Quality DVD+/-r (etc.) media in 2011?

mikeroephonics · 05-29-2011, 06:42 AM

Quality DVD+/-r (etc.) media in 2011?

I heard a while back it is Taiyo Yuden.

I've got some older (maybe 2 years) Sony Accucore and Verbatim thermal printer DVD-rs that are just about empty. I've had good success with them for may years now. Which are the best to get for long-term storage?

Some people have Spring cleaning. I have Spring data backups.

Thanks.

ngarjuna · 05-29-2011, 06:52 AM

Personally, I only use Sony media because of a hard lesson I learned a while back. I was having problems with my Sony drive at the time and, when I finally called for RMA, they tried the whole "your problem is that you're not using Sony media." I vowed then that I would always use a 'supported' media so that if anything ever happened the customer services people wouldn't be able to enrage me by blaming red herrings like the media brand.

I doubt Sony media is any better or worse than any of the other brands manufactured on that exact line (which, as I understand it, are several).

mikeroephonics · 05-29-2011, 07:05 AM

Hi, thanks for the fast reply.

I think Sony would still make for a quality discs. Same with Verbatim. The Taiyo Yuden's have been said to have a very low error rate when burning redbook discs to send in for duplication.

I've seen quite quite a few mastering engineers on various forums praise them. I don't know if this is the result of groupthink or if their reasoning is a valid one. I'd hope valid, given the importance of backing up client data to quality formats!

Mike

ngarjuna · 05-29-2011, 07:13 AM

Yeah, there are a lot of variables that are outside of my expertise. But I can say that with my Sony drive and Sony media, I haven't had a single problem with CDs or DVDs either in terms of burning or retrieving from older disks (since we fixed what ended up being a firmware problem with my original drive). Ever since then I've used that combination with sturdy results. I'm afraid to try to find a 'better' solution =).

mikeroephonics · 05-29-2011, 07:18 AM

Oh yeah, I'm also ordering a burner (getting an entire i7 2600K DAW today from Newegg

.)

Here's the burner:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...scrollFullInfo

Honestly, I hope Sony can always deliver quality optical discs, especially considering they designed the CD with Philips 30 years ago. So far, so good! I wish I could say the same thing for some of their other products.

reapercurious · 05-30-2011, 07:42 AM

I'm starting to count the years since I've bought cds or DVD's, I'm happy to say!

mikeroephonics · 05-30-2011, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reapercurious

I'm starting to count the years since I've bought cds or DVD's, I'm happy to say!

Do you just back up to HDDs now? I do keep at least 2 HDD backups, but I don't trust them enough to make them my only backups.

Bezmotivnik · 05-30-2011, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikeroephonics

I think Sony would still make for a quality discs. Same with Verbatim. The Taiyo Yuden...

Taiyo Yuden actually manufactures media. Verbatim doesn't and I don't think Sony does. They didn't last time I looked, quite a few years ago.

I used to have a program that scanned discs for manufacturing information. It was very interesting to see "quality" media and generic media were often coming from the same low-end contract manufacturer.

mikeroephonics · 05-30-2011, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bezmotivnik

I used to have a program that scanned discs for manufacturing information. It was very interesting to see "quality" media and generic media were often coming from the same low-end contract manufacturer.

That sounds very useful! Do you happen to recall the program name? Perhaps this is it:
http://dvd.identifier.cdfreaks.com/
(dvd identifier v5.2.0 [January 10, 2009])

Here it is in action. I just ran this test on a Verbatim Inkjet printable DVD-r:

I also ran across this site for DVD media reviews:
http://www.digitalfaq.com/reviews/dvd-media.htm

TimOBrien · 05-30-2011, 02:43 PM

I use Taiyo Yuden inkjet-printable dvd-r's for archival backups and really important stuff.

I also use Phillips inkjet-printable dvd-r's for commercial video projects.
Never had a complaint or problem with 'em.

BTW: I've got cd-rs/dvd-rs going back nearly 15 years (cd-burners were $3500 and 1x discs were $25 EACH) and they all still read just fine....

PAPT · 05-30-2011, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ngarjuna

Personally, I only use Sony media because of a hard lesson I learned a while back. I was having problems with my Sony drive at the time and, when I finally called for RMA, they tried the whole "your problem is that you're not using Sony media." I vowed then that I would always use a 'supported' media so that if anything ever happened the customer services people wouldn't be able to enrage me by blaming red herrings like the media brand.

I doubt Sony media is any better or worse than any of the other brands manufactured on that exact line (which, as I understand it, are several).

OT,

That's amazingly self serving on the part of Sony.
Their players should work with any decent media.

With an attitude like that it sounds like I shouldn't but Sony.

Hardrock69 · 06-03-2011, 11:26 AM

Verbatims are the brand that is usually top-notch. Taiyo Yudens are the best as far as I know.

mikeroephonics · 06-03-2011, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hardrock69

Verbatims are the brand that is usually top-notch. Taiyo Yudens are the best as far as I know.

My experience with Verbatim discs has been positive throughout the years.

I keep hearing Taiyo Yuden is very good, if not the best around.

SafeandSound · 06-06-2011, 10:37 AM

I burnt masters for a client today using Taiyo Yuden CD-R's.

0.3 c1 errors average per second is typical.

Red Book Spec allows 220.I use a Plextor 712A burner (the best that exists).

Much more expensive but perfect for mastering and authoring purposes, it is nonsense to choose anything else for critical purposes.

jamesp · 06-10-2011, 05:39 AM

In my experience, the only brand where I can recommend all of their products is Taiyo Yuden. Verbatim is a brand name of Mistubishi Chemical Corporation and I've found that they make good DVD's but you need to be careful with their CD's. Verbatim Datalife PLUS discs are fine but any other Verbatim CD's should be avoided.

Sony used to rebrand Taiyo Yuden discs but they also make their own which aren't good. The same goes for Fuji - if you can find ones made by Taiyo Yuden they'll be OK but their other discs are poor.

James.