So many burning speeds . . .

Am burning audio CD's.
iTunes Preferences/ Burning/ Prefered speed; [shows: x1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, maximum possible]. Q: Why so many choices?
Thanks in advance.

I'm no expert, but the gist of what I understand is the faster the burn speed, the faster the CD gets made. At 1X it will take quite awhile tp burn a CD-seems to me that at 1X if you have 45 min worth of music it will take 45 min to burn a CD ( someone correct me if I'm wrong) But I have no idea if quality will be the same for faster burns as in say VHS tapes. Anyone?

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CD burner error: Burn Speed Too Fast

Whenever I try to burn a CD on my eMac an error message says
"iTunes can't burn this CD because the burn speed is too fast for your CD burner or media. Choose a lower speed in the burning pane of iTunes Preferences then try burning again".
It even says that when the burning speed is on x1. It says that on every speed. So does anyone know how I can fix this problem and make it be able to burn CDs? Is it because I have nearly 10,000 songs on my iTunes, so that is somehow making it slow down?
The blank disc I'm using is "High Quality Pure Silver CD-R 80 Tevion"
It has 700 megabytes (80 minutes) on it, and I want to burn a CD that is 60 minutes, exactly. So, help? Thanks.

Let me see if I can help you understand your delima.
Just because you buy a very expensive Media Brand, doesn't mean it is any good. There is such a wide range of quality in CD's and DVD's it is really hard to select what is considered to be the best.
A very good guide to use for Media in general for both CD, and DVD's is below.
http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm
Next there are a couple of KEY points to remember when burning, these will help you.
Never have any other Applications open when burning.
I tend to use either CD-R or DVD-R Media, the reason is these 2 formats are the most widely used and recognized in all Players, and Computers alike.
Always choose the slowest speed to get a high quality burn.
This next suggestion is probably the most important.
Not all CD-R's and DVD-R's are the same
Read the packaging carefully
Many will explain that they will burn at all speeds from 1X upwards
This will help insure that your burner Software will choose the correct speed.
Don

Burn speed - does it really matter?

FYI I use iDVD 6 and am wondering about the burn speed issue. I was given a stack of . . . um, no yelling from the gallery please . . . TDK 16x dvd-r and I really cannot see any quality difference between a 2x, 4x, or 8x burn as some posters claim. Should I? If I use a superior dvd as suggested in the forum will it matter?
BTW I think the quality of my slideshows on my TV (4:3 18 yr old Sony 32") are beyond acceptable. Shimmering edges, pixelization, shakes etc. are not problems I've encountered but maybe this is for another post.

um, no yelling from the gallery please . . . TDK 16x dvd-r and I really cannot see any quality difference between a 2x, 4x, or 8x burn as some posters claim. Should I? If I use a superior dvd as suggested in the forum will it matter?
Depends on the burner. If you own an old pioneer DVR-103 thru 107 then I'd say yes burn speed will matter (slower is better for older systems). But if you own a Pioneer 110U or higher (found on newer systems mainly) then burn at the speed you see fit.
Can't say I'd recommend using TDK nor Memorex medias on older macs, But many newer macs have no issues at all. You may be one of those people. I would suggest you at least try using Verbatim or Maxell DVD-R and see if you notice any quality difference on your own system or set top DVD Player/s.
Now here's the thing, you may not see any visible difference today, and maybe not even in a few months. But I can almost guarantee you will see a difference in a year or two from now when the organic dyes in this lower quality media begin to fade and render your DVD (or at least parts of the DVD) unreadable.

Max DVD burn speed 2x!?!

Hey all, is anyone else not getting full burn speed on their iMacs? Mine only gives me the option of 2x as the fastest. My external LaCie will let me burn at 4x with the same media. What gives?

