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Hey guys, I was hoping (after re-recording my songs) to get a CD produced this summer. I don't live off of playing music or anything, so just something to get it out there would be cool. About production though, I have 2 questions:

1 - Thermal printing: Is it worth it? I tried to find companies online that do it professionally but all I found was printer links and it looks like a lot of them go over $1k. The print that I want covers the full CD.

(If it's not a reasonable amount of money then I won't bother)

2 - The silver 'professional' CDs. For some reason in the CD player in my car, a CD that I bought works perfectly, loads instantly, etc. Any other burned CD either takes a long time to load the song or does not work at all and after not being able to hear my new mix I probably almost ejected the airbags a couple of times. Is it the way the music is burned (I use itunes to burn it) or is it the bottom of the CD?

I have a friend who designed a hardstock sleeve for the CD to go in, which will probably look nice, keep costs down, and make me feel less obligated to do all that booklet stuff.

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sheet Fri, 05/04/2007 - 16:36

You should have your CDs pressed with a glass master, as opposed to burning them. Commercial CDs are not burned. They are hot blobs of plastic, indented with a glass master (a negative of the CD's pitting).

Not all players are compatible with burned discs, and the software used to burn them. Burned discs go to crap in time. So you could have angry customers.

Your finished and demo CD should be a Red Book format CD. It has a table of contents. It does not require a computer/software to play. This is the problem with your burned CDs if you are not burning a Red Book. If you ARE burning a Red Book, then your player will not play your burned CDs.

I have a minivan that will not play any CDs, Red Book or not, burned with Toast Titanium. It will however play a Red Book CD burned on an Alesis Masterlink.

EricIndecisive Fri, 05/04/2007 - 18:48

hmm, not really sure, i would probably start off with about 100 or so, just so i could sell some to people i know and have cheap ones for sale if i can start playing places over the summer. I guess it shouldn't be too official though

sheet: i really had no idea, that sounds complicated! i will look into it more. i still dont get what you mean 'indented with a glass master' but thats ok lol.

sheet Fri, 05/04/2007 - 20:28

When store bought CDs are made, they are not made the same way that your CD Burner laser and CD dye work.

The mastering engineer submits a disc, in Red Book format. The disc is imported into the duplication house's system. Error correction takes place, and a glass master of the CD is made. This glass master is a negative of the CD. It is pressed onto the hot plastic, and there you have it. Store bought CDs will not quit working over time the way that CD-Rs will, due to excessive playing, exposure to heat, sunlight, etc.