CD-ROM System and CD-R Reliability?

[Joe Redifer]

Burn at 1x? With what, an Amiga? Most (all?) burners made in the last decade are hardware limited to at least 4x.

Pfff, I can't even burn that slow.  It seems my drives bottom out at 8X.  I do have a sweet burner on my PC that maxes out at 4x, though.

[Arkhan]

I don't think the color of the bottom is the issue. Different color dyes is less important than the quality/stability of the dye. I'm not sure what you mean by thick or heavier. CD-ROMs definitely have size specifications they follow, so it shouldn't be any bigger or thicker. Any weight difference should be negligible. I don't think the PS2s having problems reading CD-ROM (blue) discs has anything to do with the color of the disc. Afterall, the laser doesn't see or care what color it is, only how well it reflects light.

The color of the disc directly effects how well it reflects light, lol.  Dark ones don't reflect as good.

Hang some shitty old CDs from your ceiling a'la record store decor and watch the light bounce off them.

Then, hang some blue bottom discs, and watch the bouncyness be less awesome. 

from what I remember talking to MissaFX, 1-4x is the sweet spot for burning games.   I use a SCSI burner, its pretty good.   

and, there are definitely CD-Rs out there that are thicker.  Theyre the ones that when you stick them in a dying PS2, you hear lots of funny noises as the surface of the disc brushes up against plastic.   The Action Replay disc is like that.    Pretty lame.

In any event, this is all horse shit if you have a Duo-R.  That hardware is pretty solid.  It can take a beating, as opposed to the original CD hardware that cannot..  Just burn them on discs that aren't pieces of shit, and play them.  I still recommend the silverbottom ones just because I like them.

[MottZilla]

Well I was thinking you meant something against the dyes that look Cyan, Green, or Blue somehow based on the color being less effective. I'm not sure why you like the silver looking bottom CD-Rs. I guess a similar appearance to a pressed CD is nice but stability and solid reflectivity are most important. How well they reflect light when you hang them as decorations though is different than how well red laser light reflects off the reflective surface. And I know CD-RWs with their dark appearance are alot harder to read. But I agree just don't use cheap shitty discs. And since I bought a DUO-R I'm definitely happy to hear most have not had as many problems with it compared to the older model which I previously had.

[Arkhan]

Mirrors, the most reflective thing ever, are made of silver.

[MottZilla]

That may be, but again the point is just for a tiny red laser of light to reflect off the surface of the disc (or not) as intended. I think part of my dislike of silver bottom CD-Rs is I got some at some point that just plain sucked. I had something that was picky, probably a Playstation, that hated them but not Taiyo Yuden blue dye discs or original black bottom PS1 discs.

[Arkhan]

thats an interesting point...   I wonder how well those black CD-R's would fair in a turbob.


I know for a fact if you use shit CD-Rs in a PC-FX, the audio can, and will most likely skip. 

My silver discs work great, and ones burnt at the same speed on crappy green/blue dyed ones, have tons of audio bouncing problems.

[TheOldMan]

...original black bottom PS1 discs.

If you had -original- black bottom PS1 discs, you -wouldn't- have any problems. They were all pressed discs. Only made by Sony, for the PS1. With special region codes in the track control bits.

If you mean the cd-r's that were made in black, to look like ps1 discs, I *think* they were blue-dye discs. The problem with them was the colored plastic tended to block some of the laser signal. They were okay on most ps1's, but as the laser diode aged, they would stop reading. You could turn up the laser signal amp to make them work again, but you risked blowing the laser if you weren't careful....

And No, Arkhan, they don't work in a Turbo CD, at least the U.S. one I have. I tried.
But if you want to test one in a duo, I have a stack of 10 or so around.....

[SignOfZeta]

On a related note: I bough the OST for the new Tron (huge disappointment, the soundtrack, I haven't seen the movie) and it came on a black disc. Rather nostalgic for me...