CMC Magnetics CD-Rs

IHeartGaming · 06-04-2012

My CMC Magnetics CD-Rs, a 50-pack Staples spindle, and a 25-pack Memorex CD-R Music spindle, have not yet had ONE coaster.

Did I just happen to get a good batch of them? I've read (here and other places) that they are low-quality discs.

What are your inputs on my CMCs?

**Arachne** · 06-04-2012

Welcome to the forum!

I think unless you get an uber-crappy brand, CMC CDR media's pretty good - I generally have no problems with them.

We currently have a bunch of CMC-made TDK CDRs in the car, which get slung about without cases when we change them over. They're still working fine, although they may need a quick wipe now and then!

As for CMC being low-quality - IMO, not at all. But brand does play a part.

*kg_evilboy* · 06-04-2012

CMC media is not necessarily bad, both CD and DVD.

The bad reputation probably stems from their cyanine CD-R that they ceased making almost 10 years ago, and the fact that much CMC media is being sold under lower quality brands (E-Net: Datawrite, Ridisc etc.; Aldi/Tevion).

But CMC media can be found under higher quality brands as well (Ricoh, Maxell, TDK). These are generally good. As media prices have gone down a lot I usually buy Taiyo Yuden (JVC) though.

*Ibex* · 07-04-2012

As Arachne & kg_evilboy have already said, there is nothing inherently wrong with modern CMC CD-R. The dye seems to be stable enough & the construction sound. I can't recall ever experiencing a failed write (coaster), and the discs I wrote 5-7 years ago are still perfectly readable & show no sign of oxidation around the edges.

But the quality of their discs varies a lot and is largely brand dependent. Certain brands earned a reputation for consistently selling poor quality 'defective' grade discs which failed inspection at the factory. The store own brands are probably a lottery, but TDK etc. should be good discs. Avoid all defective-grade brands on principal (E-Net etc.).

Here is a recent scan of a CMC CD-R. A few years ago I received 600 Datasafe CMC CD-R in error (not the discs I ordered, refunded). Despite being an E-Net brand (

) they have been consistently good & make great everyday/semi-disposible discs. But this isn't the sort of quality we're used to from E-Net and I would still recommend avoiding them completely - I guess the quality control department had an off day and accidentally let these slip through.

The polycarbonate platter seems to be noticably thinner that other CD-R, presumably a cost-cutting measure (must get my micrometer out & measure them properly). The hub is thicker to maintain the correct laser to disc height. I wonder if CMC have a separate cheap disc line, or are they all like this now?

[OT]
I've still got a single unbranded CMC Magnetics cyanine CD-R with a gold reflective layer written 14-15 years ago, and so far it shows no signs of degredation. It is still readable & scans beautifully, if you ignore an E22 spike where a piece of the reflective layer flaked off (when the disc was new). The bonding of the reflective layer is rather poor and there appears to be no protective lacquer. But even where the dye is exposed to the air there is no visible degredation.

**pepst** · 08-04-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ibex

The polycarbonate platter seems to be noticably thinner that other CD-R, presumably a cost-cutting measure (must get my micrometer out & measure them properly). The hub is thicker to maintain the correct laser to disc height. I wonder if CMC have a separate cheap disc line, or are they all like this now?

Don't know about CMC Magnetics' CD-Rs, but their current "budget" (sold under B-grade brands like Ridisc, Memorex, K-Classic, etc.) DVDRs are much thinner then they used to be.
Also, MBIL's low cost DVD-Rs are extremely thin and they are probably being made from lower grade polycarbonate and with thinner dye and reflective layers. They scan awfully.
Princo took this cost saving approach to the extreme with their "Princo 24x Slim DVD-Rs".

*kg_evilboy* · 08-04-2012

OK, this is good to know. These discs are probably out of spec, and Princo's 24x DVD-Rs are not even supported at 20x by most drives.

But as media is so cheap nowadays, if I buy any new media at all it's Taiyo Yuden or some Verbatim, so it doesn't matter much.

06-04-2012	#1
IHeartGaming MyCE Rookie Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 27	CMC Magnetics CD-Rs My CMC Magnetics CD-Rs, a 50-pack Staples spindle, and a 25-pack Memorex CD-R Music spindle, have not yet had ONE coaster. Did I just happen to get a good batch of them? I've read (here and other places) that they are low-quality discs. What are your inputs on my CMCs?

