Media Compatibility With CD-RW Drives - Which Media Is Best?

[dodecahedron]

Thanks Burn2death.

Although I usually don't mind if this thread gets off topic at times, please do not start a debate of which drive is the best here. Do that in another thread, or better yet, don't do it at all. It always ends up in useless arguing. Best is a matter of opinion, we'll leave it at that.

PLEXTOR is the best drive...
naw...
VERBATIM DATALIFEPLUS is the best media...
naw...
THEWIZARD is the best CDRLabs member !

[David]

Manufacturer : Taiyo Yuden
Code : 97m24s01f
Disc Type : CD-R
Recording Layer : Dye Type 1: Long Strategy (Cyanine, AZO)
Capacity : 79:59.72 703 MB

Fuji

100% green at 48x
Benq 4824P Benq D.UC

[TheWizard]

Awww shucks. Thanks dodecahedron.

David: Thanks for yet another submission! You truly kick arse!

[rdgrimes]

I stumbled across this Imation US RW media at BestBuy. It's no cheaper than Verbatim, but is the same media. Here's some scans:

http://forum.cdfreaks.com/showthread.ph ... post446343

[David]

Benq 52x24x52 Firmware K.UC

Manufacturer : Mitsubishi
Code : 97m34s23f
Disc Type : CD-R
Usage : General
Recording Layer : Dye Type 3: Long Strategy (Cyanine, AZO)
Capacity : 79:59.73 703 MB
48x Disc Verbatim Data Life Plus

Burned 100% green at 52x (K-Probe C1 | Max 6 | Total 653 | Avg 0.211)

[TheWizard]

Ooh! New results with a new drive, that's what I like to see! Thanks, David!

[David]

Branded : E3 Works 48x
Manufacturer : Ritek
Code : 97m15s12f
Disc Type : CD-R
Recording Layer : Dye Type 2: Long Strategy (Cyanine, AZO)
Capacity : 79:59.73 703 MB

Benq 52x24x52 K.UC Firmware

Burned 100% green at 48x (K-Probe C1 | Max 6 | Total 1266 | Avg 0.421)

[David]

Branded : Hi-Val 16x
Manufacturer : Ritek
Code : 97m31s01f
Disc Type : CD-R
Recording Layer : Dye Type 1: Long Strategy (Cyanine, AZO)
Capacity : 74:45.00 656 MB

Burned at 32x, scaned 100% green (K-Probe Max 9 | Total 1550 | .542)
Benq 5224P Firmware K.UC
Too bad I'm almost out of these disc's

[Halc]

Here are some test results from 40x burns on a LG 4480b combo drive (using fw 1.02).

All Kprobe tests at 48x on LiteOn48246s using 52246S firmware.

All CD Speed / Scan Disc / Surface Scan tests at 40x max (silent mode) on Plextor Premium using 1.03 firmware.

Princo unlabeled bulk spindle uncertified 700Mb
ATIP start of lead in: -02:32:47 (sector: -11447)
ATIP start of lead out: 79:59:74 (sector: 359999)
Manufacturer code: 97 27 28 - Princo Corporation (Type: 8)
Disc subtype: 0
Target writing power: 7



CD Speed Scan Disc Suface Scan results
Good: 95.97%
Damaged: 4.03%
Unreadable: 0.00%
Surface Scan completed



Verbatim DataLifePlus printable bulk 48x 700Mb
ATIP start of lead in: -02:25:52 (sector: -10927)
ATIP start of lead out: 79:59:73 (sector: 359998)
Manufacturer code: 97 34 23 - Mitsubishi Chemical
Disc subtype: Medium Type A, high Beta category (A+)
Target writing power: 4



CD Speed Scan Disc Suface Scan results
Good: 99.79%
Damaged: 0.21%
Unreadable: 0.00%
Surface Scan completed



Plextor spindle bulk 48x 700Mb
ATIP start of lead in: -02:35:74 (sector: -11699)
ATIP start of lead out: 79:59:72 (sector: 359997)
Manufacturer code: 97 24 01 - Taiyo Yuden Company Limited (Type: 1)
Disc subtype: Medium Type A, high Beta category (A+)
Target writing power: 4



