I have a cd head unit that is about 2-2 1/2 years old. It does not support(or not supposed to) CD-R. I went on a quest to find CD-R info to see what could be done about it.
Anyway it seems that some cd players do not like the low reflectivity of some of the CD-R's. So I went in search of higher reflectivity CD-R's and went through several before I found one brand that completely worked. Meaning it could read the entire cd not just a few songs. Imation. I had tried sony, Valulife, Viastar, samsung and others. I now have more CD-R disks then I know what to do with.

Anyway it seems that most CD-R's only have around 50 or so percent reflectivity. It seems that Imotion has alittle more if not alot more cause my cd player loves these things. I just wanted to post this info for those having some throuble with the non CD-R supported head units. that are like me and do not have the 400 bucks to plop down on a CD-R supported head unit and have 700 or so songs eating drive space.

Do you know what model number of imations you got? What color of the bottom, so forth...

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No License, No Hope.

FILTERCHARGED BABY
http://www.crushed.org

the Imations I have are clear bottom, the NEON CD-R 16X 80 min 700 MB. I can typically get around 18-19 songs on 'em. sound great too. They have the POP out cases, got 'em from wally world for like 15 bucks for 10. Be carefull, the box says 650 MB but the disk says 700 MB, I have loaded up to 825 onto 'em though so the numbers are smoken crack.

I have tried the Blue and Cyan/green bottoms and they will read may 2-3 songs then fail. This as I said are reading 100%.


[This message has been edited by Camaro_hunter_d (edited October 28, 2001).]

I noticed that if you use the Bluish or Silver Bottom CD's they work great the gold ones and some other colors dont work my CD player isnt made for Burnt cd's it all depends on the color of the bottom. But blue and Silver wokred perfect for me. And if i remeber correct the Gold bottoms are for data since Gold lasts longer

I've always used Memorex and never had a prob even in my '95 Monte Carlo Del-crap head unit. I think they have that bluish tint that 'Fast RS' mentioned. They even play in my SONY cd player that I bought in like 1990.

"IS IT LIVE, OR IS IT MEMOREX?"
Anyone remember that slogan? LOL HEHE!!

AJ

I tried the Blue bottoms and they only played maybe 3 songs at most for 1 time only, then they never played again.
I just posted this for guys that were looking for info... like I was... Anyway the infos here now.

i have had good luck with the memorex 700meg and the memorex digital audio cds. the ones that say digital audio look like a better qulity cd.

Hey Camaro_hunter_d,

What speed are you recording them at? I've found that (due to my own ignorance) that 4X is the best. Yea it takes longer, but for quality, I don't mind waiting. I did find out the hard way (trial and error) that you also cannot use a CD-RW.


Anyway, I wasn't trying to say you're wrong. Just letting you know, as well as others, my experiences so far.

AJ

Umm 1X is the slowest. The X means times write speed. So your are writting 4 times faster then I am. I record at 1X(150MB spurts) and I set it up to use Hard drive cashe too, takes a little longer but the more memory you have to write the better and fewer errors.

I don't know if my cd player will pick up CD-RW, I don't use CD-RW I use CD-R. I don't know if my sony will read CD-RW, and frankly as long as I can burn the CD-R, I could care less about the CD-RW. As long as I can get the cd burned I dont care.

From the content of your responses I sense that you are getting a little snippy.

Calm down. "I don't care.....I don't care." I wasn't telling you so that you could try it. I was simply pointing out that due to my own ignorance (as well as an ignorant salesman )that I found out the hard way that it don't work. Kinda like you finding out what it takes for your Sony to work.

That's all. Take a pill and chill my brother. Ease the tension in your thinking section. Free your mind and the rest will follow.

BTW. I know what 4x and Slowest speed is and all that. What I was saying is that the best speed for my computer (and any computers that are less than 4 yrs old) is 4x and still maintains quality. If I bump it to 6 or 8x (Mine goes to 32x) then the sound quality suffers BIG TIME. Plus I got more 'burps' by going fster than 4x.


AJ

[This message has been edited by AJ_92RS (edited October 30, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by AJ_92RS (edited October 30, 2001).]

I might need to slow down the burning then, since I burn at 16x. Ill try it at 1x see what happends. What was happening before was the track would play for 2 seconds, and skip the 3rd second. again and again. So... hope this helps.

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No License, No Hope.

FILTERCHARGED BABY
http://www.crushed.org

I was not meaning the "I Don't care" At you persay. I was saying as long as I found one method that works thats all that matters. My burner goes to 32X as well, but I slow it down to 1X in the burning program. I can still do a few things while the CD's burning and it will not effect it all that much.

i have used many different brands of CD-Rs and i have never had a problem on any CD player i have played them on.
I have used TDK's, Memorex, Sony's, and Mr.Data. Those that I've burned have been played on practically every brand of CD player you can name, because i let my dad borrow them sometimes when he is working on stuff (hes an electronic technician)
The only problem that I have experienced is when I try to use up as much space on the CD as possible, like trying to put 73:30 on a 74 minute CD.
The best thing to do is only put a maximum of 70 minutes on a 74, and 74 on an 80 minute CD. And use 4x at the max.
Maxxing it out cause multiple tracks to blank.
BTW we even have the first portable CD player ever on the market, the Sony walkman thing thats shaped like 4 CD jewel cases stacked on top of each other, and even it plays my burned CDs.

Guys, Take it easy

Even if two of you guys have the same brand and batch of CD player, because of manufacturing tolerances, each CD drive may not be happy with the same disc. Its not just reflectivity, but also the laser is focused to read a particular frequency light, and in normal cd's they will always be within tolerance. When you use a different colour disc it depends on how accurate the laser is focused whether the disc will read or not. However, you can get a ball park idea by trying different colours, gold cyanos or blue azides etc.

BTW - There is a CD manufacturer in europe called Ritek. They make extremely poor quality discs. They do sell some discs branded as Ritek, but mostly they sell them to the main manufacturers like maxell, sony, philips etc who then sell them re-branded, yes - I know its hard to believe but the reason why its true is because there is quite often a CD blank media shortage world wide, and the main manufacturers cant produce them fast enough so they buy up the cheap discs and flood them into the market to try to keep market share. The upshot is that the philips disc that you have just bought may not be a philips. I would recommend downloading a program called "cdrid" which will read the ATIP off the disc and tell you who made it.

<<<AVOID RITEK DISCS AT ALL COSTS, THEY ARE EXTREMELY POOR AND WILL FAIL OVER TIME - IF NOT WHEN YOU WRITE THEM>>>

***AVOID RITEK DISCS AT ALL COSTS, THEY ARE EXTREMELY POOR AND WILL FAIL OVER TIME - IF NOT WHEN YOU WRITE THEM***

[This message has been edited by Smeg (edited November 03, 2001).]

(tips): And don't run any progs. and turn off your screensaver while burning the disk.

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See my Ride:
https://www.thirdgen.org/rides/index...ew&rideid=1324