06-04-2012	#2
Arachne Senior Administrator & Reviewer Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Tabby Towers, West of England Posts: 33,774	Welcome to the forum! I think unless you get an uber-crappy brand, CMC CDR media's pretty good - I generally have no problems with them. We currently have a bunch of CMC-made TDK CDRs in the car, which get slung about without cases when we change them over. They're still working fine, although they may need a quick wipe now and then! As for CMC being low-quality - IMO, not at all. But brand does play a part. __________________ Current drives: Samsung SE-S084C (TS02) + Samsung SH-S223F (SB03 RPC1 + other goodies) + TSST (Samsung) TS-H653F (DW10) + Samsung SH-S203N (SB02 RPC1 + other goodies) + Optiarc AD-5170S (1.12) + Litey LH-20A1H (LL0D) + Samsung SH-S182D (SB06 RPC1) x2 + LG E10N (JE07) + BenQ DW1650 (BCDC) + BenQ DW1640@164B (BEFB) + LG 4167B (DL13 TDB) + NEC ND-4551A (1.Z2) + LG GCE-8520B (1.00) + LiteOn SOHR-5239S (2S0B) Retired: LiteOn LDW-851@SOHW-832 + LiteOn SOHW-1693S + LG 4163B + Pioneer DVR-115D My Review PCs How to delete your upper and lower filters : How to check/enable DMA by Womble Click here to join MyCE.com and be part of our friendly community! Smile...people will wonder what you're up to

06-04-2012	#3
kg_evilboy CD Freaks Boy Toy Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Berlin, Germany Posts: 5,751	Re: CMC Magnetics CD-Rs CMC media is not necessarily bad, both CD and DVD. The bad reputation probably stems from their cyanine CD-R that they ceased making almost 10 years ago, and the fact that much CMC media is being sold under lower quality brands (E-Net: Datawrite, Ridisc etc.; Aldi/Tevion). But CMC media can be found under higher quality brands as well (Ricoh, Maxell, TDK). These are generally good. As media prices have gone down a lot I usually buy Taiyo Yuden (JVC) though. __________________ I'm a 太陽誘電の記録メディア fanboy. Stick to it and you most likely won't have any trouble (with degradation or compatibility and write errors). Preferred media codes: CD-R 97m24s01f; CD-RW 97m34s24f; DVD+R YUDEN000 T03; DVD-R TYG03; DVD+RW MKM A03; DVD-RW MKM 01RW6X; DVD+R DL MKM 003; DVD-R DL I avoid that format Facebook page: Say NO to overpriced books in Germany My collection: Plextor PX-716UF 1.09 (TLA #0202), Optiarc AD-7200A 1.06, Samsung SE-S224Q TS02, Plextor PX-712UF 1.04 (TLA #0104), Plextor PX-708UF2 1.02 (TLA #0102), Optiarc AD-7200A 1.06, Plextor PX-716UF 1.07 (TLA #0307), Lite-On LH-18A1H HL05, Philips JackRabbit JR32RWDVK P1.3, Philips JackRabbit JR24CDRW 1.01, LG GH22NP20 2.00, Matshita UJ-898 HC10, Lite-On LH-20A1H LL0D, Plextor PX-716UF 1.11 (TLA #0204), LG GSA-H22N 1.00, Plextor PX-716A 1.09 (TLA #0309) + Plextor PX-716A 1.09 (TLA #0309), BenQ DW1655 BCDB, Samsung TS-L632B TM31, Lite-On LTR-16101B TS0W Lite-On SHM-165P6SU MS0P (mechanical failure), Plextor PX-708UF2 1.?? (TLA #0102) (DVD optical part died), LG GSA-H10N @ H12N UJ12 (broken tray), BenQ DW1650 BCIC (sold), Lite-On SHW-16H5S @ 1635S YS0Z (lost in a fire), LG GCE-8527B 1.04 (optical part died), Samsung TS-L632H SC04 (sold), Canon Pixma iP4300 (printer head broken)