CD Speed Scan Disc Suface Scan results
Good: 46.03%
Damaged: 53.97%
Unreadable: 0.00%
Surface Scan completed



Fujifilm jewel case single packed 52x 700Mb
ATIP start of lead in: -02:33:30 (sector: -11505)
ATIP start of lead out: 79:59:73 (sector: 359998)
Manufacturer code: 97 26 45 - FUJI Photo Film Co., Ltd. (Type: 5)
Disc subtype: Medium Type B, low Beta category (B-)
Target writing power: 5



CD Speed Scan Disc Suface Scan results
Good: 100.00%
Damaged: 0.0%
Unreadable: 0.00%
Surface Scan completed


TDK Speed-X jewel case single packed 48x 700Mb
ATIP start of lead in: -02:44:70 (sector: -12370)
ATIP start of lead out: 79:59:74 (sector: 359999)
Manufacturer code: 97 15 05 - TDK Corporation (Type: 5)
Disc subtype: Medium Type B, low Beta category (B-)
Target writing power: 5



CD Speed Scan Disc Suface Scan results
Good: 100.00%
Damaged: 0.0%
Unreadable: 0.00%
Surface Scan completed



Sony CDQ80N5 jewel case single packed 48x 700Mb
ATIP start of lead in: -02:37:08 (sector: -11783)
ATIP start of lead out: 79:59:74 (sector: 359999)
Manufacturer code: 97 22 67 - Acer Media Technology, Inc. (Type: 7)
Disc subtype: Medium Type B, low Beta category (B-)
Target writing power: 5



CD Speed Scan Disc Suface Scan results
Good: 100.00%
Damaged: 0.0%
Unreadable: 0.00%
Surface Scan completed



Philips Multispeed jewel case single packed 48x 700Mb
ATIP start of lead in: -02:44:58 (sector: -12358)
ATIP start of lead out: 79:59:70 (sector: 359995)
Manufacturer code: 97 15 17 - Ritek Co. (Type: 7)
Disc subtype: Medium Type A, low Beta category (A-)
Target writing power: 4



CD Speed Scan Disc Suface Scan results
Good: 99.79%
Damaged: 0.21%
Unreadable: 0.00%
Surface Scan completed



MMore Multispeed Makrolon jewel case single packed 48x 700Mb
ATIP start of lead in: -02:33:09 (sector: -11484)
ATIP start of lead out: 79:59:74 (sector: 359999)
Manufacturer code: 97 26 66 - CMC Magnetics Corporation (Type: 6)
Disc subtype: Medium Type A, low Beta category (A-)
Target writing power: 5



CD Speed Scan Disc Suface Scan results
Good: 65.27%
Damaged: 34.73%
Unreadable: 0.00%
Surface Scan completed



Imation jewel case single packed 48x 700Mb
ATIP start of lead in: -02:33:09 (sector: -11484)
ATIP start of lead out: 79:59:74 (sector: 359999)
Manufacturer code: 97 26 66 - CMC Magnetics Corporation (Type: 6)
Disc subtype: Medium Type A, low Beta category (A-)
Target writing power: 5




CD Speed Scan Disc Suface Scan results
Good: 72.91%
Damaged: 27.09%
Unreadable: 0.00%
Surface Scan completed


Some quite surprising results. All scans done twice to weed out scanning anomalies.

Taiyo Yuden and Fuji Photo Film manufactured discs really disappointed me on this burner.

regards,
Halcyon

EDIT: Added ATIP codes (scandisc results to come later, when I have time to scan)

EDIT 2: Added CD Speed 2.02 / Scan Disc / Surface Scan test results using Plextor Premium (fw 1.03) at 40x max (Silent Mode)

[dolphinius_rex]

Hey, CMC beat out Taiyo Yuden...that's something you don't see everyday!

[TheWizard]

Good stuff, Halc. I would love to put your results in the list, but unfortunately you did not post the ScanDisc readings. If you can provide the ScanDisc results for the discs above, that would be great! Thanks.

[David]

Branded E3 Works 48x rated
Manufacturer : Ritek
Code : 97m15s12f
Disc Type : CD-R
Recording Layer : Dye Type 2: Long Strategy (Cyanine, AZO)
Capacity : 79:59.73 703 MB

Burned 100% green at 52x (K-probe |Max 15 | Total 6607 | Average 1.940)
Burned with Lite-On 52246s Firmware 6S0F

[TheWizard]

Thanks, David.

