CD Burning Questions

oldcastle

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Hello,

I'm new here, so please go easy on me. Kindly let me know if this is not the right place for my questions.

I have collection of FLAC albums that I ripped from my LPs and I would like to burn them on CD. My goal is to get the "best audio quality" possible from the CDs. For that, I have a few questions:

1) I cannot afford a home stand-alone CD recorder, so I will buy an external one to use with my laptop. So far I found this one https://www.asus.com/Optical-Drives-Storage/BW16D1HU_PRO/. Is that ok? Any other suggestions?

2) About CD-Rs I'm a bit confuse. I want my CDs to play "everywhere", but it seems that is not guarantee when you burn a CD. Is that right?

3) For the CD media I was thinking https://www.amazon.com/Taiyo-Yuden-Silver-Lacquer-Plastic/dp/B007R6B6FI/. Is that ok? Any other suggestion?

4) For the burning process itself, I know that I have to convert the FLAC to WAV. Any other tips or actions that I need to be aware of?

Sorry if this is a long post, but I really need some help here.

Thanks,
Castle
 

ClarkNovember

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1) the drive you linked does Blu-rays as well as DVDs and CDs. If you only want to use it for burning CDs then you can get a much cheaper option.

2) Most devices that play CDs will play CDRs. You’d have to check your kit but I think it is quite rare for modern devices not to play CDRs.

3) Maybe someone else can recommend a brand? You could check the Amazon reviews to get a rough idea.

4) You shouldn’t need to convert FLAC files to WAV in order to burn them to CD. Your burning software should be able to do it straight from the FLAC files (i.e. convert FLAC to the necessary format as part of the burning process).

There shouldn’t be any benefit from converting to WAV first (although I’m sure some people would argue the case).

[just to clarify here the point that people seem to be getting confused about further down this thread: there is a difference between audio CDs and data CDs.

To ensure that you create a CD that will play anywhere it is important to choose the option to burn an "Audio CD" or "Music CD" and not a "Data CD".]


What software were you planning to use?
 
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ClarkNovember

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Oh okay. I think it's just the fact people normally say 'burn to CD' when they are talking about burning to CDR/CDRW.

I think the OP knows that he needs to use CDRs as he's included an Amazon link to a stack of CDRs.
 
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Oh okay. I think it's just the fact people normally say 'burn to CD' when they are talking about burning to CDR/CDRW.

I think the OP knows that he needs to use CDRs as he's included an Amazon link to a stack of CDRs.
Point taken, I don't normally click on links.
The issue maybe is whether what he intends playing those discs on will recognize a flac or wav file, as prerecorded discs are CDA.
I am only assuming that WAV files would be recognized.
 

Gray

Well-known member
Hello,

I'm new here, so please go easy on me. Kindly let me know if this is not the right place for my questions.

I have collection of FLAC albums that I ripped from my LPs and I would like to burn them on CD. My goal is to get the "best audio quality" possible from the CDs. For that, I have a few questions:

1) I cannot afford a home stand-alone CD recorder, so I will buy an external one to use with my laptop. So far I found this one https://www.asus.com/Optical-Drives-Storage/BW16D1HU_PRO/. Is that ok? Any other suggestions?

2) About CD-Rs I'm a bit confuse. I want my CDs to play "everywhere", but it seems that is not guarantee when you burn a CD. Is that right?

3) For the CD media I was thinking https://www.amazon.com/Taiyo-Yuden-Silver-Lacquer-Plastic/dp/B007R6B6FI/. Is that ok? Any other suggestion?

4) For the burning process itself, I know that I have to convert the FLAC to WAV. Any other tips or actions that I need to be aware of?

Sorry if this is a long post, but I really need some help here.

Thanks,
Castle
Don't worry about not being able to afford a standalone CD recorder Castle.
I got a Philips one (in 1998), it retailed for £500 and the discs it needed were £5 each!
You're doing it the cheap and easy way and importantly, with no worse quality.

Back then many CD players wouldn't play them, but now, as Clark said, you'd be hard pushed to find a player that won't.

You're right that WAV is used for 'red book' (standard) CD players.
I've only done a few discs on my laptop. I used FLAC files, the software did the conversion to WAV as part of the burning process.

Just avoid the very cheapest recordable discs. Do a test recording and try it out on all of your intended players.

EDIT: Just seen your JVC disc choice. JVC worked OK for me (most brands will).
(Imagine how selective I was with what got recorded on discs at 5 quid a time - years later Sony's on a 50 spindle worked out at 13p each - at which time I wasn't so fussy!)
 
