Most compatible CD-R?

[dbx]

What CD-Rs do you use for burning your tracks? Is there one brand/type that outshines the rest in playback compatibility?

[MichaelK]

I looked into it several years ago and discovered that unbranded Taiyo Yuden silver disks tested as having the lowest write and read error rates by a large margin. I don't know if they still have that margin, but they've always worked well for me and no one has ever told me my disks won't play.

The mastering house I use in Nashville uses them, too. They buy them by the spindle just like I do, but they randomly test each batch on a special machine and send them back if they're coming up with "too many" errors. What they consider too many errors is still ridiculously low, well within the acceptable range for anyone else.

[dbx]

I looked into it several years ago and discovered that unbranded Taiyo Yuden silver disks tested as having the lowest write and read error rates by a large margin. I don't know if they still have that margin, but they've always worked well for me and no one has ever told me my disks won't play.

The mastering house I use in Nashville uses them, too. They buy them by the spindle just like I do, but they randomly test each batch on a special machine and send them back if they're coming up with "too many" errors. What they consider too many errors is still ridiculously low, well within the acceptable range for anyone else.

Thanks...the problem I'm having is that the discs I'm currently burning (using Roxio Audio Central 1.1) The discs I burn on (Memorex CD-R 700MB 48X) have problems playing on CD players other than my own. I don't get any write/buffer underrun type errors when burning. On the players with problems it's either an unplayable CD, tracks, or bad noise over the music..

[elambo]

I'll 2nd Taiyo Yuden. Been great so far.

I'd suspect your burner might be the issue. Perhaps it's faulty, or you might be burning audio discs as something OTHER than red book (an MP3 disc, for example, would be unplayable on a lot of players). Make sure you're burning red book.

[dbx]

I'll 2nd Taiyo Yuden. Been great so far.

I'd suspect your burner might be the issue. Perhaps it's faulty, or you might be burning audio discs as something OTHER than red book (an MP3 disc, for example, would be unplayable on a lot of players). Make sure you're burning red book.

We tried the Sony CD-r with better results...I just did a search on the Taiyo disc, may have to check them out...(I was burning with the Redbook format...)

[elambo]

Let us know how the Taiyo discs work out...

The Memorex discs you were using, while not the best choice, had been fine for me (I'd used 100 or so a few years ago) which is why I thought of the burner as a suspect. Maybe Memorex quality has gone down recently.

[MichaelK]

The Memorex discs you were using, while not the best choice, had been fine for me (I'd used 100 or so a few years ago) which is why I thought of the burner as a suspect.
I would agree. I've also used Memorex with no problems. Imation, Apogee, even Office Depot "audio" grade if that's what the client brings (though I don't let it out till I test it).

I'm not familiar with Audio Central but I think it's old PC software, am I right? You might want to check (a) that the software is Red Book compatible, (b) that your burner is supported and (3) update your software and your hardware drivers to the latest available.

If the burner is older than two or three years old then write speed might be an issue. I burn audio disks no faster than 8x for my own use, preferably 4x for anyone else (time permitting), 2x for radio or live backing tracks, 1x for mastering. Although 8x or even 16x "shouldn't" be a problem for any of the above on a my gear, I like to stack the odds.

[dbx]

I would agree. I've also used Memorex with no problems. Imation, Apogee, even Office Depot "audio" grade if that's what the client brings (though I don't let it out till I test it).

I'm not familiar with Audio Central but I think it's old PC software, am I right? You might want to check (a) that the software is Red Book compatible, (b) that your burner is supported and (3) update your software and your hardware drivers to the latest available.

If the burner is older than two or three years old then write speed might be an issue. I burn audio disks no faster than 8x for my own use, preferably 4x for anyone else (time permitting), 2x for radio or live backing tracks, 1x for mastering. Although 8x or even 16x "shouldn't" be a problem for any of the above on a my gear, I like to stack the odds.

Aha!...does the burn speed make a difference? I have a Plextor 712 internal capable of 48X I burned the Sony and Memorex discs at that speed, I might try the slow speed method and see if it makes difference...I can always use the other CD-r brands I already have just for data...thanks...

:AOK