optimal cd burner speed for master CD?

Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2004 10:53 am

i have two external (firewire) plextor cd burners.i use toast jam for burning master audio cds at 2x speed. how can i test which speed is best for master cds. i dont have any audio analyzer or similar toll. tnx in advance,

Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2004 11:05 am

Quote:

i have two external (firewire) plextor cd burners.i use toast jam for burning master audio cds at 2x speed. how can i test which speed is best for master cds. i dont have any audio analyzer or similar toll. tnx in advance,

The only way you can test it is to burn the same material in every speed the drive permits, and then listen to the different burnings on a good system.
I would say that 1x is the best speed though!!

Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2004 11:33 am

The new PlexPremium burners have built-in error checking. If you can get your hands on one of those.... (I recently got an external USB unit for about $150 USD. Absolutely LOVE it!)

Otherwise, I suggest that you burn the same material at each of the available burn speeds - each to its own disc - and then load each one back into your DAW and see which provides the best null with the original file.

Moderator Joined: Sep 12, 2002 Posts: 1850 Location: NYC

These are good ideas but you should really have them analyzed to see what is going on. Some media burn better at higher speeds, some lower. I offer this to studios running the discs through a clover analyzer. I really don't make any money doing this because it takes forever. Mostly keeps my assistant busy. The plextor premiums drives can run a similar test but I think it leaves several things out. You can also contact some manufacturers and they might be willing to run a test for you, but it's usually only 1 CD.

Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2004 3:27 am

tnx guys! it will take me some time , but i will compare cds written with different burn speeds to original file,.should i extract from audio cd or should i record it to daw through cd digital out for comparison? a question for you michael? what is clover analyzer, is it software or hardware device? which brand of cd burner do you use and what do you think about plextor premium cd burners?

Moderator Joined: Sep 12, 2002 Posts: 1850 Location: NYC

Clover is a stand alone CD analyzer, at least the one I have, QA-101. Every master that goes out is analyzed as well as listened to. I've caught a few CD's that were bad. The plextor premium drives are really good. The most reliable drive i've had for awhile. Considerably lower error rates than other drives. If your using a PC it also comes with plextools that does some error checking, kind of like a poor mans stand alone analyzer. There are only 2 affordable stand alones that i know of, Stagetech and Clover. The clover runs about $5,000 and the stagetech about $4,000 i think. Before I got an analyzer, I just kept my fingers crossed that the disc wasn't going to fail at the plant. All it takes is one CD to fail at the plant on a record that has a hard deadline and you become more willing to fork over the bucks for an analyzer.

Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2004 7:40 am

Wouldn't it be more secure to do an Exabyte 8mm DDP master?

Moderator Joined: Sep 12, 2002 Posts: 1850 Location: NYC

Yes it would be more secure to send a DDP, but i can't listen to a DDP after i've created it, and that makes me nervous. I do know that some guys send out a DDP image on CDR, I would like to explore this option myself someday. But for now, I burn, analyze and listen.

Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2004 10:11 am

Mike,

What software are you using that does'nt let you play back the DDP?

Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2004 12:00 pm

Hi,
Slightly off topic, I just bought a new Lacie d2 external Firewire DVD/CD burner, mainly for DVD backup at 4x. However, I also use it for burning my CD masters at 4x. It's basically an Apple Superdrive, Panasonic, in an external box. What, if anything, might I be losing, or doing wrong by using this burner for my CD masters? Would I gain anything by switching to a dedicated CD burner like the Plextor everyone keeps talking about?
Thanks - Steve

Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2004 4:48 pm

If the software you are using supports the drive I see no problem. It's a good drive.

Moderator Joined: Sep 12, 2002 Posts: 1850 Location: NYC

The only Mac software that I know of that can play back DDP is sonic, but I got rid of that awhile ago. I'm looking at the new sadie system which can do that, but I've got a lot of money in my Mac and am reluctant to part with it to go back to pc. I'm waiting for some sign that sonic is going to stick around before I plot some more cash down. Otherwise i've been hunting for a stand alone software that can do all the DDP stuff I want. In the meantime my 8505xl sits.

Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2004 8:46 pm

DDP is foreign to me, but I know that Brad Blackwood at Euphonic Masters does DDP work with Samplitude 7. Apparently, Samp has a DDP "plug-in" that allows working with DDP. (You better ask Brad for the details...)

Moderator Joined: Sep 12, 2002 Posts: 1850 Location: NYC

There are a few PC programs that do DDP but not many mac programs. The only one besides Sonic is the digidesign masterlist CD (an older version). the last versions don't support DDP so it's hard to work with new burners too.

Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2004 10:52 am

Michael, completely off topic, but why does your Mastering studio have high end mics or any mics at all... :d:

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