# CD burning/playing problem... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 1, 2002, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-burning-playing-problem/134870 "2002-11-01T18:02:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Teelo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@Teelo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teelo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-burning-playing-problem/134870/1 "2002-11-01T18:02:47Z")
Alright, here is the dilemma. I occasionally make a mix of some nice little songs I like, our computer was recently repaired, not the burner, just some inner workings to actually make it turn on… but the guy who repaired it, said he tested the burner, and it worked. Fine, I doubt this guy is a liar. So, I pop in a cd get the burning process going, and 10 minutes later, wala a brand new mixed cd. It runs in the: -computer -My personal cd player -Our Living Room cd player It does not run in : -The Stereo in my room which I use on a day-to-day basis. This drives me insane, here is why: It plays burnt cds with no problem. I have a few burnt cds, and they work fine in it. When my friend who uses the same software, and the same brand of cd’s to make his own mix, it works perfectly in my Room Stereo. This was happening evenb before the computer broke down. It DID make a good cd a few times, and then suddenly one day it just quit. Can anyone give me a solution to make it run on all cd players? The problem has to be in the burner itself, but it says in the end, how it was created succesfully. Why would it cause me so much grief? So to summarize: -The cd burns all the way through. -It plays, but not in my stereo in my room. -My stereo **can** play burnt cds. -Note that it plays cds made with the same brand, and the same program used to burn them. Just not with my burner. Thoughts? I really don’t want to get my friend to do this for me, he’s…well…its not his top priority… Oh yeah, I’d like to mention I have more store bought cds than burnt ones. And if the cd is worth it, I will buy it. I’m speaking of a mix of good songs in the above. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-burning-playing-problem/134870/2 "2002-11-01T21:20:44Z")
In general, see [The CD-R FAQ](http://www.cdrfaq.org/) for help. In all probability, you did not “finalize” the CD-R. It’s a good idea to do so in order to make the CD-R usable on older CD devices. Pop the CD-R back in and search for terms like “close CD” or “finalize” in your software’s menu. Even better is to burn the CD-R in “Disc at once” mode. Note: Make doubly sure you have “auto insert notification” turned off for your Burner if you are running MS-Windows. This is a bad, bad thing. (I turn it off on all CD devices it is so evil.) ---
**Author:** ![King\_Nifty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f9ae1b/32.png) [@King\_Nifty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Nifty)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-burning-playing-problem/134870/3 "2002-11-01T21:31:52Z")
This happens to me alot. One thing to try is to not use the “verify” process - just burn. Don’t ask me why, but that has worked for me. Another is to not burn it on the fastest setting, but use a slower one. For more information, check out [http://www.cdrfaq.org](http://www.cdrfaq.org) ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-burning-playing-problem/134870/4 "2002-11-01T22:42:00Z")
Yeah, try it at 1x, if you can do it that slow… Also, are you using music or data cds? Try the music cds just in case. ---
**Author:** ![Alereon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alereon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alereon)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2002, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-burning-playing-problem/134870/5 "2002-11-02T02:47:14Z")
I would suggest that you burn in Disc At Once mode, NO FASTER than 4X, and on gold-bottomed CD-Rs. That’s the best way to do it for the widest compatibility and best audio quality. You don’t need to buy special audio CD-Rs, unless you have a crappy stereo made by, IIRC, Phillips. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2002, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-burning-playing-problem/134870/6 "2002-11-02T15:00:27Z")
Iwork for a music store & we sell music cds for about the same price as regular ones. Funny thing about the music cds is they are rated for any speed… ---
