NIIDeep wrote:- I've concluded that new TDK drives ARE NOT compatible with older TDK 8x media. Don't know why, though. TDK customer support says otherwise...
I'd have to agree with their tech support. The TDK 8x media *WAS* rather good actually (and their drives work fine), However, it's so old now, that I seriously doubt that you'll find any of it that works anymore. Un-Burned media does not last that long, and stocking up more then say a years supply is probably not a good idea.
NIIDeep wrote:- Car CD player seems to prefer CDRs that have Cyanine based dyes, particularly Type 0 and Type 1. Either light blue or deep blue color.
This is quite possible, since Cyanine was the first dye type and most older equipment is not optimized for the newer dye types
NIIDeep wrote:- Alot of media manufacturers are switching to cheaper dye processes and/or discs. Both my older TDK 8x and Sony 12x media were derivatives of Taiyo Yuden Cyanine dye formulas. ALL the newer main stream media from both TDK and SONY are from Ritek!!! The same crap dye found on Memorex media. Sorry I've had bad experiences with Memorex. Ritek is mostly phthalocyanine based. Light green or faint aqua color. Phillips media and PNY also fall in this category.
Most manufacturers switched from using Cyanine to Phthalocyanine a LONG time ago, mainly because the older Cyanine dye wasn't stable, and the CD-Rs didn't last very long. This has since been rectified, and the dye type is much more stable now, but that doesn't mean people want to switch again.
You may find that there is a reason that more brands are buying from Ritek. Ritek media has become MUCH higher quality then it was in the past, in some cases rivaling that of even Taiyo Yuden! Phthalocyanine is not a bad dye type, there aren't actually ANY bad dye types really. Each dye is different, with its own pros and cons.
If you wish to gripe about memorex, go right ahead!
I hate them with a passion myself. But please remember that the real problem with Memorex was not that it was ALL crap, but that some of it was very good and the REST of it was crap. This led to huge battles between people swearing by different results, which were both probably true!! Take a look at the disc database on my webpage (in my signiture) for an idea of how many different disc types Memorex has used
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NIIDeep wrote:- The only Cyanine based CD-Rs out in abundance in retail stores like Best Buy's, etc. are from Fuji Films (Taiyo Yuden based dye).
I would say that's probably accurate. THere ARE other brands that sell Cyanine based discs, but they are getting harder to find.
NIIDeep wrote:- Verbatim CD-Rs are also Cyanine/Metallized Azo based (Mitsubishi Chemicals) but hard to find.
Umm, not quite. Mitsubishi uses their own dye AZO, which is somewhat similar to Cyanine, but not in the ways that will likely help you. It was originally based on the Cyanine dye, but it was radically altered in order to create a dye type with a longer lifespan, supposedly the LONGEST lifespan but who knows. AZO is now a VERY different dye, and slightly more difficult to read in most players (especially older ones)
NIIDeep wrote:I just hope it's just my stupid car CD player. My upcoming project will entail creating ~120 audio CDs. It would suck if they have compatibility problems. A great way to lose clients.
If you have a rebadged LiteON drive, then why not just download CD Doctor or K-Probe and properly test your media?? that would rule out the guessing on quality problem, and you can proove to clients that compatability issues are not your fault.
Punch Cards -> Paper Tape -> Tape Drive -> 8" Floppy Diskette -> 5 1/4" Floppy Diskette -> 3 1/2" "Flippy" Diskette -> CD-R -> DVD±R -> BD-R
The Progression of Computer Media
