Another case of degrading G05, Maxell-branded

I know this is nothing new to most members here, I have been reading lots of "G05 degradation" threads, but I though I would add my own contribution because I think it's important that people are constantly warned about G05 (un)stability.

I had already lost the data on G05 discs last year, but didn't know about scanning at that time.

So I last month I bought a 5-packs of Maxell-branded G05 to experience things for myself, with my brand new "scanning" knowledge.

The burns weren't great to start with, but were well in-specs, and the discs played fine. They were burnt @8X, SB ON, WOPC ON, f/w BCDC.

After ONLY one month the PIF and jitter get mad near the end of the discs, and the discs stutter and freeze in two of my standalone players.

1. Original burn (21 april 2006)
2. Re-scan today (21 may 2006)
3. Same as #2 but re-scaled for easier comparison with #1.
---THAT'S THIRTY DAYS! OMG!---

How comes that RITEK gets away with it, and so many people (on other forums) still praise G05 as a good MID???

Because not all G05s degrade, only some. Most degrading G05s came unbranded or with B-grade brands like Arita. It is not bad technology, but bad quality control.
I didn't know that Maxell-branded G05s were specifically prone to degradation...
Please post the hub codes of these G05s.

Ritek is only getting away with it because most people do not know anything about disc quality scanning or transfer rate tests and look at the price. And their CD-R and DVD+R are still acceptable and didn't have similar quality problems (yet?).

Speaking of TRT, it would also be good if you did a transfer rate test, just out of curiosity

I've given lots of G05s to some "friends"...

@kg_evilboy:
Hub code: J4-08A03505063927C07
Transfer rate test attachedI know that this is the "theory", but my data loss last year was with Traxdata discs, which are supposed to be the premium Ritek discs AFAIK?

I believe in the "quality control" theory, though, as some Ridata (a 10-pack), that I burned at about the same time as the Traxdata ones, are still holding fine.

I like the word used for G05 by some members in the threads I've read, "crapshoot".

You never know which G05 discs will degrade. Ive had degradation with Traxdata, Maxell, Ridata, Ridisc Xtreme (obviously), and Arita. (I have had Ridata G05 discs that havn't degraded in the same spindle as the ones that did).

But it seems that a batch of unbranded G05 discs i currently have are holding up very well, with no noticable degrading after a few months.

Does it make any difference to the degradation, depending on which drive model they are burned in?

Not for me, both my BenQ and LG have burned the discs that degrade.

Thanks. I might run some tests on some unbranded G05s I have here. They appear to be Dysan rejected discs that have a printable coating put on the disc to hide the Dysan label.

Now if Dysan rejects them they should be really bad.

Yeah, let me say they are quite variable in quality. Bought them from an auction where the guy showed a retail spindle and then supplied this rubbish.

Well Traxdata and RiData are both Riteks' own brands and supposed to be A grade media. Most of my Ritek branded G05s are now beyond rescue, luckilly I got what I needed off them. Ironically enough though the Datawrite G05s are still readable and not giving such a bad scan either and they were bought beforeI bouth the Ritek branded ones. Go figure.

That's really weird, Jay - funnily enough, the very first G05s that went South on me were Datawrite branded.

Put me off Datawrite even before I knew about MIDs, LOL

Knowledgable people DON'T praise RITEKG05 as a good MID. Anyone who does is an idiot, ignoring all the evidence to the contrary.

Now... I've got to ask, would you consider sending these bad discs back to Maxell? The only way they'll change is if they know there's a problem. Maxell DOES have standards.

Personally, I've got 5pc of Maxell RITEKG05, and the one I burned a couple months ago is holding up fine. There IS a noticable rise in PIE of maybe 15%, but far from unreadable. I was kind of hoping it would die.

ALL RITEKG05 has the possibility of being prone to degradation. Name any brand, and I'm sure they've had this problem. I wouldn't say that Maxell RITEKG05 is "specifically prone", and they should be on the better end of the scale.

Ritek is only getting away with it in this case because no one takes the effort/time to complain!!

This is a scan of a two month old G05, Maxell Branded burned at 8x in a NEC 3540A. Doesn't appear to have degraded at all (PIF's appear to be from dust on the underside of the disc). Hub code is: L1-07A03507280193G23

Does anyone know if RitekF1's degrade?

Hrm... I haven't heard of any specific reports, but that's probably because most knowledgable people avoid anything Ritek at the moment. I would have to guess that RITEKF1 *probably* are prone the same degradation, but that's just a guess.

RitekF1 use a different Dye (FUJI oxonol based) which is supposed to be more stable.
So far no reports of problems with F1 going bad are there.

Now what I wonder is, is there a relation between serial code (which means manufacturing site,dye and more ) and degrading G05 media.
So for people who have problematic and good G05 it might be nice to post some of the serials and see if there is a relation between the serials and degrading !

Now there's a good thought ...sadly, the G05s that have degraded for me, I no longer have the discs to get the serials from. But hopefully others still have their problematic discs, and can offer their input.

The only "good" (as in, 2 years and no problems) G0x discs I have, are G04s.

Alright, here are the serials from a Maxell RITEKG05 that so far (after 2 months) isn't going bad.

Mirror Band: DR5A03-00452
Inner Hub Serial: J4-05A03507011632H17

look at this thread, from a few weeks ago http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=177358

I dont have many left, here is all i can find at the mo.

Discs Gone Bad:

Traxdata: D2-02A03504071720A06
Ridisc Xtreme: D2-20L23408150855C09

Discs not gone bad:

Unbranded Full Face Printable: D4-11A03509282213C22

I wonder if there's a connection to the codes printed in the inner ring, like where the Taiyo Yuden "GG" numbers would be. A friend gave be a bunch of printable RiData discs to burn for him last summer, those that burned great at 12x had an easy to read number in a sans-serif font in the hub. Those that WOPC typically forced down to 4x had a much harder to read (the letters were twice as short) code in the center.

Another good thought, tehGrue

OK, here's a G05 that the guy upstairs burned for me awhile back. Can't find the original scan, but I know the PIF/PIE levels are way higher than they were, so it appears I've caught this disc before it's messed up completely. They look OK for now, but no way do I trust this disc.

Edit: So far, the deterioration is quite slow, and as I said, it still looks OK...but I'm the over-careful type, so I shall be backing it up shortly

I'll grab the serials in a minute.

I posted a scan of it here, you were amazed in a good way, remember. Now if only could remember which thread it was in, I realy wish I could upgrade my memory like my PCs it would make like easier.

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=154 is a scan of an Arita G05, no longer readable but I got the stuff off so not worried about it any more.

EDIT: After looking around it was a G04, my bad will have to see if I still have any of the G05s to scan or ifI have binned them all.

LOL, I remember that scan! And I too have a couple of G04s from about 2 years ago, both still scan really nicely.

I had a very hard time finding these stampercodes. I had never noticed them!
One needs to find the right angle and the right light!!

Here you go:

My Maxell (degrading) from my original post:
- stampercode DR5A03-004
- serial (already posted) J4-08A03505063927C07

My Ridata (stable)
- stampercode DR5L23-03824
- serial (already posted) H4-06L23503113280D12

All my failed Traxdata were trashed, sorry...