Burn speeds for writing CD-Rs

[A Lark Ascending]

When you burn a CD-R you are offered a wide range of burn speeds. I've never really got my head round this.

In my mind the lower the speed, the more accurate the burn. But, audio technicalities are rarely that logical.

At present I use 1 x 10 on Winamp.

Any suggestions (please don't get too technical...it would zoom over my head!)?

[JSngry]

FWIW, I just use the highest speed possible, and get good results 99.99% of the time.

[A Lark Ascending]

FWIW, I just use the highest speed possible, and get good results 99.99% of the time.

Thanks.

That's what I'm trying to establish - should I just go for the quickest.

[jazz1]

FWIW, I just use the highest speed possible, and get good results 99.99% of the time.

Thanks.

That's what I'm trying to establish - should I just go for the quickest.

[jazz1]

FWIW, I just use the highest speed possible, and get good results 99.99% of the time.

Thanks.

That's what I'm trying to establish - should I just go for the quickest.

Never been able to establish a difference between different speeds, I just go for the quickest and it seems to work perfectly

[Daniel A]

As I understand it, modern CDRs are designed for high speed burning, so using too low speed will increase the risk of failure as the laser will cause "bleeding". Many PC burners nowadays have anything below 8x disabled. The practical upper speed limit would probably be the hard disk and RAM speed, rather than the actual burning of the CDR. I'd think that you could safely try 16x burning.

[porcy62]

As I understand it, modern CDRs are designed for high speed burning, so using too low speed will increase the risk of failure as the laser will cause "bleeding". Many PC burners nowadays have anything below 8x disabled. The practical upper speed limit would probably be the hard disk and RAM speed, rather than the actual burning of the CDR. I'd think that you could safely try 16x burning.

It makes sense. Older CDRs suffered from 'errors' at high speed, modern ones are pretty comfortable with high speed.

[Dan Gould]

On the other hand, I knew someone who asked that I burn discs no faster than 8X because his stereo tended to have trouble with those that were burned faster. But I never heard that from anyone else.

[A Lark Ascending]

Many thanks, everyone.

1 x 16 it is then, for the present.

[captainwrong]

I think some older CD players would have problems with fast burns. I've heard this anyway, but it's always third or forth hand.

I always go for as fast as the drive and media will burn. I was with a company that replicated discs for a while and that's how they did 'em and no one ever complained, if that tells you anything.

[GA Russell]

Ten years ago I had an old, slow computer, and the process of burning a disc would fail when I burned the CD-R at a rate higher than the minimum.

My current CD burner is four years old, and I still burn them at the slowest rate, which is 4x. I've had no problems burning or playing at that rate.

[hepcat1950]

I burn my CD-Rs at 12x most times. I remember having read that speed effects quality. But at Wikipedia I just learned that it's not a matter of sound quality but of lifespan.

see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD-R

At other forums I learned that it also depends on brand and model of the burning device. It might be best to visit the website of the manufacturer of your brand for more info.

Edited September 15, 2008 by hepcat1950

[zen archer]

I always burn music at a low speed like X8 , the reason behind this for me was that i had a lot of errors

with the highest speed when it came to audio.

For clients i burn the fastest possible just to get them out of my studio quicker

[mr jazz]

I think if you are burning a cd close to its data time limit i.e. 80 minutes or so, the fastest speed may cause an error. I agree that it does also depend on the burner and quality of the blank.

[ejp626]

I usually go one or two notches below the highest speed (probably leaving me at 16x). My burner is a little older and I do notice more problems at the top speed. I do burn at top speed for DVD, but that is only 4x unfortunately.