# CD-R vs CD-R Digital for MP3 Recording **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 17, 2004, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-r-vs-cd-r-digital-for-mp3-recording/234759 "2004-03-17T01:53:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dreamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@dreamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dreamer)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-r-vs-cd-r-digital-for-mp3-recording/234759/1 "2004-03-17T01:53:09Z")
I was just wondering which CD-R is best for burning MP3’s and has the most probability of playing in more CD players. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-r-vs-cd-r-digital-for-mp3-recording/234759/2 "2004-03-17T01:58:06Z")
Unless some new format has snuck up on me I’d have to say that there is only one commonly used format, so there is no cd-r ‘digital’ (it’s all one and the same). Perhaps you’re asking about the CD-R’s labeled for music? There is no difference still, except that you pay more for those and that extra money goes to the Record Industry to ‘off-set’ their losses from copyed material. In other words, don’t buy them ---
**Author:** ![dreamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@dreamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dreamer)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-r-vs-cd-r-digital-for-mp3-recording/234759/3 "2004-03-17T02:16:38Z")
Well, the reason I ask is because when I burn onto a CD-R it won’t play on my portable CD player. But when I burn it onto a CD-R that says “Digital” it plays. There must be some difference between the two (besides the price). ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-r-vs-cd-r-digital-for-mp3-recording/234759/4 "2004-03-17T02:19:37Z")
Hmm that’s strange. Are you certain you are writing to it using the same format? How old is your Cd player? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-r-vs-cd-r-digital-for-mp3-recording/234759/5 "2004-03-17T02:23:30Z")
> [@dreamer](#): > > Well, the reason I ask is because when I burn onto a CD-R it won’t play on my portable CD player. But when I burn it onto a CD-R that says “Digital” it plays. > > There must be some difference between the two (besides the price). There’s no such thing as a non-digital CD, so there must be some other difference. ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rex_fenestrarum/32/7265_2.png) [@Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Fenestrarum)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-r-vs-cd-r-digital-for-mp3-recording/234759/6 "2004-03-17T02:34:14Z")
Are the two discs of the same brand?? I’ve known people who had car CD players that would only play TDK discs while their home player would play any brand - TDK, Memorex, Fuji, etc. The best CD-R brand (IMHO) is Taiyo Yuden. TY doesn’t sell any of their CD-R discs at retail in the US, but any spindle of Fuji CD-Rs that says “Made in Japan” should be TY. If you google for “Taiyo Yuden” you’ll find some places that sell spindles of genuine Taiyo Yudens, but because they cost a bit more anyway (plus you have to get them shipped) this costs a bit more than you’re used to. As far as your portable player goes, I haven’t seen a portable player built in the past 3 years that couldn’t handle a CD-R. This also makes me think it’s the brand you’re using. If another brand doesn’t work, you might consider a CD cleaning disc, but since the decent ones cost $14.99 or so, you might just wanna think about getting a new player if a brand change doesn’t solve your problems. ---
**Author:** ![dreamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@dreamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dreamer)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-r-vs-cd-r-digital-for-mp3-recording/234759/7 "2004-03-17T02:35:08Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > Hmm that’s strange. Are you certain you are writing to it using the same format? > > How old is your Cd player? It’s only a year old. I have two different kinds of CD-R’s here… 1. TDK Music CD-R for Audio Recording - Compact Disk Digital Audio Recordable 2. Memorex CD-R - Recordable Compact Disks for Computer CD Writers #1 plays in my Portable - #2 does not. #1 says it’s “Digital” - Nowhere on package #2 is the word “Digital” So I guess one is Digital and one is not - but I’m still confused as to why they won’t play in the same player? ---
**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:** [March 17, 2004, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-r-vs-cd-r-digital-for-mp3-recording/234759/8 "2004-03-17T02:38:15Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > There’s no such thing as a non-digital CD, so there must be some other difference. You got your CD-R which can be used for data or music. Then there’s CD-R Audio (sometimes labeled “music”) which can only be used in stand-alone CD burners. From [The CD-R FAQ](http://www.cdrfaq.org/) > [@](#): > > There is no advantage to using expensive “audio CD-Rs” or “music blanks”. There is no difference in quality between consumer audio blanks and standard blanks from a given manufacturer. If you have a consumer audio CD recorder, you simply have no other choice. ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rex_fenestrarum/32/7265_2.png) [@Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Fenestrarum)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-r-vs-cd-r-digital-for-mp3-recording/234759/9 "2004-03-17T02:45:26Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > Then there’s CD-R Audio (sometimes labeled “music”) which can only be used in stand-alone CD burners. That’s not true. You can certainly use “music CD-R” discs to burn data CD-ROMs - the copy of Office 2003 that I’m using now was burned to one - but you can’t use “plain” CD-Rs with “console” type CD copiers (the kind that sit on a rack with your other audio equipment). The reason for this is that the “music CD-R” discs contain an extra data track on them that the console copier looks for when you put a new blank in to copy. If it doesn’t find it it won’t burn - which is what happens if you use “regular” CD-R discs. My guess is that your portable doesn’t like Memorex. Try a different brand. ---
**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:** [March 17, 2004, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-r-vs-cd-r-digital-for-mp3-recording/234759/10 "2004-03-17T02:55:12Z")
> [@Rex Fenestrarum](#): > > That’s not true. Sorry, I had that reversed. Standalone recorders can only use “music” CD-Rs. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-r-vs-cd-r-digital-for-mp3-recording/234759/11 "2004-03-17T04:03:56Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > You got your CD-R which can be used for data or music. Then there’s CD-R Audio (sometimes labeled “music”) which can only be used in stand-alone CD burners. > > From [The CD-R FAQ](http://www.cdrfaq.org/) And they are all digital media, which was my point. ---
**Author:** ![Lagged2Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ac8455/32.png) [@Lagged2Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lagged2Death)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-r-vs-cd-r-digital-for-mp3-recording/234759/12 "2004-03-17T04:49:52Z")
> [@dreamer](#): > > 1. TDK Music CD-R for Audio Recording - Compact Disk Digital Audio Recordable > 2. Memorex CD-R - Recordable Compact Disks for Computer CD Writers > > #1 plays in my Portable - #2 does not. Are you sure you’re burning both discs the same way? Perhaps your CD burning software is automatically switching to audio mode when it sees you’re using a disc intended for audio, and staying in data mode when a data disc is used. In order to record music for playback on an ordinary CD player, you must set your software up to burn an audio discs, not data discs. And, as others have said, both discs are digital, both should work equally well for your purposes. It’s just that the TDK “audio” discs will also work in a standalone CD recorder. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-r-vs-cd-r-digital-for-mp3-recording/234759/13 "2004-03-17T08:31:47Z")
you wouldn’t be able to burn MP3’s in anything but data mode. Unless you mean decompressing the MP3 back into a normal WAV file in which case, you only get 72 minutes of music off one CD. ---
**Author:** ![biqu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@biqu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biqu)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-r-vs-cd-r-digital-for-mp3-recording/234759/14 "2004-03-17T11:34:29Z")
> [@Rex Fenestrarum](#): > > The best CD-R brand (IMHO) is Taiyo Yuden. TY doesn’t sell any of their CD-R discs at retail in the US, but any spindle of Fuji CD-Rs that says “Made in Japan” should be TY. If you google for “Taiyo Yuden” you’ll find some places that sell spindles of genuine Taiyo Yudens, but because they cost a bit more anyway (plus you have to get them shipped) this costs a bit more than you’re used to. I found that my purchase of a cakebox of 100 recordable Taiyo Yuden discs from [All Media Outlet](http://www.allmediaoutlet.com/allmedia/index.jsp) offered a lower unit price than I had seen at any retail store. ---
**Author:** ![Lagged2Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ac8455/32.png) [@Lagged2Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lagged2Death)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-r-vs-cd-r-digital-for-mp3-recording/234759/15 "2004-03-18T22:09:18Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > you wouldn’t be able to burn MP3’s in anything but data mode. Unless you mean decompressing the MP3 back into a normal WAV file in which case, you only get 72 minutes of music off one CD. Yes, that’s exactly what I meant. It’s what you must do if you want to play your MP3 files back on a standard (non-MP3 capable) CD player, and it’s what at least one popular CD burning program (Adaptec EZ-CD Creator) does by automatically, when MP3 files are added to an audio-CD layout.