burning speeds

[bigbadbob69]

i have read that when burning mpg files to cd its best to go record at 8x max. no faster. i do not make vcds but jsut mpg files to be played on my computer. i have had some problems with them after they have been recorded and i tried to play then a few months later. I also read that data isn't as effected by the burn speed (i.e. less errors ) as mpg files are. Somebody told me that audio and video files get more errors at faster speeds. If i put my mpg files into archives ( zip, rar, ace, or split them with a file splitter ) will it be safe to burn at 20 or 24x? I burn about 10 per day and burning at 8x takes forever. Thanks for any help.

Bob

[setarip]

"If i put my mpg files into archives"

I would strongly suggest that you NOT attempt to compressthese already-compressed video files, as you'll run the risk of corrupting them...

[bigbadbob69]

i am not thinking of compressing them, just using the store setting. i have done about 20 DivX files in ace archives and after extracting they play fine. Also what about using a file splitter? I'm just trying to get the best quality burns at the fastest sppeds i can. i burn A LOT of cds. about 300 a month.

[setarip]

What exactly is it that you are gaining by putting them in UNcompressed archives???

[bigbadbob69]

I have been told and have read that its not good to burn audio/video faster than 8x because you get more errors that way. and i have had a few errors with burning at 20x. I also read that errors arent as likely when burning a data cd. So i thought that maybe putting them in uncompressed archives might be like a data cd so i could burn faster and get very few errors.

[primago]

I had also problem with burning CD in high speed. After many trials and errors I notice that not noly the speed is the cause but the CD-R and the CD-rewriter play a role.
My old Philips CD-writer cannot produce a good VCD copy at speed higher than 4x, but my newer one (also Philips) can burn easily VCD at 12X without any problem. I have not try a higher speed yet.
The CD-Rs I used recently were mostly Philips and Platinum too. In the past I had some nameless or unknown brand which gave me more faulty copies and even some of my copies cannot be played back anymore!
My advice is, try the best combination of CD-writer, CD-R and speed.
Be aware that if you want to copy an audio CD , choose a slowest speed which for you is acceptable.

The SONY CD-R s had a bad name, But I have never use SONY CD-R so I am not sure.

Q: do you compile the VCDs yourself or just copy the commercial ones?

[bigbadbob69]

well the cds i burn i compile myself but they are not vcds to b played on a dvd player or dvd-rom drive. I record the tvshow to my pc and then record it to cd to be played on my computer only. Not by a dvd player or vcd player but by Windows Media Player, just like clips downloaded off the net. The quakity of them is good and i can get 62 minutes on one cd. They are 1.25 mbit, 320x240 ( sometimes 352x240 ), 48.000 Khz, constant bitrate. I too had about 150 bad cd-rs. Got a good deal on Smart Buy brand cd-rs. Bad mistake. 2 months later and i went to play some of the episodes i had recorded and some would play but had a lot of distortions, clicking noise. Some would lockup, some would not even be recognzed. So i am going to stick to Memorex CD-r ( semi-gloss white top with blue-ish lettering)m which i have had good luck. Fuji FIlm ( matte silver top, great luck and they have a good feel to them ) or Imation if i can find them and get a good deal on them. I will mostly buy Fuji or Memorex because the store where i work carries them and i can get a 50pack Fuji for 17.00, or 30 pack Memorex for 11.00, Which equals about 34 -36 cents per disc.

[Batman]

"2 months later and i went to play some of the episodes i had recorded and some would play but had a lot of distortions, clicking noise. Some would lockup, some would not even be recognzed. "

Did you try playing the episodes after your burned them? I'm interested because I purchased a spindle, they all seem to working right now but I'm wondering would they go bad like after 2 months? I tried Memorex, got 1 corrupt cd in a pack of 10. In my spindle so far I've burned some 50 cd's, no problems yet.