Highest Quality CD's for Burning Master

[Hershal Pearlma]

Hello,

I am just wondering here if there is a particular kind of CD-R which is of higher quality than the rest because I am about to burn a final master of a project to CD.

Is there a certain composition of materials found in higher quality CD's and what should I be looking for? Any name brand or color of the discs?

Does this matter or are all CD-R's created equal?

I have seen ones that appear greenish on the bottom after a burn, I have seen the normal chrome ones and the gold colored ones as well as ones which are blue on the bottom after a burn. Any of this significant?

I'm not too technically minded on these specifications of different CD-R types so you will have to forgive me but I am seeking this knowlege.

Thanks!

[Jose Mrochek]

Honestly ? My experience tought me that if you take care of them they are all probably created equal.

Having said that I would rather have a master on DAT tape, I think it's a safer medium, or analog tape. Etc.. the cool thing about CD's though is that you can cheaply make many many copies of your master and give it to friends and family, upload it to their computers on .wav .. and it's very unlikely that in this lifetime you will have any problems finding the songs of this master and also...

It's a CD after all, so quality has allready been sucked out of the music. So who cares if it's a 10$ CD or a 1$ one : )

[bongo]

Taiyo Yuden


I don't believe they're all created equally.

[Jose Mrochek]

Originally Posted by bongo

Taiyo Yuden


I don't believe they're all created equally.

But they all equally suck.

[jayfrigo]

Most of us in mastering circles seem to favor Taiyo Yuden.

[DeeDrive]

Originally Posted by jayfrigo

Most of us in mastering circles seem to favor Taiyo Yuden.

any specific type of Taiyo Yuden any mastering guys out there recommend? Are they all pretty much the same? Are the cheapest Taiyo's probably still a good bet?

[johnjm22]

Originally Posted by DeeDrive

any specific type of Taiyo Yuden any mastering guys out there recommend? Are they all pretty much the same? Are the cheapest Taiyo's probably still a good bet?

I would also like to know.

[CorkyTart]

Taiyo Yuden or microboards

[Billster]

The performance heavily depends on the combination of writer, writing speed and cdrs used. I did error testing with a variety of cd brands etc. and Taiyo Yuden performed best in my Sonic Studio setup. That is they had less C1 and C2 errors than every other contestant.

Generally you have to keep in mind that if you use cdrs designed for 48x writing speed you better write them 48x. 1x or 2x will definately be worse with these media, because they´re not made for slow speed. However, the best results I got with slow speed writing (1x or 2x) on slow speed cdrs.

Cheers,
Bill

[nosebleedaudio]

Apogee Silver or Gold CDR's are very good.
The CD burner also is important.

[Froombosch]

For the Taiyo-users:

What CD-R do you use? Pextor SCSI?

Kind regards,



Harrie Munnik

[carlsaff]

It's an old school choice at this point, but I still prefer Mitsui Golds.

Plextool's error checking has reinforced my faith in this brand. I haven't tried the TY discs yet, tho... there's been little need to look around when I am currently getting an average of 1 or 2 C1 errors per second from the Mitsui Golds (and have only had one C2 error in my memory).

[Bob Olhsson]

What seems to be critical is the calibration between the burner and the disk. Taiyo Yuden invented the CD-R and their disks are what all of the other CD-R disk and burner manufacturers use as their benchmark.

As prices have come down and burn speeds have risen, error counts and general performance of audio disks has gone in the dog house including Taiyo Yuden. This has forced the mastering community to use Pee Cees and Plextor Professional and later drives to test every disk in order to stay on top of quality. Taiyo Yuden audio CD-Rs seem to be a bit better at slower speeds than the latest Taiyo Yuden data disks however this may just be new-old stock.

[Brad Blackwood]

TY Silvers and Plextor Premiums exclusively in all DAWs here. Haven't found a combo consistently better...

[johnjm22]

Originally Posted by Brad Blackwood

TY Silvers and Plextor Premiums exclusively in all DAWs here. Haven't found a combo consistently better...

What speed are you burning at?

The only TY Silver's available for sell are 52X or 48x. Is that what your burning them at?

[nukmusic]

man.....i can't help but to think of the future when you record it, email it to the mastering cat to master it, and then he uploads it as an "mp43" for sale . no more cds'

[Jose Mrochek]

wow this thread is a eye opener for me. I came in saying all cd's suck.. apparently they don't.

what are the differences ? less errors on some but does that mean they sound better ? they last longer ? or better yet..... can anyone tell the difference by listening and say this is a cheap cd or this is a good one ???

[Brad Blackwood]

Originally Posted by johnjm22

What speed are you burning at?

The only TY Silver's available for sell are 52X or 48x. Is that what your burning them at?

Everything is cut at 8x here...

[johnjm22]

Originally Posted by Brad Blackwood

Everything is cut at 8x here...

