TDK CDRW drive 8x/4x/32x veloCD Atapi/EIDE... Good enough??? (1 Viewer)

[jeff lam]

Found a great deal on this drive. This is my first CDR drive and want to know if it's good enough for perfect copies of Music CD's to play in my car. I'm looking for good quality, speed isn't as important but helps. Is this drive good enough for my needs?

 

[NickSo]

Yup, im sure it will be...
I see CD audio as digital is digital. Bits are bits. A slower or cheaper writer wont degrade audio quality, its either there, or its not (but cheap CDburners COULD lead to skipping).
As long as the source file is good quality, the CD will sound good.
Check out http://www.r3mix.net for utilities to rip CDs (i recommend ExactAudioCopy to rip WAV files, and LAME to encode to MP3)
I have a mitsumi 4804-TE which is 4x4x24, and its been working well for me for 2+ years.

 

[Ken Seeber]

Can you define "great deal" for us? TDK's latest drives, which are much faster, can be found awfully cheap with rebates right now at Best Buy. You can get the 32x10x40 for $100 I think.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Make sure it's got burnproof technology built into the drive, otherwise avoid it.

Also, bits aren't just bits when it comes to CDs, there is timing issues and buffer issues, you have to contend with making sure you don't introduce clicks/pops in the CD-R back-up of your audio CDs, and also not introducing silence when the CD flows from one track to the next (like live albums do). This means having enough horsepower and RAM in your PC, and a good CD writer with good burner software.

 

[Rob Gillespie]

The TDK will be fine. Make sure you get decent software though as burning problems are nearly always a result of crappy code rather than crappy hardware. Nero is still considered the to be the best.

 

[jeff lam]

Got it for $50 shipping included and a special promotion for 60 Free CDR's in slim jewel cases. Thought I'd give it a shot and if it's not up to par, I'll pick a different burner later.

Not sure if it has the burnproof technology but I think it does.

 

[Rob Lutter]

I have this drive and it works like a charm... haven't got a coaster yet! (of course, I paid $120 for it 2 months ago ). Burns an entire CD in less than 3 minutes... yowsa!

 

[KyleS]

Rob

Burns an entire CD in less than 3 minutes

Are you sure you dont have a 32x burner and not an 8? I dont know many 8x drives that can burn an entire CD in only 3 minutes.
Jeff,
With the added CDR discs I think that you did very well for your first burner. If you ever get tired of the time it takes to burn a CD or you get too many screwed up discs then get a faster one at that point which has the burn-proof technology. I myself spent a lot of money less then a month ago for a 40x12x40 Plextor drive and it is smoking fast compared to the old 6x I had.
KyleS

 

[jeff lam]

I figure I'll get a better drive in the future anyway, but I just needed something to get me started into the CD-burning world.

 

[Srinivas Reddy]

You might want to look at this article
http://www.pcmag.com/article/0,2997,...a=21136,00.asp
It's about a new Yahama drive. It the link does not work, search for "Not Your Father's CD Burner" - that's the title of the article.

 

[Rob Lutter]

uh... forget I said that :b I have the 32/10/40 VeloCD

 

[brentl]

Hey I ahve a 4-4-24Iomega and it owrks like a charm when I use it.
Brent
Paid $350 Canadian when I bought it OUCH