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DADDY BOB'S COMPUTER Q & A
November 18,
2007
Q. Is there a
difference between blank music CD-Rs and
traditional data CD-Rs?
A.
This is a question I get all the time, and
for some reason several times this past
week. I think what most people who ask this
really want to know is can I put music on a
data CD. Well, hopefully I can shed some
light on the confusion and give you an
explanation as to which type of blank media
best suits your needs.
The simple
answer to this question, “Is there a
difference” is yes, there are minute
differences between music and data CD-Rs.
However, for most users, this difference is
not detectable and has no relevance. Let me
explain.
For starters,
there is the difference in the name, the CD
label, and possibly the cost, but that is
obvious. There are also rumors that the
recording industry receives a very small
percentage of each sale of blank music CD-Rs.
However, that rumor has yet to be officially
verified, but considering that it is the
music industry, I wouldn’t be too surprised
to find that it is true.
What is known
is that there are technical differences in
what is embedded in the blank music CDs in
comparison to blank data CDs. These embedded
differences center upon extra bytes in the
sub channels of the blank music CD, sort of
identifiers. But does that really make a
difference in quality or what types of
information can be stored on the disk?
The simple
answer is no. Both music and data can be
burned onto either music or data CD-Rs. I'll
say it again. Music and data can be burned
onto music or data CD-Rs. However, whether
or not you can get data onto a music CD-R
depends on what type of hardware is used to
burn the blank CD.
If you are
using a PC to do all of your burning, which
is what almost all will be using, then it
doesn't matter. PCs do not draw any
distinction between music CD-Rs and data CD-Rs.
They simply see the blank CD and write
information onto it depending on your
setting in the burning software.
Since both the
data and music are digital in nature, it is
just writing the digital ones and zeros to
the blank CD. The computer or CD doesn’t
know the difference between data’s ones or
zeros and music’s ones or zeros, simply
because there isn’t any. A one is a one and
a zero is a zero.
However, if you
are using a standalone CD burner, similar to
what a professional replicator might use, it
may make a difference. You may or may not be
allow to burn data onto a generic blank
CD-R. Hardware proprietors are funny in that
they really only want you to use blank media
with brand names that they have approved, or
been paid to recommend. If the blank CD
doesn’t have that special identification, it
may not be allowed.
So which
should you use? Take this into
consideration. Most music that will be
burned to a CD from a computer has probably
been ripped from a CD, downloaded from the
Internet or obtained in some other equally
less professional way. The quality of this
basic information is not of the highest
studio recording quality, and the device
that your burned CD will eventually be
played on probably isn’t either.
Since the
all purpose blank CDs are usually less
expensive, unless you are recording the
highest level music on a professional
recorder, or have more money than you know
what to do with, just use the cheapest ones.
Also, unless you are in a real big hurry and
need to record your music/data in 2 minutes
verses 4 minutes, the faster speeds are not
any better than the slower ones. They just
cost more because they represent a more
recent technology. |
