CD burning speed determines read speed?

  • Thread starter Thread starter David K
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David K

I've gotten the impression that the speed a CDR/CDRW is burned at
determines the maixmum speed that the burned data can be read at
afterwards. In case I'm wrong, let me explain what has happened.

A CD was burned at 32x. It was inserted into a different CDRW drive
which can only read at 32x max. It was reading the data extremely
slowly, having to pause after every instant, and it finally would give
up at a certain file. The faster drive was able to read the CD fine,
and the slower drive never had problems with other CDs. So I'm
guessing that the CD being burned at 32x might have something to do
with it, as perhaps the slower drive can't quite read up to 32x (even
though it's rated 32x read).

Is my conclusion right? Is there another explanation for this? I don't
understand why it should matter what speed a CD is burned at.

Thanks,
David
 
David K said:
I've gotten the impression that the speed a CDR/CDRW is burned at
determines the maixmum speed that the burned data can be read at
afterwards. In case I'm wrong, let me explain what has happened.

A CD was burned at 32x. It was inserted into a different CDRW drive
which can only read at 32x max. It was reading the data extremely
slowly, having to pause after every instant, and it finally would give
up at a certain file. The faster drive was able to read the CD fine,
and the slower drive never had problems with other CDs. So I'm
guessing that the CD being burned at 32x might have something to do
with it, as perhaps the slower drive can't quite read up to 32x (even
though it's rated 32x read).

Is my conclusion right? Is there another explanation for this? I don't
understand why it should matter what speed a CD is burned at.
Click to expand...

The burn speed has nothing to do with the read speed. When you burn you are
writing information to the disc. Once it is there it's there - it doesn't
write different information depending on the speed you write at. You could
write at 1x or 52x and you would get the exact same disc. The only
difference is how long you have to wait around.

The drive that was reading the disc slowly was clearly having difficulty
reading the disc. It was getting a lot of errors, so a lot of info had to be
resent. The user isn't aware that this is happening - all you see is a
slower transfer rate. Why did it read fine in another drive? Who knows.
Maybe the other drive has better error checking. Maybe the original drive
has slight alignment problems. Maybe it was a much hotter day and the CD
expanded slightly. Whatever it is, it's got nothing to do with burn speed.

You aren't the first person to suggest this. I remember reading an article
way back (when 4x burners were the new kid on the block) about burning PSX
games. It said they had to be burnt at 2x. At 1x the disc would be skippy
(only play at half speed), at 4x the disc wouldn't be read because it was
too fast for the playstation!

Gareth
 
I've gotten the impression that the speed a CDR/CDRW is burned at
determines the maixmum speed that the burned data can be read at
afterwards. In case I'm wrong, let me explain what has happened.

A CD was burned at 32x. It was inserted into a different CDRW drive
which can only read at 32x max. It was reading the data extremely
slowly, having to pause after every instant, and it finally would give
up at a certain file. The faster drive was able to read the CD fine,
and the slower drive never had problems with other CDs. So I'm
guessing that the CD being burned at 32x might have something to do
with it, as perhaps the slower drive can't quite read up to 32x (even
though it's rated 32x read).

Is my conclusion right? Is there another explanation for this? I don't
understand why it should matter what speed a CD is burned at.

Thanks,
David
Click to expand...

With a "perfectly" burnt disc, the pits burnt into the surface would
be exactly the same no matter what speed you burn the disc. There is
no perfect disc, they all deviate slightly from the ideal... In
general the faster a disc is burnt, the more accurate the timings must
be, the more important the media is accurately identified instead of a
"generic" burn strategy (firmware identification from ATIP on the
disc).

So, the faster the disc is burnt, the more likely it has more errors,
areas that are unreadable by ANY drive, but fortunately the error
correction built-in can compensate up to a point (but the reading is
slower). The problem comes in when there are so many errors that a
correction can't be made, then the file is unreadable.

It was just random chance that the two drives you used to burn and
read happened to both have a 32X write/read. Since the 32X drive is
getting older perhaps it's a bit dusty inside, or lower quality to
begin with, or as with all things, drives do get a bit better at
reading as the technology matures.

You might try burning at slower speeds or different media if it's
important to read from older drives, and update the CDRW drive's
firmware if possible. "Usually" burning at <+32X can be done easily
on "any cheap generic disc" but when it comes to the faster speeds the
particular burner and media need be more carefully considered if you
want the end result to have as few errors needing correction as
possible. There are a number of online website reviews of drives,
associated forums where you might find suggestions for the best media
to use for your particular drive, or if there are any issues unique to
it.


Dave
 
David K said:
I've gotten the impression that the speed a CDR/CDRW is burned at
determines the maixmum speed that the burned data can be read at
afterwards. In case I'm wrong, let me explain what has happened.

A CD was burned at 32x. It was inserted into a different CDRW drive
which can only read at 32x max. It was reading the data extremely
slowly, having to pause after every instant, and it finally would give
up at a certain file. The faster drive was able to read the CD fine,
and the slower drive never had problems with other CDs. So I'm
guessing that the CD being burned at 32x might have something to do
with it, as perhaps the slower drive can't quite read up to 32x (even
though it's rated 32x read).

Is my conclusion right? Is there another explanation for this? I don't
understand why it should matter what speed a CD is burned at.
Click to expand...

Not really. The slower drive is older and would have a less-powerful laser
and worst error-correction. The faster you burn a CD the more chance there
is of being errors on the CD or 'pits' (OK, I know they're not actually
pits) not burned perfectly. A more modern reader/writer with a more powerful
laser (it takes a more powerful laser to read/write faster) has a better
chance of reading these areas. I suggest that, if you are going to burn
discs to be read by less-than-state-of-the-art readers you burn them slower.
The older the hardware that is going to read them the slower you should burn
them. The stated read speed for your 32x is for pressed disks (with a higher
reflectivity index than CDRs or CDRWs) and almost zero errors.
 
Thanks for the responses. I'll think about a new CDRW/DVD combo drive
being my next upgrade. It sure would be nice to not have to wait 10
minutes to burn a CD at 4x, too.

David
 
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