What do you do to burn a perfect CD or DVD? Tell your bit

Nestor · Post by **Nestor** » Wed May 30, 2007 12:50 pm

What do you do when you burn a CD or DVD for it to be perfect, with no possible errors? Which is your knowledge about it? I’m not talking about “mastering”, but the physical device.

Anything would be useful: trademarks, speeds used, anything else you may consider important as temperature, whatever. Cheers

Post by **hubird** » Wed May 30, 2007 3:41 pm

some burning software offers the one-time speed.
it's said to be most safe

another thing is DVD + and -, older Apples used +, dunno about other brands.
To be sure you could use + - combined, but let me stand corrected if this is out of date

BingoTheClowno · Post by **BingoTheClowno** » Wed May 30, 2007 7:29 pm

First I read the manual, then of course if someting fails consistenly and it's not something I can figure out easily, I search for answers on forums (which you are already doing).

Typically, DVD burners should be set as master drives and they should not be shared with other hard disk drives. Make sure you have the latest ASPI layer installed. Check if the DVD drive is set to use the DMA mode not PIO mode (in the device manager). Do not upgrade the drive's internal software, no matter how hard you're tempted!

Finally, you might have a bad drive.

scary808 · Post by **scary808** » Thu May 31, 2007 1:50 am

I use Waveburner. It's only failed me once!

arela · Post by **arela** » Thu May 31, 2007 7:37 am

drag and drop a copy
sometimes i use nero6, but d&d is my answer

Lima · Post by **Lima** » Thu May 31, 2007 11:07 am

If I'm not in a hurry, I usually burn the cd at a lower speed than the maximum. For example 32x instead of 40x.

Nestor · Post by **Nestor** » Thu May 31, 2007 12:52 pm

This is one of the biggest issues of them all: SPEED.

I have noticed that if you record a CD or DVD at high speeds 48X for instance, when you look at the recorded side moving the CD against daylight, you’ll see there is almost no difference between the written and the virgin space, as they both seem to be equal to each other.

In the other side, if you pay attention to a very low speed recording against daylight, let say 4X speed or 8X, you’ll see a clear difference between the virgin and the recorded sides, as their colours have changed from each other, being one quite dark and the other much lighter, independently of the trademark you use.

I have noticed that if you record at very low speeds, your CD or DVD tend to last a long time, and that it resists some scratches, while those recorded at high speeds, don’t, getting damaged quite easily.

My question anyway, addresses most of all, serious master CD - DVD copies, that will be used for hundreds of thousands of copies. In the other side, for high quality extremely reliable backups, you’ll get into your drawer for years to come.

Talking about brands, I have been said to use Sony, as being one of the best, but this is quite difficult to judge for me…

Which brands do you use and why?

bassdude · Post by **bassdude** » Thu May 31, 2007 1:31 pm

Mitsui silver

spacef · Post by **spacef** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 4:47 am

for cd, Ultra Black Magic , by intenso , it will not pass your daylight test though, as you will see zero difference between the burnt and not burnt part (like on most "pro" commercial cds).
for dvds, not sure... i haven't found true black or carbon dvds yet...

kylie · Post by **kylie** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 5:17 am

avoid those cheapo supermarket dc/dvd media. there are surely some among them that aren't that bad, but you won't find out without extensive testing... (yes, I know, strictly speaking this applies to brand media, too, but my experience after several hundred successfully burnt cds and dvds is that the chance to get a proper burn is higher with brand media.)

burning at lower speed gets a recommendation from me, too.

-greetings, markus-

miguel · Post by **miguel** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 6:05 am

I always record at the lowest speed available in any given recorder, unless I'm in a hurry. But then I do not record that many discs.

regards,
miguel

arela · Post by **arela** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 8:11 am

Agree, use wellknown brands - not shure about the speed.
There where a lot of warnings in the old days, use 2x not 4x and so on.
Haven't noticed any difference at all, but i guess there is as many q & a to this as there are brands and models.

ps - it's not the speed but the stops that kills

kylie · Post by **kylie** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 11:23 am

arela wrote: There where a lot of warnings in the old days, use 2x not 4x and so on.

I still have some of those old kodak gold blank media around that don't even carry a "don't burn faster than x-speed" remark (which translates to "we don't know about double or quadruple speed"). I save them for some old cd-players that are very selective...

concerning well known brands...
in these times when kodak was the non-plus-ultra, another well known brand was referred to (in german: Byte Abweisende Schutz-Folie) Byte Repellent Shielding Foil (yeah I know that joke works better over here

).

ocasionally reading some media tests can give you the one or other hint which brand you should definitely avoid, though it's nothing you can rely on over the next years...

-greetings, markus-

Nestor · Post by **Nestor** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 12:20 pm

I have been told by experienced sellers, that one of the best brands for DVD is Sony, and one of the best for CD is Imation.

The Ultra Black Magic is quite difficult to find around here…

ElectronicaDub · Post by **ElectronicaDub** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 12:29 pm

I never have problems with Cd. DVD is another story...

I have burned coasters occasionally with Sony and TDK discs. The best DVDs I've found are the cheapo ones from the supermarket. I rarely have a problem with them. I always check after burning that the material plays.

If you do get dropouts or stuttering, try wiping them with a soapy cloth. In my house, this normally gets the marmalade off

Post by **garyb** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 2:16 pm

i use ritek or prodisk. my system verifies the burn and rejects errors.

emzee · Post by **emzee** » Sat Jun 02, 2007 4:32 am

Here's a few comments from Bob Katz:

Original sources, please
If at all possible, deliver a generation that is as close to the original as possible. If it's on CD ROM, then cut a CDR directly from your hard disc files. Speed of cutting? Try to use Taiyo Yuden or other reputable blanks, and cut at 4X to 8X speed. These will PROBABLY produce the best results. Murphy's Law: Allow for Murphy. Do not ASSUME that all the files will transfer successfully over here and that the CD-ROMs you have cut are perfect. Allow for the possibility that on the very last minute of the very last hour of the very last day, we may have to go to a backup CD-ROM, or you may have to cut another, because of some error or other problem in the transfer.

http://www.digido.com/bob-katz/mixing-t ... ricks.html