07-04-2012	#4
Ibex CDFreaks Resident Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Woostershire (UK) Posts: 1,617	Re: CMC Magnetics CD-Rs As Arachne & kg_evilboy have already said, there is nothing inherently wrong with modern CMC CD-R. The dye seems to be stable enough & the construction sound. I can't recall ever experiencing a failed write (coaster), and the discs I wrote 5-7 years ago are still perfectly readable & show no sign of oxidation around the edges. But the quality of their discs varies a lot and is largely brand dependent. Certain brands earned a reputation for consistently selling poor quality 'defective' grade discs which failed inspection at the factory. The store own brands are probably a lottery, but TDK etc. should be good discs. Avoid all defective-grade brands on principal (E-Net etc.). Here is a recent scan of a CMC CD-R. A few years ago I received 600 Datasafe CMC CD-R in error (not the discs I ordered, refunded). Despite being an E-Net brand () they have been consistently good & make great everyday/semi-disposible discs. But this isn't the sort of quality we're used to from E-Net and I would still recommend avoiding them completely - I guess the quality control department had an off day and accidentally let these slip through. The polycarbonate platter seems to be noticably thinner that other CD-R, presumably a cost-cutting measure (must get my micrometer out & measure them properly). The hub is thicker to maintain the correct laser to disc height. I wonder if CMC have a separate cheap disc line, or are they all like this now? [OT] I've still got a single unbranded CMC Magnetics cyanine CD-R with a gold reflective layer written 14-15 years ago, and so far it shows no signs of degredation. It is still readable & scans beautifully, if you ignore an E22 spike where a piece of the reflective layer flaked off (when the disc was new). The bonding of the reflective layer is rather poor and there appears to be no protective lacquer. But even where the dye is exposed to the air there is no visible degredation. __________________ "Sherlock Holmes once said that once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the answer. I, however, do not like to eliminate the impossible. The impossible has to it an integrity that the merely improbable often lacks." - Svlad Cjelli (aka Dirk Gently) [CENTER]

08-04-2012	#6
kg_evilboy CD Freaks Boy Toy Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Berlin, Germany Posts: 5,751	Re: CMC Magnetics CD-Rs OK, this is good to know. These discs are probably out of spec, and Princo's 24x DVD-Rs are not even supported at 20x by most drives. But as media is so cheap nowadays, if I buy any new media at all it's Taiyo Yuden or some Verbatim, so it doesn't matter much. __________________ I'm a 太陽誘電の記録メディア fanboy. Stick to it and you most likely won't have any trouble (with degradation or compatibility and write errors). Preferred media codes: CD-R 97m24s01f; CD-RW 97m34s24f; DVD+R YUDEN000 T03; DVD-R TYG03; DVD+RW MKM A03; DVD-RW MKM 01RW6X; DVD+R DL MKM 003; DVD-R DL I avoid that format Facebook page: Say NO to overpriced books in Germany My collection: Plextor PX-716UF 1.09 (TLA #0202), Optiarc AD-7200A 1.06, Samsung SE-S224Q TS02, Plextor PX-712UF 1.04 (TLA #0104), Plextor PX-708UF2 1.02 (TLA #0102), Optiarc AD-7200A 1.06, Plextor PX-716UF 1.07 (TLA #0307), Lite-On LH-18A1H HL05, Philips JackRabbit JR32RWDVK P1.3, Philips JackRabbit JR24CDRW 1.01, LG GH22NP20 2.00, Matshita UJ-898 HC10, Lite-On LH-20A1H LL0D, Plextor PX-716UF 1.11 (TLA #0204), LG GSA-H22N 1.00, Plextor PX-716A 1.09 (TLA #0309) + Plextor PX-716A 1.09 (TLA #0309), BenQ DW1655 BCDB, Samsung TS-L632B TM31, Lite-On LTR-16101B TS0W Lite-On SHM-165P6SU MS0P (mechanical failure), Plextor PX-708UF2 1.?? (TLA #0102) (DVD optical part died), LG GSA-H10N @ H12N UJ12 (broken tray), BenQ DW1650 BCIC (sold), Lite-On SHW-16H5S @ 1635S YS0Z (lost in a fire), LG GCE-8527B 1.04 (optical part died), Samsung TS-L632H SC04 (sold), Canon Pixma iP4300 (printer head broken)

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