[Scour]

Hello!

Some experience with the mSI CR52-A2 FW 161D(i don´t have a chance to test C1-Errors, so i only tested with Nero Scandisk):

Medianca CD-R 700 1x-52x

ATIP: 97m 32s 19f
Disc Manufacturer: Prodisc Technology Inc.
Reflective layer: Dye (Short strategy; e.g. Phthalocyanine)
Media type: CD-Recordable
Recording Speeds: min. unknown - max. unknown
nominal Capacity: 702.82MB (79m 59s 71f / LBA: 359846)

Burned at 52x, no C2-Errors

In some cases the MSI switch down to 40x




Universal CD-R 80 2x-40x

ATIP: 97m 15s 17f
Disc Manufacturer: Ritek Co.
Reflective layer: Dye (Short strategy; e.g. Phthalocyanine)
Media type: CD-Recordable
Recording Speeds: min. unknown - max. unknown
nominal Capacity: 702.82MB (79m 59s 70f / LBA: 359845)

52x, no C2-Errors




Memorex CD-R 700 52x

ATIP: 97m 17s 06f
Disc Manufacturer: Moser Baer India Ltd.
Reflective layer: Dye (Short strategy; e.g. Phthalocyanine)
Media type: CD-Recordable
Recording Speeds: min. unknown - max. unknown
nominal Capacity: 702.83MB (79m 59s 74f / LBA: 359849)

52x, no C2-errors

Sometimes switch down to 40x at end of disc






SKC CD-R 700 1x-24x 32x Premier

ATIP: 97m 26s 26f
Disc Manufacturer: SKC Co., Ltd.
Reflective layer: Dye (Short strategy; e.g. Phthalocyanine)
Media type: CD-Recordable
Recording Speeds: min. unknown - max. unknown
nominal Capacity: 702.83MB (79m 59s 73f / LBA: 359848)

Burned at 52x, no C2-Errors






Sunstar CD-R 80 SilverSilver Professional 1x-48x

ATIP: 97m 22s 67f
Disc Manufacturer: Acer Media Technology, Inc.
Reflective layer: Dye (Short strategy; e.g. Phthalocyanine)
Media type: CD-Recordable
Recording Speeds: min. unknown - max. unknown
nominal Capacity: 702.83MB (79m 59s 74f / LBA: 359849)


Burned at 52x without C2-Errors



I think that´s good, or ?

[TheWizard]

Those results look very good to me, thanks Scour.

[Halc]

I've added CD Speed / Scan Disc results to my LG 40x burn tests.

You might want to compare them with the Kprobe results. Some are quite interesting.

I think this further supports my/others opinion that read errors can be HIGHLY reader drive dependant.

regards,
Halcyon

[Halc]

All burns: LiteOn 48246S (fw. 52246s / 6S0F) at 52x with Nero 5.5.10.42
All Kprobe tests: LiteOn 48246s (fw. 52246s / 6S0F) at 48x (manual set) with Kprobe 1.1.21
All CD Speed: Plextor Premium (fw. 1.03) at 40x (Silent Mode) with CD Speed 2.02
All ATIP: Plextor Premium (fw. 1.03) with Feurio 1.66.2ß

Maxell CD-R 80XL-S 48x 700 MB
ATIP start of lead in: -02:44:58 (sector: -12358)
ATIP start of lead out: 79:59:70 (sector: 359995)
Manufacturer code: 97 15 17 - Ritek Co. (Type: 7)
Disc subtype: Medium Type A, low Beta category (A-)
Target writing power: 4



CD Speed Scan Disc Suface Scan results
Good: 100.00%
Damaged: 0.0%
Unreadable: 0.00%
Surface Scan completed



TDK Speed-X 48x 700MB
ATIP start of lead in: -02:44:70 (sector: -12370)
ATIP start of lead out: 79:59:74 (sector: 359999)
Manufacturer code: 97 15 05 - TDK Corporation (Type: 5)
Disc subtype: Medium Type B, low Beta category (B-)
Target writing power: 5



