We’ve had quite a few questions crop up from our TTOTD on the mysteries of CDR dyes (see TTOTD 3/22/99). “You certainly covered recordability, playability and longevity as factors, but one thing you did not address was CDR media used in burning CDR masters for replication. Other than using software that can do disc-at-once, what other factors (like BLER rate) are important for replication discs, and what impact is there from various media flavors?”
BLER and other “readability” issues are mostly a result of the combination of the blank CD media and the CD writer/burner. These factors are important regardless of where the disc is to be used ultimately. They are just more critical when the disc is to be sent to a replication house. The other critical factors that affect the ability of a disc to be used by a mass duplication facility are the software and hardware combination used to make the disc. There are many programs out that claim to be able to make CD’s, and they can, but these CD’s are quite often not suitable for mass duplication even though they will “play” in many players. If you intend to burn CD’s to be sent off for mass duplication you will need a “professional” CD authoring program (Digidesign’s Master List CD is one example) and a CD burner that is fully compatible with it. Don’t take short cuts here. You’ll pay for it in the long run. Talk to the facility(s) you plan to use about your intentions. Make sure they are comfortable with what you plan to use to make them CD’s. There are many extra charges you can avoid in CD duplication if you make your CD properly. Learning what to do is step one, making sure the dupe house is on the same page with you is a very important and often overlooked (read costly) step two.