Philips CDR775

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Drummerbones

Drummerbones

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I have this unit and am having trouble getting a relatively hot CD as a master....even when I compress & limit.

Is my machine not capable of a strong -1db regardless of what it's LED meter says?

Thanks

Bonesy
 
Your meters are probably right. There's most likely still a lot of peaks. If your using a DAW set your meters to read RMS if possible or in Sound Forge when you have the Normalize window open you can scan for levels both Peak and RMS. Compare these readings to something that sounds similar and is professionally mastered. My guess is you probably have some more processing to do to get on the mark. Remember these 2 things though.
1)This is one of the most difficult things for a home recordist to achieve with limited gear and knowledge. (I'm not calling you an idiot, but there are people out there who have the gear, ears, and much more experience than most of us!)
2) Is it that important for your CD to be loud? I would not destroy a mix by overcompressing and limiting just for it to be loud. Current trends towards making a waveform draw look like a solid colored box have made most modern music lifeless and having little or no dynamics. If it's something you consider "important", let a pro master it.
 
Excellent advice, but for my clients, I AM the "pro" mastering it!!

Not that I'm THAT wonderful or even have top line gear.....I do good, competitive work, and I underbid everyone around. That's easier to do when you actually do it for the enjoyment and not the money....although I have yet to pay off those new Event 20/20's I picked up.... :)

I agree that the "big boys" have the gear to really get a handle on levels and peaks, but we do what we can right? And today's music is squashed all to hell REGARDLESS of what anyone says....I don't personally care about how hot a CD is. It's not hard to turn the stereo up a notch....but most people don't know shit, and simply want their CD to sound like the new Creed album...or whoever....

You know what I mean.

Thanks!
 
Gotcha dude and I agree. If that's what they want, give it to 'em.
Squash it some more!
 
I have two stand-alone CD burners... a Phillips CDR775 and a Tascam CDRW700.

The meters on the Phillips are NOT accurate!

When I play the same CD on the Tascam that went "over" zero on the Phillips, it never gets past -3db. Secondly, the meters on the Tascam are MUCH more sensitive and reponsive in showing an accurate db level. This is a classic example of "you get what you pay for".

The Phillips unit is an okay unit for making copies of a CD. But if you're doing mixes and mastering and want an accurate picture of what's really going on, as well as nice features like digital fades, db boost/cut, etc. etc. , then you have to go with a better unit like the Tascam.
There's simply no way around it.

Trying to do mixing and mastering with a cheap commercial deck like the Phillips will just make you more and more frustrated and alot balder... like me! :D
I've been down this road, trust me on this.

Buck
 
That's EXACTLY the kind of information I was waiting for Buck. :)
 
Speaking of meters... I can go a few DB over (into the red) on my tascam with no distortion when burning a cd

Does that mean that my meters are off a bit??...

I know digital is very unforgiving, and I always wondered why I can go a bit over without any problems...

Joe
 
Yes, you can go one click past 0db every now and then without getting digital distortion. But if you get to the second click over, you're toast... you're gonna get that horrible GZZZZT sound that digital distortion makes.
The Tascam unit allows you to go slightly over from time to time, but it certainly won't let you record consistently in the red.
 
I don't know if anybody's interested, and you might already know but it was news to me, but I found out from a guy who works in a local computer repair shop (I know that doens't necessarilly mean anything but he seemed to have a lot on the ball) the other day that TDK CDRW's are supposed to be made by Plextor. In fact, there's one that Plextor sells that it calls a 40x write burner that is the same as a TDK where it's called a 32x write speed. Don't know why. But anyhow the TDK units sell for about $75 less usually. I saw that Best Buy has the TDK's on sale this week...wish I could afford it.
 
Buck62 said:
I have two stand-alone CD burners... a Phillips CDR775 and a Tascam CDRW700.

The meters on the Phillips are NOT accurate!

When I play the same CD on the Tascam that went "over" zero on the Phillips, it never gets past -3db. Secondly, the meters on the Tascam are MUCH more sensitive and reponsive in showing an accurate db level. This is a classic example of "you get what you pay for".

The Phillips unit is an okay unit for making copies of a CD. But if you're doing mixes and mastering and want an accurate picture of what's really going on, as well as nice features like digital fades, db boost/cut, etc. etc. , then you have to go with a better unit like the Tascam.
There's simply no way around it.

Trying to do mixing and mastering with a cheap commercial deck like the Phillips will just make you more and more frustrated and alot balder... like me! :D
I've been down this road, trust me on this.
Buck
Click to expand...


$1.62, you are Soooo on the money with that thread!!!
I too own the Phil 775 along with the, Tascam 700 and an Onkyo CRW515 and the 775 is by far the worst! Especially from a company that invented the c/d player! Not only do get inaccurate
meter readings (whether you incorporate the 0-6db level control)
the Phillips makes more glass and cup coasters than any c/d burner on the market! For some strange reason, the Phillips won't accept your average CD-R and if youdo find that rare disc compatible with the Phillips for burning, it won't translate to other c/d formats. Along with the fact that it also has EXTREMELY HI BLER's,the 775's only useful purpose is to produce duplications of your music burned on another stand-alone (mine won't even accept C/D's recorded via pc) and if your c/d is SCMS-coded, forget
any idea of duplicating!
My Tascam suits me perfectly and provides me with quality mixdowns and recording w/o breaking the budget!
 
Thanx for the props, Q! ;)

...and I wasn't kidding when I said that the Phillips made me balder! :eek:
 
"Phillips makes more glass and cup coasters than any c/d burner on the market!"

I like to think of them as poodle fribees!
 
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