CD Speed Scan Disc Suface Scan results
Good: 100.00%
Damaged: 0.0%
Unreadable: 0.00%
Surface Scan completed



Sony CDQ80N5 48x 700 MB
ATIP start of lead in: -02:37:08 (sector: -11783)
ATIP start of lead out: 79:59:74 (sector: 359999)
Manufacturer code: 97 22 67 - Acer Media Technology, Inc. (Type: 7)
Disc subtype: Medium Type B, low Beta category (B-)
Target writing power: 5



CD Speed Scan Disc Suface Scan results
Good: 100.00%
Damaged: 0.0%
Unreadable: 0.00%
Surface Scan completed



Fuji Film Multispeed 52x 700 MB
ATIP start of lead in: -02:33:30 (sector: -11505)
ATIP start of lead out: 79:59:73 (sector: 359998)
Manufacturer code: 97 26 45 - FUJI Photo Film Co., Ltd. (Type: 5)
Disc subtype: Medium Type B, low Beta category (B-)
Target writing power: 5



CD Speed Scan Disc Suface Scan results
Good: 98.23%
Damaged: 1.77%
Unreadable: 0.00%
Surface Scan completed


Philips Multispeed 48x 700MB
ATIP start of lead in: -02:44:58 (sector: -12358)
ATIP start of lead out: 79:59:70 (sector: 359995)
Manufacturer code: 97 15 17 - Ritek Co. (Type: 7)
Disc subtype: Medium Type A, low Beta category (A-)
Target writing power: 4



CD Speed Scan Disc Suface Scan results
Good: 100.00%
Damaged: 0.0%
Unreadable: 0.00%
Surface Scan completed



Platinum 48x 700MB (slimcase)
ATIP start of lead in: -02:44:58 (sector: -12358)
ATIP start of lead out: 79:59:70 (sector: 359995)
Manufacturer code: 97 15 17 - Ritek Co. (Type: 7)
Disc subtype: Medium Type A, low Beta category (A-)
Target writing power: 4


Test aborted before end of used disc capacity due to "Access violation" in Kprobe.

CD Speed Scan Disc Suface Scan results
Good: 79.65%
Damaged: 20.35%
Unreadable: 0.00%
Surface Scan completed (in about three hours!)


Imation 48x 700MB
ATIP start of lead in: -02:42:69 (sector: -12219)
ATIP start of lead out: 79:59:74 (sector: 359999)
Manufacturer code: 97 17 06 - Moser Baer India Limited (Type: 6)
Disc subtype: Medium Type B, low Beta category (B-)
Target writing power: 5



CD Speed Scan Disc Suface Scan results
Good: 100.00%
Damaged: 0.0%
Unreadable: 0.00%
Surface Scan completed



Arita High Density (uncertified) 700MB
ATIP start of lead in: -02:44:58 (sector: -12358)
ATIP start of lead out: 79:59:70 (sector: 359995)
Manufacturer code: 97 15 17 - Ritek Co. (Type: 7)
Disc subtype: Medium Type A, low Beta category (A-)
Target writing power: 4



CD Speed Scan Disc Suface Scan results
Good: 100.00%
Damaged: 0.0%
Unreadable: 0.00%
Surface Scan completed



MMore Multispeed Makrolon (slimcase) 52x 700MB
ATIP start of lead in: -02:42:69 (sector: -12219)
ATIP start of lead out: 79:59:74 (sector: 359999)
Manufacturer code: 97 17 06 - Moser Baer India Limited (Type: 6)
Disc subtype: Medium Type B, low Beta category (B-)
Target writing power: 5



CD Speed Scan Disc Suface Scan results
Good: 100.00%
Damaged: 0.0%
Unreadable: 0.00%
Surface Scan completed



Traxdata 40x 700MB
ATIP start of lead in: -02:44:58 (sector: -12358)
ATIP start of lead out: 79:59:73 (sector: 359998)
Manufacturer code: 97 15 17 - Ritek Co. (Type: 7)
Disc subtype: Medium Type A, low Beta category (A-)
Target writing power: 4



CD Speed Scan Disc Suface Scan results
Good: 76.72%
Damaged: 23.28%
Unreadable: 0.00%
Surface Scan completed



