, minor radial scratches from the so-called "CD safe" disk holders).
It's been my habit of late to burn at the default speed since it seemed to work well in the last few years. Bad disks hadn't been a problem for me for a very long while, and I'm just like everyone else ... sometimes I get lazy and sometimes you burn data to disk for others, standing over your shoulder, and the world if full of people who've been told by some pimply-faced kid that it doesn't matter, that you always buy the cheapest spool in the store, and burn as fast as the hardware allows. I might have to rethink the speed thing and go back to my old habits.
I have one disk right now of observably good condition that has now developed trouble reading a few early tracks in my car player. You can put it to my habits and experience with disks, proper handling, or to dumb luck, but this is a very rare thing for me ... I actually can't remember another bad reading CD or DVD -R or -RW I've made.
The car player has never given me problems before, although that is not a definitive reason not to suspect it now. For those that don't know, the CD is written opposite of LP records; ie from the inside out, so those tracks are indicative of problems at the smallest radius disk area.
I may go back to a lower write speed in the future. Perhaps worth noting also is this problem disk was not from my preferred stock and is a Fuji brand disk that someone probably gave me.
For what it's worth, Verbatim DataLife Plus and Taiyo Yuden were the best the last time i evaluated media, many years ago. I actually don't think I've ever had a bad disk from either of these two, and that includes reading disks I made 10+ years ago, both writable and re-writable. I'm still using some Verbatim DataLife Plus DVD-RWs that are close to 10 years old and were re-written weekly over about two years to move photo and video data to a server for web use. Note also that there are "other" Verbatim disks; my comments refer specifically to the DataLife Plus version only.
The Taiyo Yuden product is usually difficult to find at stores but is the "pro's choice", especially with firms like ad agencies, graphics shops, and video production houses, and usually purchased from specific vendors online or through industry vendors that cater to these businesses.
I used to be able to get the inkjet printable surface Taiyo Yuden at a local computer store, but that store is gone now. I don't print my music CDs but the full coverage surface is nice since the user-markable side (ie the silkscreen side of a non-printable CD) is the thinnest barrier to the foil or dye layer, so it offers good protection, even if left unprinted. It also is a more robust layer since some permanent markers have been known to degrade the disk physically; some suggest only writing on the area specifically marked for writing, but there are a lot of disks now that don't really have such an area screened on them.
You can buy the expensive "CD markers" by vendors such as TDK but to save a buck just get the Staedtler Mars markers, which are identical.
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