Confusion: Bold As Love (The Burner Question: Storage and Audio)

[Paradox7]

Wow, my first time posting outside of the Cool Edit Forum. Wow.

OK, so I used the search to pull up previous queries about the CD-R vs. CD-RW debate, and I kinda got some of the insight that I was looking for, but I'm still a bit confused as to what is the best remedy for my situation.
I want a secondary means of storage, since my hard drive tends to get loaded as I do a hell of a lot of recording. Also, I want to be able to burn CDs of the tunes I do and give them to my friends (after I copywright the material of course, but they're still good friends) I've pretty much figured out that a CD-RW is what I need (please correct me if I'm wrong) but I'm still confused as to what speed to get (I've heard they're generally pretty slow, but I don't trust that guy). I originally wanted an external but heard they were more expensive, and are usually slower, so that's not really an option, so right now I'm just looking for a fast, affordable internal CD-RW (did I mention affordable, we're talking college budget). Any suggestions?

Oh, and I think I understand the redbook thing. Someone mentioned something to me about yellow book. Is there such a thing?

[This message has been edited by Paradox7 (edited 06-18-2000).]

 

[gaffa]

If you want to backup, there are better options than a CD - like tape, or high capacity magneto-optical drives liek the orb. just not sure what the dat alife is like.

There are a heap of different coloured "book" formats = redbook, yellow, blue, orange, white etc. They are basically different formats for data on a CD - audio, straight data, VideoCD, etc. Can't remeber what format equates with what colour though.

I was under the impression (but you'll have to verify this), that most audio CD players can't read CD-RW's

- gaffa

 

[Jon X]

Why not have it all?? A CD-RW drive can burn a CD-R disc too. It just depends on the which type of media you put in it: CD-R or CD-RW. I don't think you'll run into many CD-R drives today that aren't CD-RW as well. Not newer models anyway. How much of that college student budget would you like to spend? Somewhere in the $200 would get you a great drive, probably around the 8x or 10x speed by now. I'd get an internal because it's cheaper. All I'll say about the speed issues you mention is that none of that applies or will really effect what you are doing. Get the fastest read/write speeds you can afford... something like 8x4x32 would be fine. That means it burns CD-Rs at 8x, burns CD-RWs at 4x, and reads CDs at 32x. I think your best option consider you want to make audio CDs and also back up your drive is to get a CD-RW. Then you can backup data to CD-RW (or CD-R if you don't want to erase it) and burn audio to CD-R.

I've used both Sony and HP models for a couple of years with no problems. I've heard of people having problems with the HP CD-RWs, but I still have three of them counting home and work. They've gotten extensive use and abuse and are great.

 

[Paradox7]

Ok, let me make sure i understand this right: with these new models of burners (cd-rws to be specific) I can burn a cd-r in it, as in, just record music, and it will play in most regular cd players? Cause I know at one point in time this wasn't the case, like Gaffa seemed to be referring to. This has changed? Oh, and what do you guys think about this one:

Acer 8432A CDRW Drive http://www.eacer.com/ac8432acrwdr.html

Do Acer make quality burners? And the big buffer would take care of any possible skipping glitches or anything like that, right? Thanks for your help so far.

 

[Eddie N]

gaffa was referring to cd-rw's not playing in home cd players.. MOST cd-r's will play just fine in car or home stereos.. and i would avoid acer , when i think acer i think el cheapo.. check www.pricewatch.com to find really good prices on very good burners..

ps..i used to live in north miami beach , ives dairy and north east 10th..

- eddie -

 

[Jon X]

Now, as you can see from his BBS member info, Eddie has moved to a cozier home...


Paradox... a CD-RW drive that burns CD-R discs is going to work fine for audio, and like Eddie said, should make a disc that plays in most audio CD players. (lol, I just read that back and it sounds like I'm trying to make some philosophical statement instead of using someone's member name) The problem would occur if someone tried to play the disc on an old CD player that has a problem with all CD-R discs. The problem wouldn't be your burner, but the player itself. I haven't heard of a CD-RW drive burning a CD-R and that disc having some specific playback problems other that what I mentioned above which applies to almost all CD-R discs. When the CD-RW drive burns a CD-R, you get a CD-R. A CD-RW disc is what gaffa was talking about. That's the blank media he's talking about, not the type of drive itself.

I'd say stay away from the Acer too... if you can afford to. BTW, you will never take care of all the glitches in CD burning. It's gotten a lot better the last couple of years, but it's a computer man, it's always gone have a problem now and then. The big buffer is a good start, but most of the quality drives will have plenty of buffer. Also, you can reduce chance of errors when buring by having a fast hard drive, clearing off plenty of temp space, and shutting down other apps that are running before you burn. Also, burning audio at 2x and not higher can sometimes save you from ruining a disc. Just realize that you will probably make a coaster or shiny little frisbee every now and then.