Verbatim DataLifePlus (printable surface bulk spindle) 48x 700MB
ATIP start of lead in: -02:25:52 (sector: -10927)
ATIP start of lead out: 79:59:73 (sector: 359998)
Manufacturer code: 97 34 23 - Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (Type: 3)
Disc subtype: Medium Type A, high Beta category (A+)
Target writing power: 4



CD Speed Scan Disc Suface Scan results
Good: 100.00%
Damaged: 0.0%
Unreadable: 0.00%
Surface Scan completed



Plextor Multispeed 48x (bulk spindle) 700MB
ATIP start of lead in: -02:35:74 (sector: -11699)
ATIP start of lead out: 79:59:72 (sector: 359997)
Manufacturer code: 97 24 01 - Taiyo Yuden Company Limited (Type: 1)
Disc subtype: Medium Type A, high Beta category (A+)
Target writing power: 4



CD Speed Scan Disc Suface Scan results
Good: 100.00%
Damaged: 0.0%
Unreadable: 0.00%
Surface Scan completed



Rimax 52x slim case 700 MB
ATIP start of lead in: -02:35:49 (sector: -11674)
ATIP start of lead out: 79:59:74 (sector: 359999)
Manufacturer code: 97 24 26 - Computer Support Italy s.r.l. (Type: 6)
Disc subtype: Medium Type B, low Beta category (B-)
Target writing power: 5



CD Speed Scan Disc Suface Scan results
Good: 97.29%
Damaged: 2.71%
Unreadable: 0.00%
Surface Scan completed



Memorex 52x 700MB
ATIP start of lead in: -02:33:09 (sector: -11484)
ATIP start of lead out: 79:59:73 (sector: 359998)
Manufacturer code: 97 26 66 - CMC Magnetics Corporation (Type: 6)
Disc subtype: Medium Type A, high Beta category (A+)
Target writing power: 5



CD Speed Scan Disc Suface Scan results
Good: 100.00%
Damaged: 0.0%
Unreadable: 0.00%
Surface Scan completed



Claes Ohlson jewel case CD-R80 700MB
ATIP start of lead in: -02:44:58 (sector: -12358)
ATIP start of lead out: 79:59:70 (sector: 359995)
Manufacturer code: 97 15 17 - Ritek Co. (Type: 7)
Disc subtype: Medium Type A, low Beta category (A-)
Target writing power: 4



CD Speed Scan Disc Suface Scan results
Good: 99.48%
Damaged: 0.52%
Unreadable: 0.00%
Surface Scan completed


regards,
Halcyon

[dolphinius_rex]

Halc, those results are absolutly awsome! WOW!

[dodecahedron]

Maxell CD-R 80XL-S 48x 700 MB
ATIP start of lead in: -02:44:58 (sector: -12358)
ATIP start of lead out: 79:59:70 (sector: 359995)
Manufacturer code: 97 15 17 - Ritek Co. (Type: 7)
Disc subtype: Medium Type A, low Beta category (A-)
Target writing power: 4

is this the output of MInfo or what?

[TheWizard]

Thanks again, Halc. One question about the Sony CDQ80N5 48x 700MB, Feurio showed the discs as manufactured by Acer, yet KProbe showed them as Daxon. Do you know which is accurate? Is Acer part of Daxon or vice versa?

[MediumRare]

Halc: my facit from your first test batch is that I sure wouldn't want to have that LG combo drive - take a LiteOn any time (compare the second batch). There are some peculiar results there- the Plextor/TYs with a higher average of C2's than C1's is something I've never seen before. There were a numer of CDSpeed results with 0.21% damaged- is this just one block? If so, does it always show up at the same position?

I have 2 suggestions, though:
- Such a huge batch of scans is exhausting to look through. A table summarizing the results would be very useful.
- I'm sure TheWizard will say this too- to minimize the variables in this media summary, the disks should be scanned with CDSpeed on the same drive used to burn them. This means the LG for this batch and the LiteOn for the second batch. And, as you mentioned, you do have some gigantic drive dependencies (e.g. MMore/MBI by LG).

Keep the results coming!

Do you know which is accurate? Is Acer part of Daxon or vice versa?

