After Taiyo Yuden

Hi All


Just as a matter of discussion for those that use Taiyo Yuden CDRs.

If you could no longer buy Taiyo Yuden CDRs what would be your next choice ?


Washac

Verbatim DataLifePlus CDRs

I agree with happyspader, Verbatim is the way to go.

Ricoh NY74+MA Made in Japan or TDK Theory MIJ

go for verbatim datalife pastel - these are made by taiyo yuden
edit: btw you can get non branded taiyo yudens online in various places such as rima.com

I find that Ritek CDs give 1/3 the C1 errors of the junk standard, CMC.

ritek degrade quickly. I had a bad one in 9 mo. Besides, my ricoh and Kodak gold are going strong, but some of the new verbatim datalife are cmc.

Fujifilm made by Fujifilm in Germany. To my experience just as good as TY.

Which country are you located in?

How common is this, really? I only use Taiyo Yuden media. What kind of "shelf life" do you think I could expect from TY? 2 years? 10 years? 20 years?

In good conditions*, minimum 10 years, but I'd say probably more than 30 years with Taiyo Yuden!

Considering that my first CDs burned in 1996 are still alive and give great scans.... they were not even TY..! Well, I don't worry much as long as I don't buy crap. Nevertheless I still prefer to trust TY when backing up important things and for my personal audio works.

*good conditions: opaque container, temp < C32° (centigrades), humidity <75%, careful handling... you know, these things make a HUGE difference and this probably explains why I personnaly don't complaint about my own CDs longevity

I don't have TY CD-R media, but the Kodak Ultima Silver+Gold 12x CD-R that I have left are manufactured in 1999 and they still burn great, although only at 8x (or 16x depending on the drive).

My preferred CD-R media are:

Verbatim DataLifePlus 52x
Fujifilm 52x Made in Germany

It can depend a lot on the drive and burning speed though - the Verbatims are fantastic at any speed in my NEC 3500 and Matshita UJ-840 drives, and at least as good at speeds up to 16x in my Plextor 712. They are good at 32x in the Plextor but not so good at 48x in the Plextor. With earlier firmware in my Plextor they were unacceptable at 32x and 48x, but great in the Plextor PX-712 of a friend of mine.

The Fujifilm burn really well at all speeds, but still have more C1 errors than the Verbatim regardless of which of my drives I burn it in.

The flip side of the coin:

The least impressive brand-name CD-R media I have experienced, which are still being sold, are manufactured by Moser Baer India as 52x rated, and I've had these under the Imation brand and also as Verbatim DataLife Extra Protection Surface. They don't produce coasters, but they are almost impossible to burn without getting C2 errors when scanned in my Plextor drive. Maybe the Plextor just doesn't like to read these?!

The point of my story is: Even the best media may not be optimal in your particular drive at all speeds, so find out what works for you in your drive (or selection of drives).

There are two kinds (at least) of Ritek. The Phthalocyanine dye is supposed to be the good one, at least based on what has been reported here.

Not common. Some of the oldest CDR's I have riding in my car are Ritek TG (Maxell). Earlier Ritek (RitekG) were not very good. TY are always the first to fail in my car in the desert heat, and the all-time oldest disc is a crappy CMC disc.
But that's extreme abuse conditions, and only proves that Cyanine is less tollerant of heat. Under "normal" care and feeding, either type should last many years, if not a lifetime.

Here in the USA, If I couldn't get TY I would settle for Maxell (Ritek). MCC (Verbatim) has been far too unreliable for me in terms of burn quality, but the Taiwan Verbatim is adequate most of the time.

I have a spindle of Maxell Ritek CD-R i bought just recently 6 months ago, I assume these are the good Riteks, right?

sorry for my noobieness in the CD-R dept

What kind of Verbatim CD-Rs have given you trouble, and what kind of trouble?

I guess he means quality results like this.

Unfortunately I've had too many of these, mostly with Mexico made discs, but also with China made. The India ones have been ok the last year or so, but before that it was a hit and miss with these too.

Ouch!

My Verbatims are DataLifePlus Crystal Super AZO 52x and are Made in China. They are the best CD-R media I have tested so far. Maybe I'm just lucky.

Last time I bought Maxell CD-Rs they were made by Prodisc.