Category: cd duplication

Duplication 101

If you’ve been shopping for blank CDs or blank DVDs
recently, you may have found yourself a bit
confused by all of the choices – CD-R, CD-RW,
DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW. Trying to
figure out the abbreviations between them can be
a bit mind racking indeed.

To make matters worse for those who aren’t up on
the lastest marvels of technology is the rate at
which the industry of technology is evolving.
Just when you think you’ve caught on to the
concepts of MP3s and burning CD and DVD media,
new twists on blank media hits the market and
you found yourself confused more than you were to
start with.

The “R” found in CD-R and DVD+/-R media stands for
recordable. It will tell consumers that these
disks are blank recordable media. You can record
movies, data, music, and photos on the disc, but
the discs cannot be erased.

The “RW” on CD-RW and DVD+/-RW media stands for
rewritable. This lets you know that media with
RW on them can be recorded and erased several
times. Even though the prices for blank CD and
DVD media is inexpensive, you can expect to pay
a bit more for RW type media.

The biggest source of confusion stems from DVD-R
and DVD-RW and how they are different from DVD+R
and DVD+RW media. In order to avoid a long
technical speech on the differences, you simply
need to know that each DVD types can record
movies just like the next type.

DVD+R and DVD+RW are a newer more expensive
technology that offers a few technical advantages
over DVD-R and DVD-RW. None the less, DVD-R has
greater compatibility with more DVD players than
any other format of blank DVDs.

If you have a newer DVD player or if you use your
computer to play back media, you should have no
problems with DVD+R/DVD+RW media. Some say that
they provide a better range of quality, although
the quality is indeed similar.

Keep in mind that all recordable CD and DVD media
do the same thing regardless of their particular
brand or extension. Because there is not an
industry standard that involves DVD technology,
not every DVD player is compatible with each and
every format you see on retail store shelves.

For this very reason, you should always check with
DVD player manual to see which type of recordable
media it will play back. This way, you’ll know
what to buy the next time you go shopping for
blank CD or DVD media.

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How To Copy CDs

Copying CDs is something that is very popular now more
than ever. When CD burners and duplication was first
introduced, people caught on although it wasn’t nearly
as popular as it is today. These days, millions of
people throughout the world copy audio, data, and
even video to CDs.

To make a copy of a CD, you’ll need a master to copy,
a blank disk, a CD-RW drive, and the proper software.
Most newer computers include either a CD-RW or DVD-RW
drive. If your computer is older, you’ll need to go
out and buy the drive, which doesn’t cost much money
and is very easy to install.

If you have a DVD-RW drive, you’ll be able to copy
both CDs and DVDs. The rate of copying will vary,
with 4X being the slowest and up to 48X being the
fastest. If your drive supports 48X, you can duplicate
a CD in a matter of minutes.

Once you have the CD-RW or DVD-RW drive and some
blank CD-R media, all you need is the software to
duplicate. Nero is among the most popular, as well
as Sonic Record Now and Easy CD Creator. There are
many different types out there, from those that cost
money to the freeware software that doesn’t cost
anything to use.

Once you have everything you need, simply run the
software and create your disk. You can copy many
types of media, including pictures, video, audio,
and even data from your computer. Depending on what
you want to copy, all need to do is select it from the
software menu and let it rip.

CD duplication is a lot of fun and easy for everyone
to learn as well. You can back up a lot of things,
or just save pictures of your special memories – the
choices are entirely up to you.

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Copy Like A Professional

Anyone who has burned CDs in the past has had to
have encountered this problem – your CD doesn’t
want to play in certain CD players. You’ve probably
tried switching to a different brand of disks,
switching the writing speed of your CD burning
software, and yet nothing seems to work.

Most professional CDs that are purchased from a
retail outlet such as Circuit City or Best Buy
works in any type of CD player, which probably makes
you wonder what they are doing that your not. All
of us wonder this, especially when out duplicated
CDs don’t want to play back like they should.

Much to the contrary, it’s because the music
industry burns their CDs differently. Instead
of simply duplicating CDs, the music industry
chooses to replicate CDs. Even though the
terminology may seem synonymous, the process is
actually totally different.