I ran into this some time ago too and found an info from Ian that Daxon is the new name for Acer Media. I guess Feurio (and others) haven't updated their data base (yet).

G

[Halc]

Thanks for all the comments!

Daxon is Acer Media, yes. ATIP data from Feurio and I think its ATIP database is little older. I probably need to change to MInfo.

The LG drive is in my wife's PowerMac. It was a combination of a need for Mac support (iTunes/authoring/booting), dvd-rom readability, a need for silence, decent scratched reading performance and a need for good quality burns. I'm quite happy with the results (with some particular media exceptions), but it's surely no LiteOn CDRW drive in many regards.

I only did CD Speed scanning once on each disc, so I can't say if the position was always in the same place, sorry.

I was also surprised by the TY results on LG. I have to burn another one next time I'm at her work place. What I find odd about my Plextor/TY discs is that the lable side metallic printing causes a semi-transparent see through pattern when I look at the disc from the reflective side. Perhaps not related, but not encouraging either.

I'll consider making a table too, good point. It's just that it's quite a lot of work already :)

I'm sorry I can't scan in the LG drive as it's connected to a Mac.

I scanned the LiteOn burns on Plextor (with CD Speed) on purpose as the Kprobe scans are already made on the LiteOn. This gives each burn scan from two different drives, which is imho more useful than just scan from one drive. They correlate remarkably well though.

You see, I have an agenda for these tests, trying to find discs that measure completely differently in KProbe and in CDSpeed (or Plextools) on a different drive. Those are the discs I'm interested in testing in a CATS Advanced analyzer. The MBI burn on LG will be one of these discs.

I must conclude that like everybody else before, I'm really taken aback by the mostly excellent results from LiteOn burns (regardless of whethere I read them in LiteON or Plextor drive).

That drive sure seems to burn on almost anything and if the 52327S is even better, wow! I wish the local retailers would finally get that drive. I've been waiting for almost two months already.

regards,
Halcyon

PS I still have my Plextor non-PoweRec and PoweRec burns that I need to scan and load up... so much work, so little time.

[MediumRare]

I only did CD Speed scanning once on each disc, so I can't say if the position was always in the same place, sorry.

Sorry if I wasn't precise enough. Sometimes CDSpeed shows a single damaged/unreadable sector at the very end. This is a "program bug" or artifact of multi-session burns and not a real error. What I really wanted to ask is "Is this sector at the same position for each CD you scanned".

I'm sorry I can't scan in the LG drive as it's connected to a Mac.

I'm not into Mac's at all, but it's strange that there are no diagnsotic programs available (for that matter, I'm not aware of any for Linux either ). Maybe we can convince Erik Deppe to port CDSpeed to a Mac...

You see, I have an agenda for these tests,

I thought as much. I saw your posts here and at CDFreaks and am very much interested in your results when you get the scans back. In the meantime, we're getting some more fodder for this thread (one of the most important in ther forum).

I wish the local retailers would finally get that drive.

Yeah, the 52327S took a long time getting here (Germany) too. Showed up in quantity last week and is going for ca. 50 Euro.

G

[Halc]

Sometimes CDSpeed shows a single damaged/unreadable sector at the very end. This is a "program bug" or artifact of multi-session burns and not a real error. What I really wanted to ask is "Is this sector at the same position for each CD you scanned".

Thanks for letting me know! I had missed that information previously as well.

I'm sorry I can't remember that for 100% accuracy. I think it was mostly on the last block for those that only have 0.21%
damaged.

Is there any known way to circumvent this problem?

Maybe I should just rescan those discs that had "one block damaged" result.

cheers,
Halcyon

[TheWizard]

That last block in CD Speed Scandisc would be red for unreadable if the disc was burned with Track-At-Once instead of Disc-At-Once. This bug in CD Speed has been known for quite sometime. Therefore, I don't think you need to rescan the discs as none of them had a single unreadable sector, therefore the CD Speed results you got during the first scan should suffice. I'd only recommend scanning the discs again if they are burned at a lower speed to find out what is the maximum successful burn speed (i.e. all green blocks, last block irrelevant if unreadable). While some of the discs had damaged sectors when burned at 52X, they may report no damaged sectors when burned at 48X or 40X.