For a number of years I have used my Pioneer DVR-110D for burning audio CDs for myself and members of a choir to which I belong. Lately, I have noticed that 10X max burning speed is generally all that Nero offers, so I have been using that, with good results. (Occasionally a much higher speed might be offered.)
In view of recent discussion about limited life of laser diodes, I decided to buy a replacement burner. I got a Pioneer DVR-118LBK because it had an IDE bus and I had always heard that Pioneer made good optical drives. Sure enough, I was now able to burn at high speed once more. The only problem was that the burnt CDs did not seem to be so reliable. While they would play OK on most players I tried, they were temperamental on my ageing Sony CDP-591, usually taking 20 seconds or more (or even never) to get started. Dropping the burning speed did not help. Two choir members said that they could not play their CDs either. However, C1 errors reported by KProbe 2 were satisfactory, regardless of burner.
I burnt some CDs on my other computer with a Pioneer BDR-205 Blu-ray burner, but they were about the same, as was a LiteON iHAP322 on the first computer, regardless of burning speed. I have now put my old burner back again. CDs burnt with it consistently start to play in my Sony player after about 2 seconds.
My guess is that the later burners do not burn as "deeply" (whatever that might mean) as my old burner, and CD players with a "weak" laser don't read them so well, as a consequence.
My first question is therefore, "What is the best CD burner to buy these days for wide compatibility?"
I have done a web search but all I have come up with are pages that are several years old. I guess CD burning quality is not of major interest these days.
Plextor burners have had a good name but they are not readily available, are expensive, and I have heard a suggestion that these days they are rebadged something else.
Is Plextor still a top burner?
Can anyone point me to a good source of recent discussion on this topic?
The blank CDs I have used are made by Taiyo Yuden or CMC Magnetics, with similar C1 error rates. (C2 = 0, always)
In view of recent discussion about limited life of laser diodes, I decided to buy a replacement burner. I got a Pioneer DVR-118LBK because it had an IDE bus and I had always heard that Pioneer made good optical drives. Sure enough, I was now able to burn at high speed once more. The only problem was that the burnt CDs did not seem to be so reliable. While they would play OK on most players I tried, they were temperamental on my ageing Sony CDP-591, usually taking 20 seconds or more (or even never) to get started. Dropping the burning speed did not help. Two choir members said that they could not play their CDs either. However, C1 errors reported by KProbe 2 were satisfactory, regardless of burner.
I burnt some CDs on my other computer with a Pioneer BDR-205 Blu-ray burner, but they were about the same, as was a LiteON iHAP322 on the first computer, regardless of burning speed. I have now put my old burner back again. CDs burnt with it consistently start to play in my Sony player after about 2 seconds.
My guess is that the later burners do not burn as "deeply" (whatever that might mean) as my old burner, and CD players with a "weak" laser don't read them so well, as a consequence.
My first question is therefore, "What is the best CD burner to buy these days for wide compatibility?"
I have done a web search but all I have come up with are pages that are several years old. I guess CD burning quality is not of major interest these days.
Plextor burners have had a good name but they are not readily available, are expensive, and I have heard a suggestion that these days they are rebadged something else.
Is Plextor still a top burner?
Can anyone point me to a good source of recent discussion on this topic?
The blank CDs I have used are made by Taiyo Yuden or CMC Magnetics, with similar C1 error rates. (C2 = 0, always)