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Don't worry about not being able to afford a standalone CD recorder Castle.
I got a Philips one (in 1998), it retailed for £500 and the discs it needed were £5 each!
You're doing it the cheap and easy way and importantly, with no worse quality.

Back then many CD players wouldn't play them, but now, as Clark said, you'd be hard pushed to find a player that won't.

You're right that WAV is used for 'red book' (standard) CD players.
I've only done a few discs on my laptop. I used FLAC files, the software did the conversion to WAV as part of the burning process.

Just avoid the very cheapest recordable discs. Do a test recording and try it out on all of your intended players.
Red book for CDs is 2 channel 16 bit LPCBM at 44.1Hz.
You sure that's the same as WAV?
Please ignore last question, I have since found out it is.......
 

ClarkNovember

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May 24, 2009
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Point taken, I don't normally click on links.
The issue maybe is whether what he intends playing those discs on will recognize a flac or wav file, as prerecorded discs are CDA.
I am only assuming that WAV files would be recognized.

Oh, gotcha. I've edited my post just to be clear that I meant the burning software should be able to take the FLAC file and convert it to the necessary format as part of the burning process.
 

jjbomber

Well-known member
3. I use Maxell CD-r for burning. I haven't had any problems and I've burned around 2,000 bootlegs to CD-r. I am not aware of the brand you mentioned, so I can't compare.

4. Yes, convert to WAV for greater compatibility with CD players. They should play everywhere.

Couple of other things to ponder. Some blank CD-Rs will let you burn pictures onto them. They may or may not be to your liking. All CD-Rs will let you add text to the recording, such as title, artist, album. As long as the software allows it, then it's worth doing. There's nothing worse than loads of recorded CD-Rs that all look the same without any info.
 

ClarkNovember

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May 24, 2009
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4. Yes, convert to WAV for greater compatibility with CD players. They should play everywhere.

Again this seems to be a common thing people say but if you are making audio CDs then a CD-R that was made from FLAC files and a CD-R that was made from WAV files that were converted first from FLAC will be no different. The software does the conversion in both cases so there’s no benefit from making it a 2 stage process.

(you’d only need to convert to WAV first if your software couldn’t handle FLAC)

If however one was making a data CD of FLAC/WAV then your statement is correct.

(Conscious you’re probably know this - not having a dig - I just think this distinction causes a lot of confusion)
 
Again this seems to be a common thing people say but if you are making audio CDs then a CD-R that was made from FLAC files and a CD-R that was made from WAV files that were converted first from FLAC will be no different. The software does the conversion in both cases so there’s no benefit from making it a 2 stage process.

(you’d only need to convert to WAV first if your software couldn’t handle FLAC)

If however one was making a data CD of FLAC/WAV then your statement is correct.

(Conscious you’re probably know this - not having a dig - I just think this distinction causes a lot of confusion)
Are you saying a data CD with FLAC files on it can be read by all CD players?
 

Gray

Well-known member
See manicm's question in post #15 above.
You've already done the hard work castle, by converting your vinyl to FLAC.
You're considering spending on hardware and blank media - you may have good reason to want to play off CD. But, if not, there are plenty of devices that will play your FLAC files.

Although I recorded loads of vinyl to CDR, I've since converted them all to FLAC. I've still got several CD players, but use a Raspberry Pi, controlled wirelessly, to send the FLAC files out through a new £100 DAC that actually sounds better than any of the CD players.

If you need help on ways to play your FLAC files (perfectly), there will be plenty of advice from people here.
(It was someone on here that suggested I use a Pi for music play.....I thought it wasn't for me, too much hassle and probably no good....I was wrong).
I've just bought another (model 3b+) Pi for £36 and this is what I use to control it - it's free too.
Have a look:
 
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1) the drive you linked does Blu-rays as well as DVDs and CDs. If you only want to use it for burning CDs then you can get a much cheaper option.

2) Most devices that play CDs will play CDRs. You’d have to check your kit but I think it is quite rare for modern devices not to play CDRs.

3) Maybe someone else can recommend a brand? You could check the Amazon reviews to get a rough idea.

4) You shouldn’t need to convert FLAC files to WAV in order to burn them to CD. Your burning software should be able to do it straight from the FLAC files (i.e. convert FLAC to the necessary format as part of the burning process).

There shouldn’t be any benefit from converting to WAV first (although I’m sure some people would argue the case).

What software were you planning to use?
The reason he is converting to WAV files is so he can play his CD s anywhere........
Yes he could burn the flac files but this wouldn't solve the problem, would it?
 

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