[This message has been edited by Jon X (edited 06-18-2000).]

 

[MikeDog]

For the record:

I have a TEAC 4*4*32 CD-RW drive. The CD-Rs I burn on it will play in a 1991 Sony boom-box style CD player. I paid $180 for it -- I think you can get slightly slower burners for a little less, but I've rarely if ever seen a burner cheaper than mine in a brick-and-mortar store. On-line shopping is a different story, of course... ;^{)

MikeDog

 

[gonzo7]

Get an internal scsi cdrw. I bought mine at Best Buy, a Yamaha 6 4 16 with an adaptec scsi card works great and fast nd you can backup or store info on cdrw's

 

[Paradox7]

That's another thing, how do I know which type of burner is best for me? I don't have a scsi hard drive or anything, so I think it rules that out. As for the rest I'm confused.
IDE/EIDE? IEE 1394 Firewire? Parallel? PC Card? USB? Pretty confusing to me.

Oh, and what do you think about this one
http://www.plextor.com/english/products/8_4_32.html

 

[lazyboy]

Jon X,

You don't so much sound philosophical as you sound like an old Iron Maiden fan

Just want to check something, too. With a cdrw, I can back-up my individual tracks as data, right? So I can try forever and ever to get that perfect mix??

 

[Torpid-x]

Hi
I Have a Creative Labs 8432. I havn't had any problems burning anything at 8x on a CDR or 4x on a CDRW as long as I don't use the computer for anything while burning (except the software that came with it, that wouldn't copy, go figure). The only coasters I burned were when I tried to use the computer at the same time, now I don't touch anything while burning, not even the start menu.

Anyway... I got it at www.egghead.com, if you know what tour looking for, and they have it, you can get a slightly lower price than (including low shipping)pricewatch.com on almost anything, and they're a reputable company. I think I paid around $230.00 for that 3 months ago.

Rich

 

[Jon X]

I did listen to some Iron Maiden back in the 80s... lol.

You can back up individual tracks to CD-R or CD-RW as data, just like it's any other data on the PC. For the most part a data file is a data file. I say that in context of copying to another location, burning to CD as a backup, etc. You can burn tracks to CD, then reload them later to try a different mix. As for forever, it just depends on the shelf life of the media you use. I used to hear 10 years for most CD-Rs when they first became available to the public, but I haven't heard anything recently.

Paradox, get an IDE burner since you don't already have a SCSI card and you aren't looking to spend a lot of money. If you can spend up to $250, look on pricewatch as Torpid-x mentioned and pick something. I like the Sony and HP models like I said before, but that Plextor looks fine too. An 8x or 10x write speed will be plenty. You don't need to worry about those interfaces concerning a CD-RW, unless you have a laptop.

[This message has been edited by Jon X (edited 06-25-2000).]

 

[gonzo7]

Plextor's are great. SCSI is the best way for moving tons of info the fastest. Does not matter if you dont have a SCSI hard drive. When it comes to wav. files scsi is the best don't talk yourself out of it you'll be happier in the long run. Trust me I've learned this the hard way!

 

[Middleman]

I noticed the header on this thread was Bold As Love? As in Axis:Bold as Love circa 1972 Jim Hendrix?

Had to stop in just to see what this might be...

 

[Spider]

can anyone verify why this is called "bold as love" , i come in here expecting some hot lovin only to have to talk about my cd-rw, heehee, just kidding fellas (and fellets).. always happy to read about other peoples problems.. Well gaffas right about the different mediums for storage , but it really depends on what you need to do with the files once there stored.eg. do other people on other machines wanting to listen to it .. Because if this is the reason then a zip drive or sometype of adat wont do the jod , cos how many of us have an adat in our lounge rooms....ok u can all put your hands down... But even on the subject of cd-rw , that is a good multipurpose medium, in the sense that u can backup data onto re-writable discs (which after you have a few u most likely wont need to buy them for a while) , burn audio cds for other people to play on other machines... plus u can do a million and one (well not quite) other formats.. depends on the burning software.
I think there great if thats what u need it for , but like gaff said theres a lot better (faster etc.) mediums out there , which i think are a little more reliable.. Hey lazyboy , of course u'll be able to get that perfect mix, u'll just be saving the tracks as wav. files then recalling them when u want to start working on the multitrack session again , although its always good to keep things your working on on a local harddrive , i think anyway ... Anyway i hope i didnt just babble a load of crap that was of no use to anyone , cos really im a little busy , so someone tell me if im no help ... haahaa , just kidding ...
goodluck with the burner !!!!!