Let me see if I can help out.
Just because your drive says it is capable of 8X doesn't mean it will burn at 8X.
Depending on what you are using to try to burn with in the way of software, I suggest you burn at a slower Speed. like 2X. Apples Software is entry level and it works but many users find harder to use than the top of the line in burning software like Roxio's Toast 7.
Here is the explination on the different DVD's.
http://www.videohelp.com/dvd
Just bear one thing in mind.
When it comes to DVD Players, Formats, and Burners, of the hundreds of different manufactures, All are opting to be the Industry Standard, and it appears they insert there little chinks that almost force users to use there products exclusively.
There is always a backlash from these marketing ploys.
In a perfect world you would think any DVD would work in any DVD Player and Computer but sorry it is not so there are so many things that come into play. Format, Speed, Brand, Software used. Any one or combination can affect the process.
The problem is multi-dimensional.
First check in your particular profiler on EXACTLY what type(FORMAT) of DISK's your burner will burn.
Next please do not just randomly go out and buy a spool of 30 50 or 100 disc's because they are on sale.
There is a HUGE difference in the type format disc's you buy
There is also a HUGE difference in the BRAND you choose, some are junk.
There is also a HUGE Difference in the SPEED of the media you choose.
If any one or a combination of any of the 3 mentioned above can cause burn error's or no burn at all or spit the disk out.
So it is a good idea to do a little homework on your Optical Drive and see just exactly what it is capable of and what it will use for media.
(ONE LAST NOTE)
Many of the Media Manufactures are becomming aware that many of the Apple Burners are having trouble with there Media. Maxell has just come out with a brand new one that is. Maxell 16X DVD-R.
The key is read the packaging. this new media tells you that it will burn at any speed from 1X through 16X, and it works very well on the older Optical Drives. I also opt to use the individual that include the cases there seems to be much better quality, not like that of the spools.
Remember Apples Drives to date are much pickier than those used in the PC community.
Cheers Don

Max burning speed for iMac drive?

Internal SuperDrive is MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-875
Should I burn at 8x or 16x?
Alexa

Hi
In iDVD up to version 6 You can't set burn speed.
In iDVD08 and 09 - You can
If You use Roxio Toast™ - You can
Apple Disk Util tool - You can set here too
If You don't select iDVD sets speed acordingly to DVD disk eg x16
As faster - as many write errors
I use x1 when able to select
On older iDVD I use DVD x2 disks.
I would
• Use iDVD to do a DiskImage
• Use Disk Util tool or Toast™ to make the burn at x1 speed
Using iDVD 4 - then You need a Hack to make it able to do the DiskImage
Hurz and Pfurz" on
http://homepage.mac.com/geerlingguy/macsupport/mac_help/pages/15-burn_idvdother.html
Yours Bengt W

Which burning speed selection to use in Toast 7 Titanium?

Hi everyone,
From what I have ready here and there on some postings, it is supposed to be better to burn at lower speeds to get better quality burns.
Toast 7 Titanium offer a choice of burning speeds which is convenient.
The question is: if I want to burn a 16x DVD at 8x speed, do I chose the 8x selection or the 8x DVD selection?
Thanks in advance for any help.
Rio.

I'm not in to paralysis by analysis. I doubt that with any of the current disks, one could tell the difference between the different recording speeds. There are those that will tell you the stars need to be aligned correctly...... The price of the blanks, allows one to record at different speeds and then compare them to see if they can hear the difference. Use your wife/girlfriend/sister/daughter as the judge, as men (very few anyway) don't have the hearing women do. As for playing in old players, DVD and CD, the -R versions of the discs are the most successful. If you are buying the $2.00 each discs, I would also compare those to the $0.25 each discs recorded at the same speed. The encoding scheme used for the recording is far more important than the discs you use. Some of the lossless encodings are better in their reproductions than others. But, save for iTunes, you won't catch me using anything but the full bandwidth.
My view is that one needs to conduct objective tests themselves, instead of following the advice carte blanche from these boards. You'll thank yourself for proving many of them wrong, or right. It saves the wallet doing so.
Michael

