need some suggestions on cd-r media

Hi. I need some suggestions regarding what cd-r media should I use with my liteon 48125s. The most commonly available here is Sony, Imation(CMC), BenQ(Acer), Maxell(Hitachi Maxell), Verbatim, Melody(CMC). It seems that Taiyo Yudens, Kodaks, Riteks, Mitsuis and others are either very hard to find or entirely not available here.

Lately im having read problems after I burn CMC disks. Either reads slows down or there are some damage/unreadable parts on my cds(checked using cdspeed).

 

I never had a problem with verbatims m8

 

i can't say i know alot bout cdr, but to say cmc sux seems to be an universal opinion no matter where i go. so that leaves u with really acer, maxell, verbatim and sony. as far as i know, sony's ok at burning slower speed, but at higher speed, it's bad. so i would rule that out too. verbatim is reliable, and uses azo dye, and although azo is suppose to be less stable than phthalocyanine dye, i've heard many good things bout datelife plus. i can't be sure of the other verbatim brands, but their datalife plus is good (but the price is usually higher than most brands). maxell and acer... i'm not sure bout those 2 or what dye they use, but overall, it's those 2 and verbatim that i would consider buying.

[edit]actually i jus got this from another thread: "The latest Maxells are either Taiyo Yuden or more commonly Ritek" so that means it uses cyanine dye, and taiyo yuden makes very good cdrs

 

yeah also i agree on datalife.....used them too with no problems.

 

Biosgain,

Use the ATIP information to specify the manufacturer. For example Verbatim is made by atleast Mitsubishi (excellent?)and 4M (ok too).

From this pack I would go to Verbatim and verify that they are Mitsu's, or Maxells.

 

Thanks for the replies. Most people agree that CMC sucks so they will not be in my list anymore. Regarding Verbatims, I read some good things about their Datalife Plus but I also read some Liteon users saying that verbatims are not that compatible with Liteon writers. Is this true?

I recently found some Ritek cdr (but only black cdr's). Are they good? and is there any difference between black cdr's and the more common ones?

Regarding Maxell, I have yet to see TY or ritek made cdr here only those made by Hitachi maxell. Are they any good?

 

as far as i know, black cds r mainly for playstation fans. ps/ps2 supposely has an easier time reading black or dark color cds than the common ones. if u dun burn cds for ps/ps2, i think the only advantage in having black cds is for recording audio/music, cuz i've heard it gives a little better sound than light color cds. i personally have been using memorex black cds for a long time, for audio, video, data... pretty much everything. what i find is that although it may jus work as good as other cds in theory, the memorex blacks r more reliable than all the other cds that many manufacturers make, especially memorex itself. it seems to me memorex dun really care bout their cheap light cds very much (that's why they r so cheap), but tries everything they could to make sure their black ones r always of hi quality. and the memorex blacks aren't unreasonably expensive. its price is actually jus around the middle of the price range. of all my approximately dozen spindles of memorex blacks, which were bought containing 25 cds each, i've only had one spindle that had 2 bad cds in it. the rest were all used without any problem

 

Bliz,

Your information is incorrect and mostly a "urban legend" only.

Wavelenght of a laser is different to the visible light. Therefore the blackness of the CD-R has no impact on the laser beam, even though it absorb visible light. There is no magic in black CD-R - neither for audio or PS2.

However, Ritek Black CD-R for example is very good quality disc, so it can be recommended - and it looks cool too

 

Ritek black is usually sold as TraxData. What's the numeric ATIP code for yours, Pio? Compare it to this one: http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/2088

 

well as i've used my words carefully, it "supposely" this and "i've heard" that, etc. i was never too sure bout if blacks r good for ps or for audio, since i dun use them for neither. if it wasn't for the reason that it's reliable and works good for me, i wouldn't use these cds even with what's being said bout all these legends. these r things that have been said by people from various sites, and i thought it's jus good to know them for interests sake. my main reason for using memorex blacks is nothing but its quality.

of course there r gonna be people who dun fine memorex blacks to work well for them. i have friends whose cd players dun like the black cds. and getting atip info off a memorex black seems to be impossible for some reason. that's why it's more important to always verify the cd right after burn, and also jus take 10 secs to test run some stuff off it to make sure it's ok. that's prolly more important than trying to find out who really made the cds. even cmc, i've heard many bad things, but also people and friends who say they've had good experiences with their higher priced cds (under other brands of course). maybe even cmc realizes they need to put in xtra effort on these higher priced ones even when they make crap super cheap ones

 

" Liteon users saying that verbatims are not that compatible with Liteon writers."

I believe them to be only rumours at least if you are using DatalifePlus discs. Lets put it this way I have witnessed two Liteons working like a charm with these discs. Other Liteon was LTR-32125W and the other one I can't remember but it was bought recently.
So, until I'll find an article from a respectable web site telling that there are problems with Verbatims DatalifePlus (manufactured by Mitsubishi)and Liteon, I'll keep mixing them

 

Thanks guys.

To cd-rw.org: from your recent posts, you're saying that there's nothing special about black cds. So I assume that it's ok to use them to burn anything whether it's audio, data, vcd, etc.

To Tatiya: Thanks for the info. those rumours are keeping me from buying verbatims. Maybe I'll try them.

I'm still hopping from one store to another trying to find other brands. I want to be sure before I buy a spindle pack. Currently, I'm setting my eyes on BenQ, Maxell and maybe verbatim. The Riteks I seen has no label on it. They are repackaged individually by the store and labelled them Ritek so I'm having second thoughts.

Do you have any info on the track records of Acer media and Hitachi Maxell as manufacturers? I don't know if theyre good. Also I have seen some Panasonic brands theyre made in Taiwan, do you know who made them?

 

I have burned several spindles of Ritek blackies (TraxData, Memorex) without any problems: Audio, data, PSX.

But as Pio now mentions Yammie problems, I decided to test them with my new F1.

The F1 SmartBurn decreased the speed from 44x to 16x. The discs are 12x certified. Nero verified the files ok. For additional security I also ran CD Speed tests for the disc using my Samsung DVD-ROM, and the results were clean.

 

Well since the topic seems to be about black CDR's, here's some more info:

Smartbuy 32x Black 700mb 80min:

Manufacturer : Prodisc
Code : 97m32s19f
Disc Type : CD-R
Usage : General
Recording Layer : Dye Type 9: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine)
Recording Speed : n/a
Capacity : 79:59.74
703 MB
Additional Capacity : n/a
Overburn Capacity : not tested

And from SmartBURN Analyzer:
This Disc is designed for CD-RW/COMBO Drive Only.
Disc Type, Material = CD-R, Phthalocyanine
ATIP Lead-in = 97m 32s 19f
Norminal Capacity = 702.83MB (79m 59s 74f)
Disc Manufacturer maybe = ProDisc
SMART-BURN Speed Limit = 40X

I haven't used them yet.

 

Hello !

I have bought a 30 cd-r spindle of SmartBuy Black (same ATIP than Racemann) for 18.99$ CAD (so, about 12.25$ US). They work fine with my burner, but the only problem I have with them is that the label is black too. So, it's impossible to write with a marker on it. Do you think that I could use "liquid paper" to label them ? And if I understand the previous messages in this thread, the black cd-r are just fun and they don't have compatibility advantage ? But, are they more resistant for scratches ?

Thanks for your answers guys.

Aqua