THE PROBLEMS WITH CDRs

BEWARE OF CD-Rs!! Being a record/cd store owner, I am constantly bombarded with questions on the difference between CDRs and factory released cds. In a nutshell, CDRs are the inexpensive bulk blank cds you insert in your cd-burner in your geputer to make a copy of a factory cd. For the newly initiated, downloaded songs can be burned onto the CDRs as well and both types of copies will play fine in most CD players and geputers. CDRs are often referred to as Silver CDs even though both factory and CDRs are both silver. CDRs are called: Write Once-Read Many (W.O.R.M .) which simply means that each CD can only be written on once, but played an infinite amount of times (until it wears out, which well get into shortly.) Factory CDs are literally burned by a laser etching device or by a pressing/plate process which permanently etches the on/off marks onto the cd. CDRs are not really burned, but use a chalky-magnetic bondingprocess that uses dyes. They are capable of 74 minutes of recording and some more than that depending on the quality of the blank CD. The better quality blank CDRs (such as SONY, TDK.) also have a better bonding process whichmakes them last nearly twice as long as cheaper, budget priced bulk 100 packs without a known brand name.
In a nutshell: factory produced retail store cds are NOT CDR's. The exception to this rule are Promotional cds, which ARE often produced on silver CDR's. Also, small independent labels have been known to use CDR's instead of a pressing factory to make their cds, so don't be suprised if you buy a Rap cd or Indie CD that was pressed on a CDR and produced by a small recording label. Most of the time, the artist will either use a sticky top label on the cd, or have it stamped with the artist name in this scenario.)
Now, letsdiscuss why I say: Beware of CDRs. They have several drawbacks which include: 1)Longevity: CDRs will probably only last 4-6 years before losing sound integrity. Bit by bit, literally, the sound will drop off, making either a hissing or static sound. The dye itself that bonds the data to disk begins to degrade, and the sound image begins to 'drop out', similar to the problem that cheaper cassette tapeshave.2) Highly Susceptible to Temperature: Dont store them in cars!!! NO NO! The extreme internal heat ofa car in the summertime can exceed 115 degrees which is about 30 degrees above the regemendedtemperature for long shelf life.CDs also stretch in the summertime, and shrink in the wintertime whichcauses data to drop off the CDR. 3) Not a Permanent Way to Store Data! Unfortunately, when CDRs came out, the techies said this was thegreatest recording medium since sliced bread. Years later they found when they attempted to retrieve dataor music, that much of the data was gone! Instantly huge gepanies stopped burning discs as a way of backing up essential data. This is the great industry secret of the decade: that factory-pressed CDs probably have no longer than a 10 year life at best before sound degradation will occur. The shelf life for CDRsis half of that depending on the quality of the blank. 4) Unscrupulous Music Dealers sell CDRs as Factory cds: Although prohibited from okay, home-madeburnt copies of hard to find cds are often misrepresented as factory cds. The seller often uses professional looking graphics and cd stickers to make them look authentic. How can you tell? Beware of sellers from foreign countries that sell a hard to find cd at half the price. I say foreign since many countries are reluctant to enforce copyright laws from America. You can usually tell a cloned cd froman original by the shiny green tint that the dye leaves behind on the mirror surface. 5) CDRs are prone to Rust or Oxidation: Since they use a reflective metallicsubstance to bounce the music back to the reading laser, CDRs can and will rust. Having a Gold Surface helps to prolong the life (such asMFSL cds) but is not a miracle cure to this problem. 6) Magic Markers RUIN CDRs! Sincemarkers contain an alcohol based ink, they can penetrate the discand interfere with the reading of the disc. Everyone at some time or another has seen the result of what permanent markers can do to plastic (bleeding in permanently). Use a special data-marker to write the name and title on the CDRs, but dont use magic markers anymore!
7) CDRs Are Easily Scratched and ruined: Unfortunately, CDRs do not have the same glossy hard to scratch surface that factory pressed cds have. They are softer, and when even moderately scratched on the reflective surface, have a tendency to skip. Please: be careful when laying them down, and avoid allowing rough handling to mar the reflective surface. Amazingly, I've seen factory pressed cds that were absolutely woofed and totally scratched, but yet worked! On the other hand, I've had CDRs that were barely scratched and they skipped horribly.
8) Operator/Recording errors: Depending upon the method people used to copy a factory cd to CDR, the actual recording itself can be flawed causing problems. No matter how you cut it, copying a CD is a '2nd generation' recording, meaning that the geputer can and will may errors in copying the music data. The listenener probably will not even catch that the cd skips or glitches until they play the CDR back for the first time. So how do you avoid this potential problem? Simple: enable the recording feature that 'verifies data'. You probably have seen this option but never knew what it was. It will go back multiple times and re-read a bad sector and make corrections that a first pass recording will surely miss. It will also stop the recording if too many errors pop up. If you don't enable this recording feature, the CDR recording will proceed and will not stop for minor skips, nor attempt too many correction 'passes' and the bad spot will be written on the CDR permanently.
THE MORAL OF THIS STORY: think twice before you get rid of your 'factory' store cds after you copy them. Even if you burn your music to your harddrive, a fatal error could also erase your music. That's whyI say to hang onto your favorite cds in their originalfactory state; and only get rid of the ones you can afford to do without. I wrote this review in hopes that people will be able to distinguish burned cds from originals; preserve their home collection longer, and recognize that factory cds are much much better in the long run than the temporary medium of CDRs.Thank you and please click the button below if you think this CD Guide was helpful!Jeff Feezle of Macafeez