# Which brand of CD-R are the best for burning CD's?



## Albert7

I have some iTunes albums that I want to convert to CD. Which brand of CD-R's will give me the most reliable form of playing?


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## TrueMiracle

I always use Sony CD-R Supremas (700 MB) and they've worked just fine every time.


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## Albert7

How good is Memorex?


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## KenOC

I've read that CD-Rs are made by only a few producers and sold in batches to distributors, who buy whoever's low price at the time and then label them. In other words, no brand will guarantee quality or longevity.


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## Albert7

KenOC said:


> I've read that CD-Rs are made by only a few producers and sold in batches to distributors, who buy whoever's low price at the time and then label them. In other words, no brand will guarantee quality or longevity.


That really is awful . Wish that I could figure this all out.


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## quack

Keep the original files. Treat the CD-R as temporary, disposable, portable storage. Don't trust in them.


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## ptr

One should always be aware that CD-R's are much more prone to "scratching", I've used them mostly in the car-stereo and with slot-in players, cheepo brands (like fx. Memorex and Traxdata) have in my experience even worse wear durability. I mostly use Taiyo Yuden CD-r's for the last 15 years (white coated tops) and have only good experiences with them, for the best quality backups (of fx. air-checks I like to save for posterity) I use Mitsui (MAM-A) Gold CD-R's, their gold reflective surface "seem" to have better archival spec's.

/ptr


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## Ukko

JVC-Taiyo Yuden. Ken's 'only a few manufacturers' includes both good and bad.


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## Guest

Are you looking for long-term storage, or just something that allows you to play the music in some kind of CD player? Because if it is just for listening, just make sure the original digital files are secure, and then it doesn't matter. You can always burn another.


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## Albert7

DrMike said:


> Are you looking for long-term storage, or just something that allows you to play the music in some kind of CD player? Because if it is just for listening, just make sure the original digital files are secure, and then it doesn't matter. You can always burn another.


It's for playback for my daughter Izzy. Not worried about long-term storage. I hope that the discs used for commercial CD recordings are much better quality.


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## Frasier

I use Fijifilm or Delkin (quite expensive but then I don't often commit music/data to optical media). A little less fugitive than many others.


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## quack

albertfallickwang said:


> It's for playback for my daughter Izzy. Not worried about long-term storage. I hope that the discs used for commercial CD recordings are much better quality.


CDs and CD-Rs are fundamentally different. CDs have actual pits engraved into them to record the music: a tiny version of a vinyl LP. CD-R work by the writing laser burning the dye in the disc to simulate those pits. So CDs are much less prone to degradation, they need physical damage, sunlight, warping etc whereas CD-Rs can basically just fade due to quality of materials.


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## Albert7

quack said:


> CDs and CD-Rs are fundamentally different. CDs have actual pits engraved into them to record the music: a tiny version of a vinyl LP. CD-R work by the writing laser burning the dye in the disc to simulate those pits. So CDs are much less prone to degradation, they need physical damage, sunlight, warping etc whereas CD-Rs can basically just fade due to quality of materials.


Thanks for that explanation .


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## bigshot

Taiyo Yuden from Supermediastore.com

Fuji is rebranded Taiyo Yudin


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## KenOC

quack said:


> CDs and CD-Rs are fundamentally different.


Yes. I have never had a failure of a commercial CD, and I was an early adapter (some have had problems with "bronzing" I understand). Plenty of CD-R failures, though, within a very few years.


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## bigshot

I've never had a failure of a CD or DVD by Taiyo Yudin and I have burned thousands of them in my job. They use some sort of ink that is rated for 80 years or something. They work fine. Memorex fails on me all the time. Half the time, they don't even pass the verification right after the burn. I don't know how they keep selling that crap.


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## rspader

bigshot said:


> I've never had a failure of a CD or DVD by Taiyo Yudin and I have burned thousands of them in my job. They use some sort of ink that is rated for 80 years or something. They work fine. Memorex fails on me all the time. Half the time, they don't even pass the verification right after the burn. I don't know how they keep selling that crap.


Not looking to start an argument as i can only speak from my own experience, but I have used Memorex CD-Rs for many years and can't recall a single failure. (Of course, that could mean that many have crapped out on me and I just can't recall that.)


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## bigshot

That is fine. Very good in fact! I just can't get Memorex to verify consistently. that's all. Purple works better for me than pale yellow or greenish. It might be my burners.


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## SixFootScowl

quack said:


> CDs have actual pits engraved into them to record the music...


I suppose this is not something one can do at home because the equipment is way too expensive. Not that i plan on doing it, but perhaps some wealthy music aficionados.


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## ahammel

Florestan said:


> I suppose this is not something one can do at home because the equipment is way too expensive. Not that i plan on doing it, but perhaps some wealthy music aficionados.


I doubt it. Wiki tells me it requires a hydraulic press and custom-made glass master for each CD.


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## bigshot

If you want to create a real CD, you need to create a glass master and replicate it. You can't do that at home. It doesn't matter anyway because duplicated CDs are perfectly fine for all intents and purposes.


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## SixFootScowl

bigshot said:


> If you want to create a real CD, you need to create a glass master and replicate it. You can't do that at home. It doesn't matter anyway because duplicated CDs are perfectly fine for all intents and purposes.


Bill Gates could do that at home, but it would be pointless.

The cool thing then is that in a way the CD is like an LP with something like groves but discrete instead of continuous, and a light beam instead of a cartridge/needle.


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## Ukko

Florestan said:


> Bill Gates could do that at home, but it would be pointless.
> 
> The cool thing then is that in a way the CD is like an LP with something like groves but discrete instead of continuous, and a light beam instead of a cartridge/needle.


Well, in a way the similarity is extended. The pits are arranged on the disk in the same way as the grooves on the LP. You don't even have to reach _too_ far to note the relationship of the pits to the 'wiggles' in the groove.


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## PetrB

albertfallickwang said:


> That really is awful . Wish that I could figure this all out.


Really, what does one expect for something under $01.oo per piece?


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## johnlewisgrant

Fritz Kobus said:


> Bill Gates could do that at home, but it would be pointless.
> 
> The cool thing then is that in a way the CD is like an LP with something like groves but discrete instead of continuous, and a light beam instead of a cartridge/needle.


But impossible for ordinary folks to make cds with.

Ergo... a smart chemist makes a non-physical, super-cheap coating that can be sold to the masses and that never wears out!


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## Merl

Ive been using cheapo CDRs for years. As long as they are stored at reasonable temperatures you get very few problems with them. I have CDRs i burned 20 years ago that are still going strong (Traxdata, Verbatim, Kodak, Phillips.......allsorts of stuff). I use Asda ones at the moment and they are fine for general use.


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