Internal burner speed

hi to all,
I've been using DVD studio pro for a while with no particular problems. Yet sometimes i am a bit disappointed in the end quality of the projects.
i like to stick to CBR 6.5 max bitrate, using mpeg2 encoder via FCP ( i use DVDstudio Pro3). I sometimes get very discreet horizontal lines that rapidly cut through the final image... kind of like a 'line break' or line drop out.
I tried many combinations and it rarely but still happens.
So i thought maybe the problem has to do with my burning speed.
I use the built-in pioneer drive in my Silverdoor dual 1ghz G4. And just now realised i never checked the DVD burning speed. Can anyone tell me how, through dvdstudio pro i can get to the burning speed settings. And if you guys think that could be causing the lines mentioned above...
(long post for simple question, sorry.)
Thank you for your time.
tee

You can't get burning speed settings inside DVD SP, because there are none.
That computer is likely a Power Mac G4 Dual 1GHZ 512MB/80G/SuperDrive in a stock configuration.
As such the Superdrive specs are: Burn/Read DVD at 2X/6X, write CD-R(W) at 8X/4X, reads CD at 24X.
It doesn't sound like your burn speeds.
What blank media do you and what a.pack settings for audio.

Slowest Burn Speed

Hello All,
For the longest time I have been an advocate of burning at the slowest possible burn speed. I just need to amend that advice. I have now started using the "middle" of the road burn speed which varies by the media and the burner. For years, I have had my stash of Verbatim 1-4x media and burning at 1x was preferred. Well getting 1-4x Verbatim's isn't really an option now I am usually getting 8x. With my Pioneer 115 burner, using 8x media, I get 4x, 6x, 8x, and 12x as my choices (using Toast) for burn speeds; go figure. In any case, with that scenario, I am choosing 6x. I consider 4x, 6x, and 8x to be my options with 8x media. I know I don't want 8x, too fast. But now I don't want 4x either for the opposite reason: too slow. I say too slow because the media and the burner are designed to burn at the higher speeds. The entire reason for burning at the slower speed was to reduce errors making a disc easier to decode across a variety of players. However, I was just reading the other day (and I wish I could find it again) that the principle of a slower burn still holds true but now you need to take into account that media and burners have improved to burn at faster speeds and using too slow of a speed can result in more errors, not less, since the media was designed for higher speeds.
Mike
BTW- every disc you burn has errors, it's the nature of the beast. All optical drives (computer or otherwise) include error correction technology if you will. We just want to make sure that we don't get so many errors as to make the disc unreliable.
Message was edited by: Mike Bisom1

I've read that article before. It's 85-90% accurate overall and 99% accurate when applied exclusively to newer models. I agree with most of what is stated except the very last line under the Burn paragraph which states:
Don't be fooled by the mythes that slower is better.
The truth is slower is better on older macs but not always on newer macs.
I happen to own 4 macs and three burners or S-Drives and they are as follows:
The original Burner that apple shipped in my G4 733 DA which is a Pioneer 103 S-Drive. (Still works great btw when transplanted to a separate G4 internally). Indeed, "slower is better on this particular drive" when burning to 4x media (which as you pointed out is now becoming scarce being replaced by 8x and 16x neither of which is very palatable to this particular drive).
So now my own G4 now has 2 burners a Pioneer 110U Dual Layer (via external FW enclosure) plus an internal Pioneer 107 which burns only to SL on DVD-R . Both these drives do well with higher speed medias. I purchased the 110U for burning mainly to dual layer on all 4 macs.
Bottom line is the articles you mentioned above applies very well to the Pioneer 110U and later models (but not necessarily to previous models when using 4x media).
Hope the above is helpful information but if not, come on back.

DVD burning speed dropped

I have a powerbook and when i first got it and went to burn a dvd i had the option of a drop down menu box and it would show up to 8x for burning. Using the same media when i go to burn in the box it just goes to 2x anyone have a clue as what happen?
Thanks
Paul

