Is Maxell CMC media really this bad?

[2Dogs]

I recently bought a 50pk cakebox of Maxell 16x DVD+R discs and was looking forward to getting some decent write quality results. I was immediately disappointed to find that the discs were CMC MAG M01, since I'd already tried Memorex and HP discs using that MID, and wasn't impressed.

To my surprise and horror the Maxell discs give terrible results! My BenQ DW1655 could only write to the discs at 4x (everything set to default on the BenQ) the Samsung SH-S182M dropped down to 8x after about 2GB, and the Pioneer DVR 111D dropped down to 8x after 3.5GB. Only the LG GSA-H22N was able to complete a 12x write.

Although the BenQ DW1655 achieved a usable burn, I would hate to have to write to these discs at 4x! Taking the discs back is not really an option, since I've already burned 6 of them, but in any case I see them more as an interesting challenge.

Can anybody suggest a strategy I could use to extract better results?

Maxell 16x DVD+R (CMC MAG M01) made in Taiwan

Burned with BenQ DW1655 BCIB @4x-------i-------[burn time 16:48]
----------------LG GSA-H22N 1.01 @12x---------------[burn time 6:16]
----------------Samsung SH-S182M SB03 @16x------[burn time 7:50]
----------------Pioneer DVR 111D 1.29 @12x---------[burn time 7:51]

--------BenQ DW81655---0------------LG-GSA H22N--90----------------SH-S182M--93----------------DVR 111D--94
----------------
XXXXXXDW1650 Scan 94XXXXXXXXDW1650 Scan 92XXXXXXXXXDW1650 Scan 92XXXXXXXXXDW1650 Scan 94
XXXXXXDW800 Scan 97XXXXXXXXXXDW800 Scan 92XXXXXXXXXXDW800 Scan 93XXXXXXXXXDW800 Scan 91
XXXXXXS182M Scan 95XXXXXXXXXXS182M Scan 84XXXXXXXXXXXS182M Scan 90XXXXXXXXXXS182M Scan 84
XXXXX165H6S Scan 93XXXXXXXXXX165H6S Scan 70XXXXXXXXXX165H6S Scan 84XXXXXXXXX165H6S Scan 90
XXXXXXKProbe v2.5.2XXXXXXXXXXXKProbe v2.5.2XXXXXXXXXXXXKProbe v2.5.2XXXXXXXXXXXXKProbe v2.5.2

Edit: 02/15/07 made in Taiwan!

For comparison, here are the Memorex results. Whilst none of these look great, they're significantly better, and the BenQ managed to write to the disc in about 7 minutes.

Memorex 16x DVD+R (CMC MAG M01) made in Taiwan

Burned with BenQ DW1655 BCIB @16x-------------[burn time 7:01]
----------------LG GSA-H22N 1.01 @12x---------------[burn time 6:18]
----------------Samsung SH-S182M SB03 @16x------[burn time 6:46]
----------------Pioneer DVR 111D 1.29 @12x---------[burn time 8:38]

--------BenQ DW1655--96------------LG-GSA H22N--96----------------SH-S182M--92----------------DVR 111D--95
----------------
XXXXXXDW1650 Scan 93XXXXXXXXDW1650 Scan 95XXXXXXXXXDW1650 Scan 92XXXXXXXXXDW1650 Scan 96
XXXXXXDW800 Scan 96XXXXXXXXXXDW800 Scan 96XXXXXXXXXXDW800 Scan 94XXXXXXXXXDW800 Scan 96
XXXXXXS182M Scan 95XXXXXXXXXXS182M Scan 90XXXXXXXXXXXS182M Scan 64XXXXXXXXXXS182M Scan 93
XXXXX165H6S Scan 93XXXXXXXXXX165H6S Scan 93XXXXXXXXXX165H6S Scan 77XXXXXXXXX165H6S Scan 90
XXXXXXKProbe v2.5.2XXXXXXXXXXXKProbe v2.5.2XXXXXXXXXXXXKProbe v2.5.2XXXXXXXXXXXXKProbe v2.5.2

Here are the results for the HP discs of the same MID. Fairly similar results to the Memorex. The LG was able to write at 16x.

