[kentamcolin]

What is the best way to burn CD's? On a dedicated CD recorder (component), or on your computer? and if on the computer, does the drive matter? I'm new to this and don't know all the lingo so please educate me before I go and make a bunch of copies to preserve my original CD's. Please be specific if you can with methods, manufactures, models etc.

 

[Demolition]

Ken,

I tried to post a comprehensive response to your questions, but gave up. My post was just under one thousand words long before I realized that it was mostly technological gobbledygook. The worst part was that I had written only 1/4 of what I had planned to type before giving up. I wonder if that's why nobody else has posted in this thread, yet. Trying to comprehensively cover a broad field such as burning CDs is daunting.

So, I'm going to give you the quick 'n dirty version of my advice, instead: If you want to copy music CDs, then get a fast burner (such as this one which has gotten decent reviews). Keep your old CD-ROM drive if it's reasonably fast (i.e. 24x or faster). If not, then ridiculously fast CD-ROM drives are very cheap these days. Read your original CDs from the CD-ROM and write on-the-fly to the CD-RW. Any commercial CD-burning software will allow this.

Note that copying CDs can be tedious, especially with slow equipment. There are automated duplicators that can swap original and blank media in and out, but they can be expensive. I suggest that you go for the method that I mentioned above (i.e. two optical drives connected to your computer).

Last, but certainly not least, use high-quality blank CD media! There has been at least one thread in the forum in the last month about this (I'd search for it, but the Search function is currently disabled). Bottom line: cheap CD-Rs are NOT worth it. Choose something like Kodak Ultima or another brand that is renowned for quality and longevity.

For more info about burning CDs, I suggest that you visit a few sites such as:

- CDRLabs (reviews and articles)

- CDR-Info (reviews, articles, and a good Audio CD copying section)

- CD Media World (news, reviews, how-to articles, etc. plus excellent info about blank CD media quality)

- CD Freaks (industry news, reviews, how-tos, etc.)

Note that these sites have good forums populated by members who are as knowledgeable about CD/DVD matters as those in Head-Fi are about headphones. Take advantage of their wisdom. I daresay that they know more about this kind of thing than most of us on Head-Fi.

Well, I hope that gets you off on the right foot, Ken. If you need more info, then either ask the folks in the CD forums, or email/PM me and I'll type out that diatribe that I was going to post here, but didn't.

D.

 

[Thrasher]

If you are going to burn copies of audio CD's I recommend buying a standard PC burner. Audio-CD component burners are much more expensive and you can't burn data obviously on them.

Like Demolition said, quality blank media are very important. I personally trust Taiyo Yuden media, which are said to be one of the best on the market. But be careful not to buy bulk media without the protective layer on top, because your reflective layer could peel off more easily (in humid conditions etc.) and you will loose your data/audio forever.

A lot of people recommend burning at slower speeds, I agree, most of the times I burn audio-CDs at 4x, but it depends on where you will play the CD-Rs. If it's older equipment, slower speed should do better, but newer CD players have more sensitive laser which reads also CD-RW and CD-Rs burnt at much higher speeds.

As for software goes, if you want to get perfect audio copies, use Exact Audio Copy (EAC) with its secure mode to rip the music. The best way is to find out your combined (read source/burner) offset and enter it in the configuration. Rip the whole CD as one wav file using "Copy Image & Create Cue Sheet". Various burning software can then burn the wav file reading the indexes from the cue sheet you get, even EAC itself. I personally use Feurio!, which has many options and is very user friendly.

 

[kentamcolin]

Quote:

The best way is to find out your combined (read source/burner) offset and enter it in the configuration. Rip the whole CD as one wav file using "Copy Image & Create Cue Sheet". Various burning software can then burn the wav file reading the indexes from the cue sheet you get, even EAC itself.

I was doing O.K. until I read this line. Now you lost me. You sure this is in English?

I bought a few Verbatim CD-R's that look like little 45 records. I'll try to find some review of them to see how good they are. I've got two CD drivers now in my computer (Dell Dimension 2300). It says 48X when it burns copies. I'm not sure how to slow it down. Thanks for all the help and references to other websites.

 

[oneeyedhobbit]

EAC is perhaps the most feature rich and best audio ripping program I have ever used, bar-none. I can't remember the links to it, but do a search and you'll find it. The learning curve is a bit steep with all of the options, but freely pm me and I'll help you set it up, if you like.

 

[MisterX]

The EAC home page is located at-----> http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

A good tutorial for setting it up can be found on the Coaster Factories Tutorial page

 

[kentamcolin]

Great stuff. I'll have time this weekend to get started.

Thanks.

 

[Edwood]

Nero 5.5 is my personal favorite.

"The CD is copyrighted."

"Burn process started"

-Ed

 

[UberNewb]

EAC to rip, and Burrrn to burn.... love them both.

 

[wali]

Best way to burn CD's?

Put in microwave and hit 5min.

j/k.

rip your cd using Lame in 'accurate mode' after that use Nero or any other buring software and burn in 4x speed to a good quality CD-R.

 

[sbulack]

My quick and dirty about CD burning is:
1) Definitely get a Lite On burner.
I PREFER Nero burning software, IF it comes bundled with the Lite On burner (that way, you know that it drives the features of the burner you are buying). But, if you can't find a Lite On that comes bundled with Nero software, get the Lite On burner. On support web sites for CD burner distributors, where people write in about all of the documented things that their CD's won't do, the resolution that the Customer Service Rep frrequently suggests is, "Send back the bundle you bought (containing a non-Lite On burner) and specificallly request a replacement bundle with a Lite On drive. I know that works."
2) For CD Blank Quality, get CD Blanks "Made in Japan"
Again, the quick and dirty way to implement what the long and data-heavy discussions put forward. Some Fujifilm blanks are "Make in Japan", but many of them sold on the Internet and in stores are now "Made in Taiwan". For the best quality for archival storage, stock up on the "Made in Japan" when you can find them. I use the "Made in Taiwan" for data disks that I'm likely to use for under a few days, and then forget about. For audio CD's or for data disks that I'm likely to want to archive for years, I only use the "Made in Japan". One key element to look for in a high quality CD blank is the dye. The cheaper blanks use a yellow-green dye. The higher quality blanks use a blue-green dye. If the blank is "Made in Japan", AND uses a blue-green dye, you're pretty much IN for blank quality.

 

[Jodiuh]

Quote:

Originally posted by Edwood Nero 5.5 is my personal favorite. "The CD is copyrighted." "Burn process started" -Ed

Lol, I was wondering if that was just my special copy or not

 

[kentamcolin]

Quote:

Put in microwave and hit 5min.

I tried that but it just melted.

Is Light On burner a brand name? Vinyl is starting to sound low maintenance after reading all this.

 

[sbulack]

That's Lite On, and, yes, it is a brand name.
About vinyl being low maintenance, is it easier to pick a vinyl burner, and to get high quality vinyl blanks than it is for CDs?

 

[wildmonkeysects]

The Yamaha F1 internal CDR with included Nero 5.5 for burning and Neromix for ripping has been flawless for me, running w2k. Has a QR mode for lower intrinsic jitter/noise, good only for less than 60 minute or so CDs.

For "data" blank CDRs I prefer TDK, for "audio" blank CDRs, I prefer JVC.

YMMV.