Preparation Tips for CD Duplication

The master CD or DVD disk, is the one you will provide to your CD or DVD vendor for either
replication or duplication of the media. Below, you will find some tips designed to help you
create a high quality master disc:

1. Always use the highest quality media that you can obtain, as all media isn't the same. Do
your research, take your time, then choose a brand that will produce a high quality disc each
and every time you duplicate or replicate.

2. Avoid copying from a network source. If the source files for your disk are on a network
drive, copy the files to your local disk before you burn a disc. If you can't move the files to your local drive, try using the copy to hard drive first feature. When doing this, your burning software will create a temporary image file during the burning process. Once the burning has been completed, the temporary file will be deleted.

3. You should always avoid burning on a laptop computer that is running on low battery power.
The fluctations that will occur in the available battery power may cause you to have poor results
in your duplication.

4. Always make sure that you finalize your disc. If you fail to finalize, the disc won't play back. Finalizing will also help increase the reading compability in other CD-ROM drives.

5. Never use the packet writing method to burn a master disc. This method is very common with burning drives that have re-writing capabilities. This method will produce discs that can't be read on many CD-ROM drives.

6. Avoid any type of impact or movement of the drive during burning. Doing so can cause the
laser to skip or jump tracks, which will lead to errors or a bad disc.

7. If available, use the "burn-proof" feature. This feature will allow the drive to slow down the burn speed in the event the computer can't supply the data fast enough. Although this can increase the burn time, the quality of the disc will be much better.

8. You should avoid having multiple applications open when burning, especially those that
access the Internet or a network. This can hinder your computer's ability to supply data
to the burner drive at the necessary rate.

If you follow the above tips, you should produce a master disc of excellent quality. A master disc is something you'll want perfect, which is why you shouldn't take any risks.

Musicians and CD Duplication

These days, technology is always available for any inspiring musician to record, create, and even
duplicate CDs. The duplication of CDs will involve CD-R media. CD-R media prices have dropped a lot over the last several years, making them affordable for anyone who wants to use them.

If your band is ready to start selling CDs, your best option may be to have your CDs replicated.
Replicated CDs are the same CDs that you'll find in music stores by major label artists. They all
have excellent artwork printed on the CD inserts, nice tray card inserts, screened art on the CD,
and they are even shrink wrapped.

The retail CDs that you buy aren't duplicated, they are replicated. This means that an exact replication of your master CD has been stamped out on all of the other CDs. If you are serious about selling your music for profit, replication is the way to go.

The fact is, most stores simply won't sell duplicated CDs. Duplicated CDs can be against the law,
which is the main reason retail stores simply won't carry them. Replicated CDs let the stores
know that the CD is legit, and they will almost always carry those CDs.

For musicians and inspiring bands, CD duplication can tend to be a bit more expensive than that
of replication. To duplicate CDs, you need a computer with a CD burner, your CD-R media, cases, and a lot of man hours.

With CD replication, you can get many more copies, professional artwork, a barcode for inventory, and cases included. Replication is obviously to expensive for those looking to simply back up pictures and data on a personal computer, although the prices are just right for musicians looking to make profit off of their CDs.

Iron Maiden - Can I play With Madness?

The increased use of synths creates an interesting dynamic here, for while Harris' bass is as plunky (perhaps too plunky) as ever, the guitars and keys are forced to complement one another within the highly melodic atmosphere. For this reason, I'd consider it one of the 'least heavy' of Maiden's efforts, but that's not really a major issue, since the music generally delivers the goods. Of course, coming after a masterpiece like Somewhere in Time, there is bound to be some disappointment. Here it's just that I felt a few of the songs were lacking, with some less than spectacular, phoned in lead work. But Dickinson compensates with a full force performance, both manic and melodic. Believe it or not though, this is the first album where I can remember feeling that Maiden were becoming 'old'. Not in a bad way, mind ye, but when you had bands like Helloween or Fates Warning taking this newly defined 'power metal' to new speeds and energetic heights unheard of by the originators (Maiden, Priest, Accept, and Dio-era Sabbath), it was growing increasingly hard to think of Maiden on the precipice where they once sat proudly. But with this aging has come acceptance.

Music CD-R And Data CD-R

People who are new to computers and duplication, will sometimes confuse CD-R music media with CD-R data media. While confusing them is easy to do, the two are different indeed. Even if you have some experience with computers, confusing them is very easy to do.

As you may or may not know, there are differences between music CD-R and data CD-R disks. The obvious difference is, of course, the name. With one named CD-R music and one named CD-R data, you know there has to be some type of difference between the two.

What's known is that there are indeed technical differences in what is embedded in blank music
CDs when compared to blank data CDs. These differences center upon bytes that are within
the sub channels of the blank music disks.

This doesn't affect the quality, as both audio and data can be duplicated onto both music CD-R
disks and data CD-R disks. You can burn data onto music CD-R, and music onto data CD-R media without any problems. Keep in mind, whether or not you get data on a music CD-R will depend on what type of hardware you use to duplicate the CD.

If you plan to use a PC to do all of your burning, it won't matter. A PC doesn't differentiate
between music CD-R and data CD-R. PCs will see a blank media CD and duplicate information on it that pertains to the settings you have outlined in the software you plan to use to burn the CD.

