I got a TDK CD-burner, mainly to copy my CDs to leave in the car and not run the risk of the originals being so easily stolen.

I have a question though regarding the recordable CDs themselves: I find that there are general CD-Rs which can record various data, including music, and there are also "MUSIC" CD-Rs, the latter costing many more times than the former. What are the differences between the two? Can I use either in my machine? Ect.?

I am not that much into the audio thing, having just the stock head with JBL door speakers and contemplating a small amp; I just need mobile music.

Thanks,

Pierre

 

I think that ones labeled for "Music" are needed in an audio recorder. A computer can use the cheaper CD-R.

 

buy the computer ones. i've had mixed success with some of the super-cheap generic cdrs--my player skips or it doesn't read after a few weeks. might not happen for you, just my experience.

 

i have used the computer brand, normally Imation, and i have had no problems ever. I think the music type is a gimick to charge more for the CDRs.

Matt

 

The CDs labeled "Music" have a header pre-recorded on them for use in hi-fi system recorders. No need for them if you're using a computer since that info is written as part of the recording process.

I keep track of what brands are the worst/best (by looking at recording statistics, not company brochures), and Verbatim is always ranked one of the highest...not to mention they're quite reasonably priced.

 

In general, when burning on a computer, you can use any CD-R for either data or music, and for the most part differentiating between "Music" CD's and "Data" CD's is all marketing hype. But bear in mind music CD's are harder to burn because they must be burned streaming (non-stop) and more frequently cause problems than burning data CD's or MP3.

You may run into problems recording audio CD's in some CD burners when using some brands of CD-R disks. Even if the disks are for "Music", you may have compatibility problems. Burner manufacturer's tweak their burners to work with their brand of CD-R, so other CD's may require slightly different burn settings for optimal results (which the burner is supposed to figure out on it's own) . Sometimes the burner compensates well, other times not.

I have found that my Yamaha burner will use anything for data or MP3 CD's (MP3 is data anyway), but for audio CD's it does much better with Yamaha disks. I have to burn at 4x or maybe 8x speed with "other" brands of CD's, but if I use Yamaha, I can get a clean burn at 20x. So I use my good Yamaha CD's for audio, and my 75-for-$.99 CD's for everything else.

(yes, Best Buy right now has 75-paks for $14.99 with $14 rebate - I'm there dude.)

 

IIRC, the reason that CD-Rs that are labelled as "Music" discs cost more is that they include a royalty that is paid back to the music publishing houses or studios. I believe it was some sort of arrangement to try to help compensate copyright holders for potential losses from copying of music by paying them royalties from the sale of the blank media. Otherwise, my understanding was that the media itself is the same in either case.

Anyone else confirm/deny this?

 

I know that all cd manufacturers and distributors of "burnable" cds have to pay a royalty. The royalty goes to the likes of Philips and Sony who own the patents of this "invention." Its about $0.03 per cd

The CD-Rs labeled "Music" are for use on the Audio recorders, like your non-computer burners. This was as of a year ago. I dont think that they have changed the format.. As everyone knows, the computers take "Data" CD-Rs. I never tried the "Music" ones on my computer.