In Toast you can select the burn speed you want up to the maximum your Superdrive will allow.
But there is a lot to be said for using lower burn speeds: 2x or 4x max.
Using 16x DVD media is fine - in fact it is difficult to buy any other - but there is a consensus in the Apple Support Forums that a slower burn is a better burn and that the most reliable brands are Verbatim, Maxell and Fuji, all DVD-R, burned at 2x or 4x (slow burns are better burns!). I always use Toast for burning.
I generally use Verbatim and when I can't get those, Fuji, and have never had a coaster from either.
Plenty of coasters in the early days from Sony, TDK and a few others.
The term "Best" means the fastest speed that the drive told Toast it can write to a specific disc. The drive's firmware and info on the disc decide what speed burns are available. When you press the speed setting button in Toast (after inserting a disc) you'll likely see some speeds in italics and some in bold face. The ones in bold face are supported by that media on that drive. The fastest one is what Toast calls Best.
Audio CDs in particular should be burned at the lowest supported speed.
Verification is a good indicator the disc is burned okay. However, other DVD players can still have problems with the disc. Media problems with various drives is not uncommon. Slower burning may reduce the chance of those problems, and is one of the reasons why RW (read/write) media is always rated slower than DVD-R.
There are some interesting facts here:
http://www.osta.org/technology/dvdqa/dvdqa4.htm and here:
http://www.osta.org/technology/dvdqa/dvdqa4.htm
But many will tell you that the 'slower burn is best' theory is outdated, as in this useful article:
http://www.digitalfaq.com/guides/media/dvd-media-concepts.htm
Who really knows? At the end of the day, if your home-made DVD was verified by Toast and will play anywhere on anybody's DVD player, then that is the result we are all after!

DVD burner speed

When I first got my computer (17" Macbook Pro), the DVD burner worked fine. I was able to burn at max speed - 8x, have a DVD done in under 10 minutes. At that point I was using Memorex blanks.
When I ran out of them, I didn't want to spend that much money on more, so got some generic staples brand. Even though they were labeled 8x compatible, they would only burn at 2x max. This was quite annoying, as it took about /2 hour now, but I ascribed it to the fact that they were cheap quality, and it was the price to pay for my frugality. However, I just bought a new stack of DVDs, this time Imation, supposed to be good upto 16x, but I am experiencing the same problem, being able to burn at no more then 2x still, so I now feel it may be something with the drive. Does anyone know what might be causing this problem? I have tried using both toast and disk utility, and both do the same thing...

Welcome to the discussions,
I am sure that most users are not aware of the big difference in the Media.
http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm
In a nutshell there are several things that can, and do affect the quality and speed of your project.
The Media you purchase.
The Burning Software you use.
The burner you have in your machine.
Any one or combination of the above can effect the project.
There are so many Formats, and differences in the formats that the casual user is not aware of the differences.
http://www.videohelp.com/dvd
The sad thing is that there are no step by step instruction and information to explain the in's and out's of copying DVD's in
Audio.
Data.
Video.
You will find that upwards of 95% of all burning issues are caused by using cheap or poor quality media or using the improper format of disc's.
There are so many restrictions placed on the Firmware of the Optical Drives used there in, is the problem.
That is the reason I recommend using DVD-R media and I also recommend the use of the newer 16X media that will support burning at 1X through 16X.
I also recommend letting the software do the work in Automatic rather then fiddleing with the burning speed.
So as you can see, the use of a high quality media and the correct format will make a very big difference. The guide I supplied above will give you the right direction. I personally use Maxell 16X DVD-R the reason I use this media, it is the highest quality, and the speed will allow you to use this media in older Optical Drives as well as the newest. This media or one like it will support just about all burners.
Hopefully this should help
Don

I can't burn a cd of my own created music. I either get the error 4261, or after "Checking media" the process stops and nothing further happens. Have tried different burn speeds and cds. Have re-installed iTunes.Any suggestions please?

I can't burn a cd of my own created music. I either get the error 4261, or after "Checking media" the process stops and nothing further happens. Have tried different burn speeds and cds. Have re-installed iTunes.Any suggestions please?
wm0203

Sounds like the CD drive died. Luckily they cost next to nothing to replace. Or get an external LaCie instead. I have a dual G4 1.25 and the CD drive was always so anemic I use a LaCie Porsche with it.

Can't burn disc via iTunes. Burn speed too fast. AGAIN!

