MB-BOB

Got a 24X CD-RW recorder/Nero software for Christmas and am a novice at burning Audio CDs.

I've been told that I should try no more than 12X burning speed to minimize possibility of distorted results. I have my recorder set to read at 8X and burn at 12X and I still get CD's that will freeze and "reverb."

Oddly enough, I can burn two CDs off the same session (using same saved music files) and get a good copy with one CD but a defective one with the other. (I'm pulling the empty discs right off the spindle, not laying them down anywhere but in the recorder tray, etc. I've taken to blowing-off the recording side of each disc (bottled compressed air) before placing in the recorder, too, but results are still inconsistent. I'm using Memorex 80-min. CD-Rs at present.

I'd appreciate any input on what I'm doing wrong. By the spindle the media doesn't cost much, but I just dislike wasting CD's in this manner. At these speeds, I'm thinking I should get a good burn with every try. Help.

jkelley

Somewhat shooting in the dark here without know more about your hardware/OS/software setup, but....

Personal experience has been that the number one cause of erratic burning is NOT having your computer 100% focused on doing that one task. Anything else - virus checkers, screen savers, running other applications, whatever - and you run the risk of creating a coaster or getting less than optimum results.

I have heard of folks successfully burning in the background while doing whatever else they want in the foreground - I know I ain't figured out how to get there (and not due to wimpy hardware - dual 1G P3's with 1G of RAM, lotso success with DV & audio editing, processing, and generation). So - I just accept the fact that when it comes time to burn the CD, that's the ONLY thing my machine is doing. And I get rock solid results burning up to 24X (if I pop for the high speed blanks - don't forget that not all blanks are created equal!).

MBDriver

A few things to help you:
-Change the CD you're using. Memorex sucks!!!
-Buy gold on gold CD-R's if you can or better yet get the Diamond Silver bottom
-Dont have anything else running while burning
-Try to copy to your hard drive first before burning
-If possible, reboot your system after each burn to get a fresh start at system resources
-Also depends on what brand recorder your using (Its all about Yamahas, Teacs, and Plextors!!!)

Hope this helps.
(I sell computer components. We carry anything that is related to CD-Rs and a lot of other product lines also. Feel free to contact me if anyone wants anything, I'll try to get you the best price on whatever you want.)

byip25

1) try to burn @ 1X speed.
2) use better media.
3) dont do anything else on your computer while you are burning.
4) decode all your mp3s to you hard drive.
5) is your version of nero the latest?
6) are you using burn proof?
7) is it the shareware version of nero?


B

MB-BOB

byip25, my version of nero is not shareware, it came with the burner. I also assume it's relatively current as the burner was "new" for Christmas 2001. I'm told that nero is one of the best software programs I can use for this, so I lucked out on this one. I use "Smart-Burn" (I think that's what it is called) during the process. Is burn proof the same thing?

I'm not a multi-tasker at the PC, so I'm not doing anything else when I burn CD-Rs. Not to sound abrupt, but real time burning (1X) on a new 24X machine sounds a bit obsessive, to me.

Like I said, my daughter and I share some music tastes, so I sometimes burn two CD-Rs off the same files, one after the other, and one will be fine but the other has mistakes. This makes me think it's a media issue, but I'm not sure. I do intend to buy different media next time around, but I have a whole spindle to go through first. (I have about 30 left.) I've heard Kodak Gold recommended by many.

vadim

Bob, it's likely related to the brand of CDRs you're using. Try Kodak, Fuji - they have performed well for me over 5 years. Also, don't get upset if you find out that lower speeds give you better results - I always use 2X when I need 100% reliability, no matter what drive and media brand. Yes, you'll have to wait longer, but at least you won't be wasting your time and a CDR blank to produce yet another coaster at 12X speed.

Flashman

Nero is great... I burn tons with it, nothing is a good I think.
The CDs you have are probably ok... CD brand is more an issue on playback compatibility...
The compressed air is unnecessary... the laser burns through almost anything...

Some questions...

Where are you playing back the CDs that you are hearing the audio problems? In the computer, in a CD player? Do these audio files sound fine on the computer in the first place? Also, what color are the bottom of the CD's you have?

MB-BOB

Flashman, I'm playing back on different devices, the player in the MB, a portable CD player and on the PC CD-ROM drive. I get the freezing w/ reverb on all three in roughly the same places.

I did notice one file I played before burning had a defect on the PC, so I had to re-read that song to the HD (took several tries).

The CD-Rs from Memorex are Silver on the bottom, 700 MB/80 min/16X compatible.

On my last session I did drop the burning rate to 8X... only takes 10 minutes compared to 7 min at 12X. But no errors.

byip25

the newest version of nero is 5.5.7.2 . make sure u r not using the wizard. click audio cd. when window comes up, make sure u click the tab cda options and have cache to hard disk option checked. u might not and always try to burn at a lower speed to reduce the chance for buffer error and playback compatibility.

B

dj-po

I have the TDK VeloCD 16x10x40 and NERO 5.0.3.4 TDK, and have been using it for over a year now. I burn a lot of my mixes for my friends. I have had no more than 5, yes 5, bad burns. And I burn at 16x all the time, 'course I use TDK media. I did return my first burner because it died in the first three days, but since then, it's all good!

I think you should NOT have any problems w/ the newer/updated software/hardware.



my $.02



I don't know much about computers though.


John.

Flashman

Ok, the PC CD-ROM is probably your best benchmark. Silver bottom CDs aren't bad, most players should read that. Try burning a really slow CD (x2) and see how that works in comparison, then slowly bring it up. Maybe your computer can't keep up with the fast burning speed. Also make sure none of the source-CDs you are using are of the new 'copyrighted' variety that produce bad CDs.

MB-BOB

Thanks, guys. You've given me several items to play with in my search for the perfect CD-R copy...