CD-R quality (was Re: Shameless CDR vs CD questions)

[Paul Mather]

On 12 Feb 2008, at 12:31 PM, trev wrote:

> hi paul,
>
> i used to use verbatim data life plus. the last lot were on data write
> i burn them one at a time at16 x on a 52 x burner (nero burning rom)
> then print the on-body on an epson photo r265.
> i also print, cut out, assemble the covers by hand
> each cd takes 15 mins to produce, not counting the 20 -30 hours or  
> so to, master tracks, design cover etc
>
> the amount i sell on rfm makes it uneconomical to mass-produce
>
> most emergent bands who play at green festivals (real festival music  
> bands) find it uneconomical to produce anything but cdrs
>
> i think it's better to sell cdr's than to not have your music heard,  
> apart from live performances, which would be the choice for a lot of  
> of these bands

I agree with you entirely.  CD-Rs are a great way to beat the  
economics of scale that work against you when trying to do pressed CD  
runs.  Digital downloads are becoming another way for bands to get the  
music out there, too, but the infrastructure requirement may be more  
than emergent bands can manage.

I did hear recently of one band selling "instant live"-type recordings  
at gigs on USB sticks!  (I forget the name of the band.)  It's good  
that there are different ways of getting the music out there.

> i'll be buying jap cdrs from now on...are there any other jap  
> branded makes that you can recommend.
> cdrs are now so cheap that it's madness to buy any but the best

I used to buy Mitsui CD-Rs, which used to be the "gold standard" for  
CD-Rs, especially Mitsui Golds.  But, I don't know if they're still up  
there nowadays.  (I heard their foray into DVD media got a bit of a  
drubbing, quality-wise, so maybe they've let things slip.)

Taiyo Yuden's always consistently seem to be mentioned at or near the  
top of the quality leagues, so I just stick with them (mainly I buy  
DVD media these days, though).  Their popularity has usually meant  
people trying to find re-branded versions of them at cheaper prices.   
It used to be that Fuji CD-Rs used to be made by Taiyo Yuden and boxed  
and branded by Fuji, which made them pretty easy to find in retail  
shops for a while.  Better than that, places like Best Buy would often  
have them on special, so you could buy Taiyo Yuden blanks for really  
knock down prices.  Unfortunately, Fuji moved their disc manufacture  
to someone else, in Taiwan, and the good times ended.

Some manufacturers (fabrication plants) have varied in quality over  
time, so I guess it's hard to sort out the wheat from the chaff.  For  
example, CMC Magnetics and Ritek used to source for LOADS of brands,  
and the quality of the discs was terrible.  (In fact, Philips  
threatened Ritek with a cease-and-desist over being able to use the  
"CD Recordable" logo on their media because it was so poor with  
regards to the spec.)  But, I heard that Ritek, at least, got their  
act together better and improved quality so they're not so awful as  
they once were.  But, like I said, Taiyo Yuden (remember the "That's"  
brand of cassettes you used to be able to buy cheap at Richer  
Sounds?---that's Taiyo Yuden:) consistently get the thumbs up---so  
much so that there are several "How to spot fake Taiyo Yuden" articles  
you can search for on the Web. :-)

> i buy from svp communications (blankdiscshop)

They appear to sell Taiyo Yudens: http://svp.co.uk/products-list.php?bid=29

The good thing about their CD-R listings is they list the manufacturer  
ID code of the disc, so you can see if your favourite brand is  
apparently made by Taiyo Yuden.  (Unfortunately, this is just what the  
disc is claiming as the manufacturer, and not necessarily that of the  
true manufacturer, but usually it is.)

I bought my last lot of discs from DVDshoponline: http://www.dvdshoponline.co.uk/Taiyo-Yuden.html

Thanks for the SVP nod, though, as I might try them next time.

> a commercial re-release of max effect is on the cards soon...maybe

Trev, you've just made my day!  That's the best news I've heard for a  
while.

Let's hope "maybe" turns into "definitely."

Cheers,

Paul.

e-mail: paul at gromit.dlib.vt.edu

"Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production
  deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid."
         --- Frank Vincent Zappa