"iTunes can't burn this CD because the burn speed is too fast for your CD burner or media. Choose a lower speed in the burning pane of iTunes Preferences then try burning again".
I have been having on going problems burning CD’s in iTunes for YEARS, and I know I am not the only one. I get the error message above. Having checked the forum at the time, and posted for help, I am know there is no real solution except to change brand of disc.
Thing is, now I can’t get ANY brands to work. I’ve been through Verbatim, Maxell, JVC, Sony, but none work. The only brand that would work were TDK audios which I can no longer find anywhere.
I know its not the burner, as Toast works fine, and I know I am not alone. Anyone got any ideas?
Even after years Apple seem to be blanking this question. It’s very frustrating not being able to burn my purchased itunes downloads to disc.

To anyone who is interested I think I may have found a possible solution. When you put a blank disc in the drive, wait about 30-60 seconds or so for it to stop spinning before burning.
This seems to work. It's a bit sticky but eventually works. I tried both TDK & Maxwell discs and 9 out of 11 worked. Absolutely no reason why the other 2 didn't, but it's a lot better than none.

What are the advantages of varying write speeds and burn speeds?

What are the advantages of varying write speeds and burn speeds?

The slower the speed, the fewer burn errors (or, in other words, you'll burn fewer "coasters"). I've always tried to burn at a slower speed, i.e. 2x - 4x. I'd rather wait a few minutes more and I've never had any burn errors.

Issues burning discs on iTunes/ error message about burn speed

I've never had problems burning discs on iTunes until today, I tried to burn one of my playlists on a Memorex CD-R.
- The burn seemed to be going OK at first, but the drive started making an obnoxious, loud noise by the 4th song out of 16.
- The progress bar in iTunes then said "burning disc, finalizing" even though the CD had not been finished.
- The drive practically launches the CD out, causing it to drop, rather than ejecting half way and holding it like usual. An error message came up saying something along the lines of, "iTunes cannot burn this CD because the burn speed is too high for the CD drive or media. Lower the burn speed in the burning pane of preferences"
- I tried it again without changing the burn speed (which I suppose was set to maximum) thinking it was something to do with the disc. The same thing happened the second time I tried to burn the disc. The reason I didn't change the burn speed when it asked me to was because I'd never been prompted about the burn speed and I've used the whole stack of these Memorex CD's without problems.
I am trying to figure out where the problem really lies - does this sound like an iTunes issue (which needs an update except that my system does as well), CD issue or a drive issue? Is there a more reasonable burn speed I should try next time?
Any help would be so appreciated, thank you!!
Message was edited by: Behnaz

Try a different brand. Highly recommended:
FUJI
TDK
Verbatim
Make sure the CDs are not dirty, smudged and/or scratched.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=50448 How to Handle and Clean CD and DVD Discs
Your drive may need cleaning. Cleaning kits can be purchased from any store that sells CD/DVDs.
Repair permissions after each burning session.

IDVD - what brand of disk and burn speed?

I have an ibook and bought a Sony DVD burner. I have OS 10.3.9, and the Sony DVD burner said it was MAC compatible for OS 10.4 or later. So I got Patchburn and the DVD works. However, I've got a really crappy burn when i watch it on a DVD player. I read somewhere on here that it could be the make of the blank DVD, that Verbatim's are best (why?), and that it might be my recording speed...instead of 20x perhaps 1x would be better (I believe that's what I read). My questions are this: what are good DVDs to purchase for recording, and how do I control the burning speed for the Sony or is it within iDVD?

Verbatim discs are highly recommended around here; I also like Sony discs. Higher quality discs have fewer manufacturing errors, and the better dyes are more durable/compatible. Here's a discussion:
www.digitalfaq.com/media/burnquality.htm
Slower burn speeds also mean fewer errors on the final disc. Most of the time it takes to "burn" a DVD is actually encoding the video files, so the extra time it takes to burn at 1x or 2x isn't that much different than 8x (that must be quite a burner at 20x DVDs).
To best control the burn speed, there are two options but both involve creating a disc image (in iDVD, Save a Disc Image). This virtual DVD can then be tested, and if it works well, you'll then copy the DVD onto your media. Burning the copy is accomplished with Roxio Toast or Apple's Disk Utility.
John

So many burning speeds . . .

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