CD replication is used for the mass production of
CDs, which is normally more than 500. Instead
of writing the data to a CD using a laser as
with duplication, CD replication uses a glass
master to stamp (or press) the data onto the
disc. This helps to eliminate almost all of the
issues associated with playability that are
encountered when burning CDs at home. CD
replication is a far superior process of burning
CDs.

Important to note, is the superior quality of
CDs that are pressed using replication doesn’t
come cheap. Even when using independant CD
duplication companies such as Absolute Disc or
Oasis, there is still going to be a very high
cost associated with the replication of disks.

For your next project, try having your CDs
replicated rather than duplicated. This will
ensure your project is very high quality, even
though you’ll need to order more than 500 CDs
to recive this process.

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The CD Burner

Many years ago, owning a copy of your favorite singer
or band would mean going to a retail store or buying
from an online website. With the average song
count, you would spend at least $10. If you were
one of those who couldn’t afford to buy a CD, you
would probably have to wait for the local radio
station to play the songs you liked.

These days however, several music download shareware
programs make it possible to get your favorite
songs directly from other uses without having to
go out and buy them. These programs will store
the songs you download to your hard drive, or
transfer it to your MP3 player if you prefer.

If you prefer to keep a complete collection of
the songs by storing them to a disc, you’ll need
one piece of equipment for your computer – a CD
burner.

The CD burner comes in two forms: internal and
external. External CD burners don’t need to be
attached to your CPU, and they can be connected
to your computer through a USB port with its own
power source. The internal type of CD burner
is the one that attaches to your CPU and fits
on the inside of your computer tower.

The CD burner is quite the piece of equipment
to have, as it can copy from one CD to another
or even from a hard drive to a blank CD, and
vice versa as well.

To use your CD player, you’ll need to have
software. You can find some types of this
software available to download for free on the
internet. Some great examples include ISO
Recorder, Deep Burner, and Windows Media Player.

If you prefer, you can also purchase quality
programs as well. Some examples of these include
Nero, Roxio, and Sonic Record Now. The programs
that are free have the same burning capacity,
although those that cost money will give you
more features and overall flexibility.

Keep in mind that CD burners aren’t limited to
only copying audio. You can also use it to
copy document files, programs, games, videos,
MP3, and many other types of files.

The burners with DVD burning capabilities will
enable you to copy your favorite DVD to another
CD in case you want to share it with a friend
or back it up. You can also burn a movie to
DVD if you downloaded it off the internet,
then watch it on your television or computer.

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Storing Your CDs

There are many different storage alternatives for
your CD collection. The factors for storage include
how many CDs you own and how long you plan to keep
them.

Below, you will find several alternatives for
storing your CDs:

1. CD jewel cases
You have probably owned these before, as they are
the most common. They can hold your CD cover art and
are very easy to line up on a shelf. Keep in mind
that they do break rather easily and they take up
quite a bit of space.

2. Plastic CD sleeves
Plastic sleeves are cheap and thin, so they are
easy to afford and easy on shelf space. Since they
are so thin, they obviously don’t offer a lot in
terms of protection. For long term storage, they
generally aren’t recommended.

3. Paper sleeves
For short term storage needs, paper is very cheap
and doesn’t use much space. Simliar to plastic
sleeves, paper is thin and doesn’t offer very
much protection.

4. Paperboard sleeves
Paperboard sleeves are much thicker than paper so
they will protect your discs. They are also
inexpensive, although they can be hard to seal.

5. Tyvek CD sleeves
Tyvek sleeves are cheap and they don’t take up
a lot of space. For long term storage, Tyvek is
normally recommended.

6. CD-ROM disc cases
These types of cases can hold a lot of CDs in a
small space and they may even help to keep out
dust. They do however, make reading labels a bit
hard, they keep CDs out of site, and they will
take up a lot of space.

7. CD spindles
Spindles are cheap and they hold several hundred
CDs in a small stack. Sorting through them is
hard if you need one specific disk, which makes
it something that isn’t normally recommended.

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