So just because a CD-R is 52X doesn't necessarily mean you should burn it at that speed?

[Brad Blackwood]

Originally Posted by johnjm22

So just because a CD-R is 52X doesn't necessarily mean you should burn it at that speed?

I tell folks not to burn faster than half the rated maximum of the burner - that seems to be a safe bet. I never have seen a burner that yielded it's lowest error rates at max speed...

[pegleg]

I burn at 4x or 8x, prefer Plextor burners (though the Pioneers I have get through error rate tests with pretty equal performance.

I only use Mitsui (usually gold), Taiyo Yuden and Verbatim media (Verbatim for DVD-R).

The differences I see are in error rate, compatibility and longevity.
And there is little price difference between the best and the reject stuff.

[neve1073]

apogee gold, pioneer burner, 8x.

[Offender]

Have you ever considered buying a USB key (key-ring harddrive). That way, you can stick all your masters on it..and keep updating it. Seems to be the way forward now. just dont lose it on the bus! haha

[jayfrigo]

TY silver and Plextor at 4X (occasionally, under certain circumstances, 2X). I wouldn't be too worried about 8X with modern recorders, but I wouldn't go too much faster for an important disc. Also, while burning at 1X used to be the desired method, these days, with burners and media optmised for higher speeds, the best results are now found at speeds higher than 1X. Times change and some info becomes outdated. It's generally a good idea to not push either of the speed extremes. Then again, there are still a few cases where 1X works well, but you won't generally come across it. If you still have a Sony 900 or are using the Sonic Studio CD recorder along with the expensive media they sell that is formulated for slower burns, then 1X is still great. However, that is the exception rather than the norm, and the aging 900s are dying off.

[Watersound]

There is no doubt in my mind that computer burners do not sound as good as the audio burners. I have done countless hours of listening and have decided that when it really counts, I would never make a CD master on a computer burner no matter what the speed. Get yourself a good stand-alone burner- Tascam makes a good one. I think the burner is the most important part of it, then I would go with the Apogee gold CDRs, or believe it or not, TDK. They sound the best to me.

[Brad Blackwood]

Originally Posted by jayfrigo

TY silver and Plextor at 4X (occasionally, under certain circumstances, 2X). I wouldn't be too worried about 8X with modern recorders

Err, considering that time and again both local and plant QC tests have shown that 8X yields the lowest errors, I'd hardly paint it as an extraordinary option...

Originally Posted by Watersound

There is no doubt in my mind that computer burners do not sound as good as the audio burners. I have done countless hours of listening and have decided that when it really counts, I would never make a CD master on a computer burner no matter what the speed. Get yourself a good stand-alone burner- Tascam makes a good one. I think the burner is the most important part of it, then I would go with the Apogee gold CDRs, or believe it or not, TDK. They sound the best to me.

You need to learn what makes it to glass. Stand-alone burners consistently yield higher errors, which is virtually all that matters on a CDR master...

[Audy O]

Originally Posted by Froombosch

For the Taiyo-users:

What CD-R do you use? Pextor SCSI?

Kind regards,
Harrie Munnik

I prefer Taiyo Yuden or Mitsui Gold. Have had some bad burns with el cheapo brands. Sonys have worked well in the past too.

Plextor SCSI has always worked well for me - critical stuff at 2X or 4X speed.

My suggestion, make masters on two different quality brands. That way, even if there is a defective lot (it does happen), you have another brand as a backup.

Best,
Audy O

[hociman]

Originally Posted by Watersound

There is no doubt in my mind that computer burners do not sound as good as the audio burners. I have done countless hours of listening and have decided that when it really counts, I would never make a CD master on a computer burner no matter what the speed. Get yourself a good stand-alone burner

Originally Posted by Brad Blackwood

You need to learn what makes it to glass. Stand-alone burners consistently yield higher errors, which is virtually all that matters on a CDR master...

Stand-alone burners also do not produce a true red book CD unless you record everything in a single pass (DAO), IIRC. You are also at the mercy of human error for track starts, index points, etc.

[Doublehelix]

I've been using HHB's for the last couple of years based on recommendations that I had, and they seem to work quite well, but it worries me that no one else in this thread have mentioned them!!! Any comments???

I have always burned at 4X for the critical stuff (Plextor), but Brad's comments about 8X are interesting, and I will have to try that!


So...what's the word on the HHB's??? Rubbish??? Good stuff???

[88fingerz]

I was using the TDK for years, had nary a problem. Then I tried the HHB...I actually heard a difference and preferred the HHbs.

I then had a problem one week finding the HHbs so I stumbled upon a mom & pop media shop and picked up the Taio Yudens. They are on par with the HHbs IMO and were also an improvement in sound quality to the TDKs.

I'm convinced....there IS a difference for sure.

I'd not hesitate to use the TDKs for other uses though, just not precious audio.

Fingerz