**Author:** ![Teelo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@Teelo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teelo)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2002, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-burning-playing-problem/134870/7 "2002-11-03T04:37:01Z")
FTG: Thanks for your suggestions, I did “Finalize” the cd as you said. Or, as well as “closing the session” Is the same idea. The disc at once mode, is not how I burnt it, what exactly does this do differently? I’ll give it a try next time. KingNifty: What is the Verify process? I may know what it means but with all the burning lingo…well, it can get confusing. I did try burning at 16x, then I tried it at 12x. Same problem. Any slower and I’ll die of boredom! But again, next time I try at 4x. handy: I use Cd-R’s if thats what you mean. Also, why can’t CD-RW’s make music cds? FDISK:Again, what exactly does Disc at once do? The cd’s I have (Memorex) seem to work fine for everyone, even if they are not gold bottomed. How will the gold help? What brand of cd’s is this? My stereo is JVC, about 3 years old. It may not be as good as other stereos, but it works great for me. Anyways, I **did** manage to get it working by using my non working cd, and making a copy of it. Works great, listening to it now. Which suggests the audio burning portion does not work. Cripes this is madness…:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![xvxdarkknightxvx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/34f0e0/32.png) [@xvxdarkknightxvx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xvxdarkknightxvx)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2002, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-burning-playing-problem/134870/8 "2002-11-03T04:50:55Z")
“Also, are you using music or data cds? Try the music cds just in case.” What’s the difference? I always thought that music cd-r’s were something you bought in Sam Goody and regular cd-r’s were something you got from Best Buy, but never had a real difference between them. ---
**Author:** ![Alereon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alereon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alereon)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2002, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-burning-playing-problem/134870/9 "2002-11-03T07:35:44Z")
Disc At Once burns an entire disc in one pass, as opposed to Track At Once (an older method) that burns data track by track. Disc At Once discs are generally more reliable, and do not have a delay between tracks. Track At Once forces a two second delay between audio tracks. Gold bottomed CDs have the best reflectance, thus are generally the most reliable in all players, and the fastest to read with the fewest errors. Audio CD-Rs are essentially identical to data CD-Rs, but they have a special flag set in the part of the disc that identifies itself to the reader. They are functionally identical, but some CD-players will only play Audio CD-Rs. The reason for this is that the manufacturer wants to force people to buy its own brand of discs. It really is a big scam:) I believe Phillips is the only company that does this. ---
**Author:** ![flex727](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@flex727](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flex727)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2002, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-burning-playing-problem/134870/10 "2002-11-03T14:16:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FDISK \* > \*\*Disc At Once burns an entire disc in one pass, as opposed to Track At Once (an older method) that burns data track by track. Disc At Once discs are generally more reliable, and do not have a delay between tracks. Track At Once forces a two second delay between audio tracks. > > Gold bottomed CDs have the best reflectance, thus are generally the most reliable in all players, and the fastest to read with the fewest errors. > > Audio CD-Rs are essentially identical to data CD-Rs, but they have a special flag set in the part of the disc that identifies itself to the reader. They are functionally identical, but some CD-players will only play Audio CD-Rs. The reason for this is that the manufacturer wants to force people to buy its own brand of discs. It really is a big scam:) I believe Phillips is the only company that does this. \*\* I thought music CD-Rs had royalties pre-paid for copying music. That’s why they’re more expensive. The flag bit that is set is for music CD-R machines (not just Phillips) to require them to only use discs that have the paid royalty. Since computer CD-R burners are obstensibly for data, that flag is ignored. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2002, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-burning-playing-problem/134870/11 "2002-11-03T15:56:45Z")
> [@](#): > > I thought music CD-Rs had royalties pre-paid for copying music. So you’re suggesting that Imation, et. al, collect royalties in advance and then distribute them to music companies? I think that’s a bit implausible for several reasons: a) I could be recording my own music and therefore don’t owe the music companies one red cent; b) how would they know _how_ to distribute the royalties; and c) In the never-ending debate about the legality/ethicality of music swapping, I’ve never once heard the defenders mention that the music companies are indeed making money on this process, albeit indirectly. