My burner does not burn at max speed

[andre79]

i have a lite on 52x 24x 52x LTR-52246S burner. i was using a pentium 3 xenon 500 mhz comp. but getting the new new upgrade today to a 1.3 ghz amd cpu today. everytime i make a music cd the burner hardly burns at the speed i select which is 48x. the speed always flucuates on me, i tryed using different cd's but still get the same speed most of the time. anyone have any sugestions how i can burn music cd's at a high speed? also using cd creator 5 platinum

[malcore]

Is DMA set on the drives?

Sometimes it takes some testing with different media to find the best one to use for your drive. I recommend Taiyo Yuden.

Also, the Lite On drives use CAV writing, which means it won't actually write at 48x or 52x from beginning to end. It will reach that peak near the end at the outer edge of the disc where it is spinning faster than at the inner edge.

[andre79]

i have it set on ultra DMA mode

[malcore]

Ultra DMA is a BIOS setting for IDE drives. By DMA, I mean the setting within Windows, so Windows will have the drive access the memory directly and not go through the processor.

What brand of media are you using?

[Budfred]

Also keep in mind that at those speeds the CD can shatter and royally screw up your drive if there is a crack or other imperfection in the disk. A lot of people don't set the drive to record at those high speeds, especially with cheap or older disks, because of this....

[superdrumr]

Keep in mind that even in high speed burners the max speed is only achieved towards the outer parts of the disc.

[andre79]

i have used imation and memorex

[malcore]

Try some different media. Memorex is terrible burning media. Imation isn't the worst, but your burner may not like it so much.

Go and buy a few different brands of media, in small quantities, maybe even singles so you can find one that works nicely with your burner.

[andre79]

do you have any suggestions to which are good?
and what do you think of lite on, is that a good burner?

[malcore]

Lite On burners are quite good.

Taiyo Yuden makes the best media in my opinion. Other good ones are Mitsubishi Chemical, Fuji, Phillips and TDK isn't bad.

[andre79]

never heard of Mitsubishi Chemical, Fuji, Taiyo Yuden . where do they exist?? i'm in Canada :cool:

[malcore]

HeHe,

You can find them there. I'm from Canada myself. :)

If you have a Compusmart nearby, you can get Fuji media there.

look here (http://www.compusmart.com/Default.asp?Submitted=True&CurrentSegment=Supplies%7CStorage+Media)

Even try some Sony or Maxell.

[mjc]

Actually, most blanks are made by a handful of companies..seldom are they the one listed on the label. Memorex doesn't make their own blanks.

TY and Mitsubisihi are often rebranded. Fuji and TDK are often sold under their own name tags. Becareful about TDK, often only the premium ones are the good stuff.

Yes, 99.99% chance your lack of max speed is due to the media you use.

[andre79]

i never had a problem with memorex before.

i find that when i make a data cd i can usually burn at a pretty fast speed.

[superdrumr]

Plextor also makes good burners

[mjc]

Yes, but using low quality media on the will give the same results.....not able to burn at max pseed.

[superdrumr]

true, and most media is cheap enough these days that its not worth it to get the really cheap stuff, especially since it also wont last as long as high quality media.

[Budfred]

Keep in mind that even really excellent media can have tiny cracks in it, especially if it has been used a few times. At that top speed, this media can shatter/explode and then you are out shopping for a new burner.

[malcore]

Yes mjc I forgot to mention that going by brand name alone is a crapshoot. That's why buying in small quantities (singles if possible) is a good idea until you find a brand or manufacturer that plays nice with your burner.

I think Nero has a tool which can tell you who the actual manufacturer of the media is. One manufacturer I strongly advise against is Ritek.

I'm lucky here, large supplies of Taiyo Yuden and Mitsubishi are available, labeled as such.

[mjc]

Yes Nero has an ATIP checker.....InfoTool http://www.cdspeed2000.com/

Plextor has one called CDRInfo....it can be found at
http://www.plextor.be/English/technical/downld_util.html

LiteOn has a SmartBurn info tool.... http://www.liteonit.com/english/index-english.htm (got to navigate through to the downloads page, it is under utilities)

While not specifically an ATIP checker this is a useful CD drive tool...
(I've used an older version...going to give the latest update a spin later tonight)

DISCInfo (http://www.firmware-flash.com/~hijacker/discinfo/)