CD recording - which blank CDs should I use?

[rpldcox]

Can anyone advise me, please? I am creating a few audio CDs of my own music using a CD writer (Yamaha CRW 4416 SX, actually) and have found that when I use the blank CDs I normally use for data I get a very poor result - lots of crackling in the loud bits.

Will things improve if I buy slightly more expensive blanks? Can anyone recommend a brand which gives good results?

Many thanks.

[Mattias]

I doubt that it is the blank CD-R that is causing the problem. I am guessing that you are taking tracks from audio CD\'s to write to a compilation CD, right? If you are ripping audio from audio CD\'s what reader do you use and what program do you use? This problem usually appears when the audio is read to fast or using the wrong parameters.

[KIA]

Hi

Mattias may be onto something here... Check out a product called Nero from ahead software. It copies just about everything and writes MP3 and audio CD\'s very well. It has won a good number of awards and is about £42.00.. (www.ahead.de)

Having said that, Yamaha branded CD\'s are badged TDK\'s... and some people do swear that certain CD\'s dont work with their drives.

Any thoughts on the floor

KIA

[Wolfgang Eichholz]

Hi,
I\'m using the same yamaha recorder and I feed it with \'Mitsumi\' CD\'s.
I got best results with them especially when burning Audio.
I\'ve also used the TDK\'s and got klicks on some of them. Plus my old CDPlayer had extremely problems to read out the index of Audiofiles burned on TDK\'s.

And it\'s important to keep in mind to burn Audiofiles \'disc at once\' to prevent the \'2 second gaps\' between the tracks wich otherwise results in clicks when played on a CDPlayer.

Wolfgang
mp3.com/wolly (\"http://mp3.com/wolly\")

[Mattias]

If you are using Adaptec CD Creator (shipped with my Yamaha) to dump audio then I am pretty sure that it will try to read the audio as fast as it can. This will most likely result in clicks. i would suggest trying another program to dump the audio that will allow you to set the speed. A really good program is Nero Burning ROM. I use it all the time and I never get clicks since i stopped reading audio at max speed.

[Mattias]

By the way, Wolfgang is absolutely correct when saying that you should burn using \"disc at once\". This will prevent the 2 second gap (Nero can set any gap time you want) and some CD players will not detect the tracks index correctly if you do not use this option.

[Bill]

rpldcox said that he was creating CD\'s of his own music. It’s unlikely that this would involve taking tracks from an audio CD. Herr Eichholz has the right idea.

[rpldcox]

Thank you all very much for your interest and your helpful comments.

In answer to your points:

1) I should have made it clearer that I am writing directly from WAV files (of my own music) onto the CD.

2) I am using Adaptec Easy CD creator to write the audio disc. You know how it goes, select the WAV files, give the tracks meaningful names and away you go.

3) I am using “disc at once” recording.

4) I am getting the crackling on my hi-fi system’s CD player. I never thought of trying to listen to in on the CD writer (I tend to forget that you can do that).

5) I recorded the music using Sound Force XP and checked very carefully that the sound level did not go above 0.2 db. The crackling does occur even during medium volume (say about -10 db).

I am also getting the following problem, which I guess may be related: when the CD is playing in my hi-fi system, some tracks will not play – at least they will if you wait long enough. The player just stops dead at the beginning of the track, waits for two or three minutes, then plays as if nothing is wrong (except the crackling).

OK hold everything – I have just played the CD on the Yamaha CD writer and it plays perfectly – no cracking. So what does this mean? Do I have a faulty/low quality CD player on my hi-fi? (I don’t normally get a problem with crackling on commercial CDs.)

Thanks – I have made some progress. Any reaction to the last paragraph will be most gratefully appreciated.

Richard.

[Mattias]

Thanks Bill, you\'re right. I didnt read rpldcox\'s message properly. Maybe rpldcox should expand on where he is getting the crackling, is it on the Yamaha or on a regular audio player? Since he is saying that he is getting crackling in the loud passages I doubt that it is the media. If it was all through out the disc, yes, but it is apparently not. Maybe he is just using WAv\'s that are recorded too loud and this gives crackling in just the loud areas.

[PaPa Chalk]

The crackling in the loud bits could be due to the levels going beyond 0db. If you have a
wave editor like sound forge or wavelab bring the overall level down about 0.2 db below 0db this should fix the crackling and poping. It would take a long time to explain why this happens on the cds, maybe we can put a special section on mastering cd\'s if more people want it.
http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif
PaPa Chalk

[Wolfgang Eichholz]

Hi Richard,

as I mentioned in my first post, it can be a problem of the media.
CD-Players are more sensitive as CD-ROM\'s or CD-RW\'s.
Go and try out other brands than TDK.

If you find one that works well in your Player, then you\'re on the right way.

This is a very important test, espacially if you plan to make a GlassMaster of your CD for a greater production.

The PressPlants normally do testing your CD before creating the GlassMaster and if the test shows to much errors, they cannot do the job.

Wolfgang

P.S.:
One thing I forgot on my first post:
Some medias don\'t work correct with higher burning speed.

Do testing with different speeds.
For myself I always run a max speed of \'4\' for normal AudioCD\'s.
When creating a MasterCD, I slow down to a speed of \'2\'.

Trial and error, you know http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif

W.

[rpldcox]

Thanks Wolfgang - I will go out and buy some other blank CDs for audio - you suggested Mitsumi, I think. I hope they sell them somewhere in ones or twos, or fives at least.

Many thanks again.

Richard.

[Wolfgang Eichholz]

Richard,

I\'m sorry but I told you a wrong brand name.
Correct name is \'Mitsui\' and the type is
\'L 200 ME\'.

Forgive me http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif

Wolfgang

[rpldcox]

Thanks Wolfgang - I was about to post a message asking if Mitsui was what you really meant. I am going to hit the streets in search today, well, hit the phone, anyway.

Many thanks, http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif

Richard


[This message has been edited by rpldcox (edited 10-23-1999).]

[rpldcox]

Replying to my own message...

Before hitting anything at all, I tried writing the CD at 1x speed instead of 4x speed. Result: perfect recording which works fine on two different CD players.

Many thanks for all comments and contributions - I fell a little embarassed that the solution was so simple, however, the discussion was most useful.

Richard.

[sansamp]

Hi rpldcox
Just to chip in with my 2 cents worth before the thread closes. I burn between 100 and 200 audio CD-R\'s a month and will only use Mitsui CD-R\'s. I\'ve had a lot of bad experiences with other brand names when burning audio - data, no problem - you can use just about anything but audio, you have to be careful. Mitsui works!!

I have 2 Plextor 8/20 writers so writing at 8 speed with Mitsui blanks is no problem either.

Keep burnin\'

Sansamp