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2002, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-burning-playing-problem/134870/12 "2002-11-03T16:04:11Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Teelo \* > \*\* … Also, why can’t CD-RW’s make music cds?.._\* Actually, they can be made into music CDs. You just have to have a player that can read them. They burn a bit slower (usually no more than 4x from what I’ve seen). I have a CD/MP3 player that can read both music and data CDs whether they are on CD-R or CD-RW. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2002, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-burning-playing-problem/134870/13 "2002-11-03T17:08:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by PunditLisa \* > So you’re suggesting that Imation, et. al, collect royalties in advance and then distribute them to music companies? Yet that’s pretty much what is done. > [@](#): > > The Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 required manufacturers of home taping devices and blank tapes to pay a certain amount on each sale of their products to a fund. ASCAP then draws royalties from that fund for its members. The fund assumes a certain portion of blank tapes and recorders will be used by consumers to reproduce copyrighted music for their personal use. from [http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/1997/July97/311at.htm](http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/1997/July97/311at.htm) (Sorry, not the best link, but it is true.) What they DON’T make provision for is your taping of your original material & performances. However, I believe you can file for a refund or exemption, as recording studios do, since the total $ amount adds up for them. One justification for the idea was expressed in a speech by Dennis Dreith, then President of Recording Musicians Association (RMA), in 1995, to the U.S. Congress on the Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings hearings: [http://www.house.gov/judiciary/414.htm](http://www.house.gov/judiciary/414.htm) Please note that I don’t agree with this law, I am only providing references to it. I feel that it only makes the rich richer. Since the royalties collected this way are distributed according to record sales, those artists with little or no sales get little or no royalties and those with big sales figs get even more. Further discussion of the fairness of this law would probably be best in another thread, as I may have just contributed to a hijack. But the OP’s problem might be related to the music CD vs. non-musc CD media. As others have stated, music CDs differ from data ones in only one way, the barcode stamp. This is detected by most (all?) newer CD-audio players, and they refuse to play the “wrong” media. Computer players do not look at this flag, and neither do older CD audio players. And **Teelo,** as **Mr. Blue Sky** says, some newer players can read CD-RWs. Although I haven’t purchased one, I see “can read RWs” labels on CD players for sale at stores. ---
**Author:** ![flex727](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@flex727](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flex727)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2002, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-burning-playing-problem/134870/14 "2002-11-03T17:11:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by PunditLisa \* > \*\* > > So you’re suggesting that Imation, et. al, collect royalties in advance and then distribute them to music companies? I think that’s a bit implausible for several reasons: a) I could be recording my own music and therefore don’t owe the music companies one red cent; b) how would they know _how_ to distribute the royalties; and c) In the never-ending debate about the legality/ethicality of music swapping, I’ve never once heard the defenders mention that the music companies are indeed making money on this process, albeit indirectly. \*\* [Cite:](http://www.cdrfaq.org/faq05.html#S5-12) > [@](#): > > [T]he difference in price for the audio CD-R blanks is due to licensing agreements and volume. The manufacturer pays a royalty to a studio consortium under the assumption that everything recorded to an audio CD-R is pirated material. The technology is identical; the “audio” discs just have a mark that says a royalty has been paid. ---
**Author:** ![Teelo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@Teelo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teelo)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-burning-playing-problem/134870/15 "2002-11-04T07:11:58Z")
FDISK: Alright, my burner can do that. but I kinda like the 2 seconds between tracks. Meh, no biggie. Blue sky: I think most DVD players can play both Cd-R and Cd-RW. But Cd-R’s are fine for me. 🙂 Thanks again all. ---
**Author:** ![Teelo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@Teelo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teelo)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-burning-playing-problem/134870/16 "2002-11-04T07:17:40Z")
FDISK: Alright, my burner can do that. but I kinda like the 2 seconds between tracks. Meh, no biggie. Blue sky: I think most DVD players can play both Cd-R and Cd-RW. But Cd-R’s are fine for me. 🙂 Thanks again all.