cdr media/Plextor question

[rxfit06]

Hello,

I do "at home" mastering for many local groups and singer songwriters. Basically I simply make their demo's sound more like a commercial cd.

After I burn myself a copy of the end result, I of course play said cdr in multiple players in order to make sure there are no tonal problems. One of the players I use is the cd player in my Jeep wrangler,... for if I can get the cd to sound good/consistant there, I usually don't have a problem elsewhere. The trouble is, the stock player in the Jeep is VERY picky as to what it will play. ALL commercial cd's play with no problem. I can use the expensive HHB cdrs, and they also play every time.

Now here's what I don't understand. I read on here where someone recommended the TDK "music" cdr's. I found some on Amazon, that were advertised as being 16X cdr's. I ordered a spindle and they worked perfectly everytime. Now, I ordered 2 more spindles, and when I received them,.. even though they have the same product number, they are indeed different. They are all white,.. the first batch were multi colored.

Most importantly however is the fact that the newer(white) cdr's wont read in my Jeep. This leads me to believe that TDK has changed the newer cdr's ( same product code ) to a higher burn speed. ?

I currently can burn from the digital in on my HHB 830 burn it plus at 1x speed. I can also bring the 2 track back into my DAW, and burn from the tower, at any speed I want, which I prefer to do. At present I still have the stock DELL cdr burner and was burning at 8X speed with wavelab. I will also note that when I use the newer music cdrs,.. that wavelab doesn't show where I can change the burn speed. On the older cdr's, as soon I a loaded a cdr, I could go to the burn speed drop down menu, and it was there.

I was wondering if I replace it with one of the Plextor burners, if it would yield a burn that would play in my Jeeps player? Remember, when I used the older TKD music cdrs,.. I could use either the HHB OR the Dell tower burner, and they worked perfectly in ALL players, including my Jeep.

Question:

Is it the media, the burner, or a combination of the two that would allow my picky Jeep player to play the end result. Since I can't seem to find the older TDK media, I would really like to get this figured out, rather than spend the money on replacing the Jeep's cd player.

Also, does it make sense that IF my jeep's player plays the cdr with no problem, that it means the said cdr master was burned with less errors?

Thanks,
Marc

[Riccardo]

Media and burner go together, that is why Plextor and Taiyo Yudens is a popular combination. Try to use a short offset for the first track. I have never had a disc that didn't play in a car so far.
Errors could affect playback (i.e. player mutes during playback in extreme cases).
I guess (but I might be wrong) that what you are talking about is mora a case of giving the player the time to read the TOC so to speak hence the offset.

[Darius van H]

I imagine getting a good Plextor burner will fix the Jeep problems........could be wrong though!

[jamesp]

Originally Posted by rxfit06

Also, does it make sense that IF my jeep's player plays the cdr with no problem, that it means the said cdr master was burned with less errors?

While the error rate may be a contributory factor the contrast between pits and lands is probably a more important factor.

As you've found out, there are very few CD brands that you can trust to be consistent. TDK no longer make their own discs so buying their discs is just as much of a lottery as buying most other brands. If you want guaranteed quality then you need to find a brand that consistently uses the same source. Taiyo Yuden are good in this respect which is why they are most often recommended. The more expensive Verbatim discs (Datalife Plus) also seem good. HHB seem to consistently use Mitsui discss which are projected to have a long life but haven't been as compatible with as many different players as T-Y in my experience.

Cheers

James.

[diamondjim]

I also test a copy of the master in my car's cd player, which is pretty cheap, and I used to get skipping problems occaisionally, but so have not since I installed a Plextor CD/DVD writer.

One other advantage of the Plextor is you get a copy of Plextools Pro which will allow you to check your master for burn errors.

[Jamz]

Is there a specific or particular Plextor model that everyone finds the most reliable?

[SRS]

I have a Plextor PX-760A. Use it exclusively with TY media. NEVER have a problem. Just make sure you get authentic TY media. There are fakes out there because of TY's long-standing reputation for being the best. They are only made in Japan from what I understand. A company called "U-Line" sells them by the spindle for a good price. You can also get them from New Egg and PC Club. All have online presence to order via the net. Use Plex Tools or another program to check error rates. I use Nero. It will give you very detailed error info on both the blanks and after the discs are recorded onto. Burn at 4X speed if possible. 1X (if you can even do that) does not usually yield better results. Slower is not always better. Find the speed that works with your combination. 4X is generally considered (normal) speed now. Good luck.

[MASSIVE Master]

The 755UF is the new "bad boy" - And surprisingly affordable for some odd reason... I'm stocking up.

On burn speeds - I've seen studies, and have performed several of my own, that find a "sweet spot" at around 20-25% of a drive's top speed. 8-12x on a 48-52x drive would regularly and repeatedly give the lowest error rates almost regardless of the media used.