so if burning at a slower speed gives better quality, - how come no-one suggests burning 1x speed to GUARANTEE success ?
is this a stupid question ? :blockhd:

so if burning at a slower speed gives better quality, - how come no-one suggests burning 1x speed to GUARANTEE success ?
is this a stupid question ? :blockhd:
Not a stupid question.

But the answer lies in how cd-r's are made now. They are specifically made for faster-burning drives. That is that they respond to the laser flash much quicker than the older slower-burning discs. Drives that burn too slow for the disc risk something called "laser splatter". The burning of the pit can over burn and become too big to be useful - but the damage has already been done. This leads to errors upon trying to read those pits.

There is usually an optimum between drive burn speed and disc speed capability. You can always experiment if you're willing to risk several coasters.

Besides, 1x is almost impossible to get out of most newer drives anyway. They just can't go that low.

thanks for your reply, so is there an average speed recomended for audio ? (it sounds like burning @ x1 speed will cause more problems than solutions.)

I don't know that there is a "recommended" speed. Most people I know that do audio cd-r's usually burn at about half their burner's full capability.

Although Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs (MFSL) markets the Ultradisc gold cd-r (actually made by MAM-A - formerly Mitsui) and they suggest burning no higher than 8x. Most professional standalone burners - ones that will burn on any blank, not just those marked for "audio" or "music" - are also usually slower speed burners and can work at 1x for on-the-fly burning.

Personally, I still use an 8x cd-rw burner that I run at 4x for final audio burns. Even though the Japanese made Taiyo Yudens I use are rated at 52x, they work very well and play in every player I toss them in, old or new. I tried some the Taiwanese made Imations (by CMC Magnetics) and once they went above 16x I couldn't get good burns out of them. But I know others that have used the Imations just fine in newer burners, but they still run them at half their burner's top speed.

thanks for helping.