Are audio CD-R's really any different?

[jbob]

I'm in the process of taking some music from a cassette and putting it on a CD. I just needed some oppinions on weather it was worth it to get the audio CD's or just use the regular CD-R's I already have.

[user0005]

Just record the music on to the CDs you have now and burn it at 1x or 2x, then listen to it. If it skips, jumps, or has any unusally sounds then go for the audio CD-R. One of my favorite brands of just CD-Rs are TDK and Verbatim. Good luck.

user

[Eli]

It's pretty much a trial and error thing. If a brand doesn't work out well, try another. for audio I've had the best luck with Memorex and Pacific Digital. I've had lousy luck with Kodak and Maxell, although I know of a couple of people who swear by Maxell.

[codybear]

I have no problem with the regular cdr's in my home or car player..I use imations..to each thier own as far as brand is concerned whatever works with your burner and setup
http://www.cdrom-guide.com/cgi/Ultimate.cgi

[Warthog]

I also use Imation. Has done me well.

Warthog

[OuTpaTienT]

As I understand it there is only one difference between regular or data blank CDs and the so-called "audio" CDs...well...would you like to know what that difference is?

The audio CDs cost a bit more because there is a specific tax on them that goes into a pool and from there is divvied up amongst the major record labels. The recording industry lobbied heavily to get this passed under the assumption that the blank CDs are going to be used to infringe on their copyrights.

And WHAT country are we living in??? To me that sounds like we are being convicted of breaking the law (copyright infringement) and penalized for that act without any day in court or justice of any kind. It seems the cliche "innocent until proven guilty" really is just a fairy tale. Law of the land now appears to be "no proof required, you're guilty and you're going to pay for it one way or another."

The record companies are only insuring their demise as long as continue with this utterly insane greed.

[GlobalNameSpace]

I second that emotion

(better watch out; I might have to pay royalties on that)

[Szech]

I use regular Verbatim CDs and I never have a problem. But make sure the burn surface is blue or green. These surfaces have the highest reflectivity. Stereos need the higher reflectivity or they won't be able to pick up the bits.

[Glynn R Harris]

Also, "Audio CD-R"s have a code written on them just so they can be recognized as "royalties paid" by dedicated AudioCD-R machines (like Magnavox and Sony make). Those dedicated machines will not write to a "data" CD-R... they require the more expensive Audio type. CD burners for computers, luckily, were not coerced into this subtle extortion of the consumer.
Should I add, YET. http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/redface.gif
OuTpaTienT is absolutely right. Blank DVD-R products are in the same jeopardy, thanks to the MPAA, who saw how wonderfully the RIAA blackmail worked. Maybe copier paper should have a tax stamp on it, just in case you decide to reproduce out of a copyrighted book.

[RPMart]

CD-R Audio / CD-RA Discs are manufactured for the Home audio CD recorders such as the Phillips CDR 870 which records only audio not data. This unit cannot record onto CD-R discs because the CD-RA or CD-R Audio discs are encoded to be recognized by the audio recorder and the CD-R discs you use on your computer lack this code.

[otheos]

Nop, CD-RA and common CD-R's are IDENTICAL.

CD-RA are more expensive because of the (copyright) royalties ---> Wasted money!

Go for the plain CD-R. NO difference in quality, just your wallet.

as for the big boys asking us pay royalties and other copyright related stories (DVD especially), three words: DON'T BUY DVD's.

[krusty the klown]

Yeah, it's basically been covered... many stand alone audio CD burners only accept the 'royalties paid' audio CD blanks.

Your computer burner will burn the normal cheap data CDs and they are playable in any audio CD player.

So get the 'royalty' disks if you want to pay royalties on recording your own music and use ordinary PC data disks if you don't http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif

[pickel]

Comp USA CD-R $ 9.95 for 50 Works great!! http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

[Ed_S]

Really think there's more difference than has been said.
A friend of mine is into music recording & CD creation - from scratch, as in starting from live musicians..
His equipment requires CD-RA discs in the final stages. And there's no royalties involved there!

Also, if you take one of his "masters" & copy it to CDR via computer, then compare it to either the original or a CDRA copied in his machine, there IS a difference.

Another piece of music "studio" trivia - his unit for mixing sounds uses standard 100mb zip discs! Reformatted to their specs & useless in computers.

He's got one that can NEVER be heard "live" simply because every instrument was done by one person, recorded each time, then "mixed" in the studio. You'd swear it was a 5 man band!

BTW - He does strictly amatuers, so far. One of the musicians is an airline pilot who can afford to indulge in the equipment! Must be nice...

[OuTpaTienT]

His equipment requires CD-RA discs in the final stages. And there's no royalties involved there!
If it uses CD-RA then YES there is royalties involved.

if you take one of his "masters" & copy it to CDR via computer, then compare it to either the original or a CDRA copied in his machine, there IS a difference.
And what difference might that be? Except for the few tag bits that mark an RA CD, they will be identical.

[Donkey]

If the royalties have already been paid then can we just copy Cd's to our hearts content and do what we like with them with no chance of being done for it. http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

[RPMart]

I own both types of recorders: CD-R Audio Stand alone and CD-R PC based. CD-R discs do not work on the CD-R Audio recorders. The message "No Audio" which translates to: No CD-R Audio disc present, appears on the display.

Besides the royalties paid, these CD-R Audio discs are encoded that identifies them as such, which prohibits any other types of discs from working in the CD-R Audio recorders.

When the CD-R Audio discs first came out they sold for $18.00 apiece in the Hi-Fi stores. Now, I recently bought 50 CD-R Audio discs for $29.95

Yesterday I bought 50 discs of the CD-R type for $9.95

Now how much do you really suppose is royalties?

[falcompsx]

oh well, I just use the .27 special for my cdr needs. Never had a problem, but my friends swear by TDK.

[otheos]

Pioneer/Philips/Maranz deck recorders all burn on plain CD-R's.

What brand is yours?

Also, there's no special encoding on the CD-RA's, only the serial number reveal their -RA. Now some burners (I expect Sony) read this SN and if it doesn't reveal a CD-RA it won't burn. But Sony is famous for doing these no-go tricks (as with their DVD-VCD players that are not allowed to read CD-R's) so I expect related brands (Sharp, Akai and OEM) to do the same.