Best brand of CD-Rs?

[sbsugar]

Hey y'all,

I was just wondering which brand of cd-rs you guys use to burn all your needle-drops, compilations, etc...is there any one brand that stands head and shoulders above the rest?

I have been thinking of doing some new compilations, and I'd just like to get some recommendations from some fellow burners..

Thanks,

Noah

 

[Mike]

I use, Taiyo Yuden gold CD-R for music (Labeled; That’s).

http://www.yuden.co.jp/e/release/pdf/2004/20040906e.pdf

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

I only ever buy Sony CD-R's. Some that I've bought in the past (Maxell, TDK) have a different die color that certain players have trouble with. I've never had any trouble whatsoever with Sony so that's all I ever spend my money on.

Ed

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I used to use Fuji all the time, but my most recent stack is TDK because they were on sale. I've used Sony, Maxell, and Imation in the past too...never a problem with any of them.

Back when blank CD-Rs were still around $2 apiece, I bought a 10-pack of some 99¢ specials with the brand "Mr. Data." I still have all the disks I made with those and they have always played fine. I think having a good burner is probably more important than what brand of disks you use - at least that's been my experience.

 

[Rudy]

I use, Taiyo Yuden gold CD-R for music (Labeled; That’s).

http://www.yuden.co.jp/e/release/pdf/2004/20040906e.pdf

I second this. CD-R quality varies greatly between manufacturers. It's all about data integrity. There are only a couple of manufacturers who make CD-R blanks these days, and all the major brands have them "branded". So, you can not go by just a brand name anymore. It has to do more with country of origin and the plant that makes them. For example: if you bought Fuji CD-Rs that showed "made in Japan" on the packaging, they were Taiyo-Yuden sourced; the inferior Fuji discs are made in some cheap third-world country and are not as good.

Taiyo Yuden is actually a manufacturer, so any other company that has TY make the discs for them would be a good bet. As this changes regularly, I can never keep up on it.

I'd definitely put my more-important needle drops on the higher-quality discs, for longevity reasons. I also make a data backup of them onto a blank DVD as a compressed WAV file (using either APE or FLAC lossless compression). If I'm just making throwaway duplicates for the car or CD changer, I'll use the cheaper CDs.

I don't recall the URL, but there was at least one website out there that tested and rated the CD-Rs regularly. If I can find that link again, I'll post it here.

 

[sbsugar]

Thanks very much for all the info...I'll be looking for some Fuji's, made in Japan, it looks like..

Thanks again,

Noah

 

[Captain Bacardi]

I've been having some issues with blank CD-Rs for my audio CD Recorder. Usually, I need to find CDrs that say "CDR Audio" for my recorder, but they are starting to be hard to find. I bought a pack of Fuji "All-Purpose" CD-Rs with mixed results - some record well, some don't. They work fine for my computer burner, but not the recorder. It's odd, because on the recorder it shows that the music is being copied, and has the final time showing. After I finalize it it seems the data disappears, whether I try it on my recorder or just my CD player. I ended up throwing away about a dozen of these so far.



Capt. Bacardi

 

[Harry]

I'm finding that some formerly reliable brands like Memores have gone to a higher speed capability, and that these discs don't work in my old 1x recorder. Like the Captain, I've found that these discs work in the computer burner.

I've gotten some Sony discs that seem to work OK, but I can't use the Memorex brand at 32 or 40x.

Harry

 

[Rudy]

It's important to remember that for audio CD decks, it must specifically say it is for these type of decks. They have a special encoding on the disc that make them usable in these decks. An "all purpose" disc will work fine in the computer, but that doesn't necessarily mean it will work in stand-alone decks.

I still have a stash of recordables for my CD deck. I don't use it that much, actually, mainly for duplication when I want to keep a valuable SACD, DualDisc or CD in the house and use the CD-R copies elsewhere.