HP 16x DVD+R (CMC MAG M01) made in Taiwan

Burned with BenQ DW1655 BCIB @16x-------------[burn time 7:11]
----------------LG GSA-H22N 1.01 @16x---------------[burn time 5:38]
----------------Samsung SH-S182M SB03 @16x------[burn time 6:48]
----------------Pioneer DVR 111D 1.29 @12x---------[burn time 7:35]

--------BenQ DW1655--95------------LG-GSA H22N--95----------------SH-S182M--92----------------DVR 111D--93
----------------
XXXXXXDW1650 Scan 95XXXXXXXXDW1650 Scan 92XXXXXXXXXDW1650 Scan 92XXXXXXXXXDW1650 Scan 93
XXXXXXDW800 Scan 00XXXXXXXXXXDW800 Scan 95XXXXXXXXXXDW800 Scan 95XXXXXXXXXDW800 Scan 95
XXXXXXS182M Scan 90XXXXXXXXXXS182M Scan 90XXXXXXXXXXXS182M Scan 90XXXXXXXXXXS182M Scan 93
XXXXX165H6S Scan 93XXXXXXXXXX165H6S Scan 93XXXXXXXXXX165H6S Scan 93XXXXXXXXX165H6S Scan 95
XXXXXXKProbe v2.5.2XXXXXXXXXXXKProbe v2.5.2XXXXXXXXXXXXKProbe v2.5.2XXXXXXXXXXXXKProbe v2.5.2

[Francksoy]

Maxell "regular" line is getting worse and worse, or so it seems. I didn't think things could be worse than with the Maxell-branded G05 from 2005-2006.

CMC made in China? Woa, even the cheap Datasafe CMC MAG E01 that I bought recently were still made in Taiwan. I didn't even know that CMC had now plants in China.

Final word probably is, unless you buy "premium" stuff from Maxell (broadcast line, or "Pro" line, I don't remember - great stuff, but comes at a handsome price), which is still genuine Maxell technology, better drop the brand altogether and switch to Verbatim.

[evilboy]

CMC made in China? Woa, even the cheap Datasafe CMC MAG E01 that I bought recently were still made in Taiwan. I didn't even know that CMC had now plants in China.

Final word probably is, unless you buy "premium" stuff from Maxell (broadcast line, or "Pro" line, I don't remember - great stuff, but comes at a handsome price), which is still genuine Maxell technology, better drop the brand altogether and switch to Verbatim.

CMC has had plants in China for a long time now.
Actually most Taiwanese manufacturers seem to have started outsourcing some of their DVD production to China too. Prodisc's "Mitsubishi Uki Uki" media for example seems to be MIC.

Premium stuff: There's both Pro/Plus and BQ (Broadcast Quality) in North America. We Europeans get Maxell Xtreme Protek instead.

You could also try your luck with Verbatim, or even Taiyo Yuden (yes, I know... but it's still better than most CMC MAG M01, IMO).

[[buck]]

Those are absolutely brutal results There's no way I can recommend consumer Maxell to anyone anymore... they're in the same category as Memorex, Fuji, TDK, and similar crappy consumer products.

It seems like Verbatim is the only way to go when it comes to affordable media... and even they're not perfect.

[2Dogs]

I felt that it was important to be certain of the place of manufacture, so I dug out the wrapper from my trash - and it actually shows "made in Taiwan".

I'll edit my other write quality posts with the correction!

[Francksoy]

CMC has had plants in China for a long time now.

For CDRs, I was aware, but for DVDRs I had no clue.

[RJW]

Quite logical response.

Because I haven't seen Big brands actually ussing chinese made CMC befor.

[frank1]

Hello
Do you know if these CMC-MAG-M01 now sold in spindles under the brand TDK are also of the same bad quality as the Maxell ones ?


The MID code is CMC MAG M01
and not TDK-003 like the TDK DVD+R 16x sold in jewel cases

Item Code: DVD+R47CBED10
inner hub: PEP8K9 KA221 706699 3
outer hub: CPDR47G-CDMWPOE-074

[[buck]]

From a statistical point of view, the TDKs are probably better (this batch of Maxell is unusually bad). However, CMCMAGM01 as a whole is pretty mediocre, so I would not gamble on them!

[RJW]

CMC MAG M01 has huge variations but never excellent results.
So I say better avoid those CMC MAG M01 TDK's as well.
Those maxell disc's aren't even the worst results I've seen.