If you plan to use a seperate CD burner, it may or may not let you burn data or music on
a generic blank or data CD-R. Some hardware are funny like that, as they only want you to
use blank media with well known brand names that they have approved of.

If you plan to do most of your CD duplication on a computer, it really doesn't matter which
type of blank CD-R you use. They will both work fine in most cases when you store either
music or data. When storing data, you have a limit of 700 MB, while music will have a limit
of a little over an hour of tunes.

For your duplication needs, computers are the ideal way to copy media. You can use equipment
outside of a computer and CD burner, although you'll need to check the operations manual
and see what they recommend for media. If you have a computer or access to one, it can do
wonders in the areas of music and data CD-R duplication.

Intro To CD Mastering

Even though many assume that the mixing of the seperate audio tracks is the final step, a recording should always be mastered well in order to sound great. CD mastering is the final chance for creative input when you create a compact disc. After the discs has been mastered, it can be printed, reproduced, and then sold.

The process of mastering a CD actually involves several steps. The first step is putting the songs, or tracks at this point in the correct order. The length of time between the songs is also adjusted, along with the editing of the songs. Any unlisted or secret songs on the CD are normally added at this point as well.

There are several ways that you can go about mastering a CD. First of all, the mix can be
sent to a professional CD mastering engineer, which is what professional musicians normally
decide to do.

The mastering engineers will often work in their own mastering facilities, which are very different from standard studios, in the fact that they have much less gear and are designed for the best possible playback of the mix as possible in order to fix anything that's wrong.

Aside from mastering engineers, CDs can also be mastered at home using computer software. This option is normally more realistic for unsigned artists or musicians who are just starting out
with their music. Depending on the software quality and skill of the individual doing the mastering, the CD may turn out perfect or it may sound very unprofessional.

You can also refer to online CD mastering as another option. Cds that are mastered online can be great, as instead of sending a mix to a mastering engineer, the mix is instead sent via the Internet. To do this, you'll need a high speed Internet connection.

The cheapest way to go about mastering a CD is with free mastering. Artists and musicians may
choose to use free mastering programs with demos or other earlier recordings that artists
will use to send to major record labels to generate some interest in their music.

The major differences with a professional CD and an amateur recording is normally found in
the mastering. Every song that you hear played on the radio is thoroughly mastered in order
to sound better.

While you can master using free programs or your computer, a professional CD mastering
engineer is normally the best way to do business if your band is looking to make a profit from
your music.

Metallica: Fade to Black (Live in Sydney)

Part of the key to full understanding the Metallica conundrum is realizing that, in spite of their heavily influential role in shaping thrash metal, they never really fully left the NWOBHM influences that they first began toying with at their inception. There have always been a few slower songs here and there that have hinted that while they played a little too fast for heavy metal most of the time, that said style had at least as equal of an impact as the faster, grittier punk tendencies that they picked up from Motorhead. This is ultimately why you can have widespread adoration for Metallica and a few other melodically driven acts such as Megadeth and Anthrax, while much of the less consonant sounding bands (save Slayer) are seen more as a cult phenomenon.

“Fade To Black” is revealing of this as it contains very little in way of a thrash riff assault, relying more on a sort of folksy acoustic theme with a hint of metallic sorrow and fatalism. The guitar line that shapes the verse would later be recycled in various formats in the famous/infamous “Unforgiven” series, none of which really carry the same level of charm. It also introduces a quirky notion of a voiceless chorus, perhaps at the behest of the band’s Diamond Head influences where riff work was given a prominent role independent of either vocal or lead guitar work.

As things progress, the song pulls out a variation on the famed “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” riff from out of nowhere, until ultimately things settle into a seemingly perpetual lead break where Kirk seems to be channeling “Free Bird”, though thankfully for a shorter duration. The lead playing on here is actually one of the better moments for Mr. Blues Box with a few occasional minor scales, as a keen sense of structure keeps things familiar. Ultimately where this song succeeds is that it is actually a song, albeit a long one, and the lyrical content tends to come off as a genuine assertion of misery, rather than a bunch of witty quotations and analogies that would tickle the stunted intellects of a generation of culture zombies (*cough* “The Unforgiven 2”).

The strange thing about this song is that although it was received with mild reservations by the metal community upon the release of “Ride The Lightning”, it didn’t really rise to the level of being an addictive radio play favorite until more recently. This has 80s clichés written all over it, along with a few 70s ones to go along, and the only thing that probably prevented it from becoming an all out hit was its time length. But regardless to whether it’s a hit, or more important from a thrash metal standpoint, whether it’s thrash, it is an excellent song that provides a nice 7 minute respite from all of the neck wrecking going on during the rest of this band’s greatest studio creation.

How To Copy CDs

Copying CDs is something that is very popular now more than ever. When CD burners and duplication was first introduced, people caught on although it wasn't nearly as popular as it is today. These days, millions of people throughout the world copy audio, data, and even video to CDs.

To make a copy of a CD, you'll need a master to copy, a blank disk, a CD-RW drive, and the proper software. Most newer computers include either a CD-RW or DVD-RW drive. If your computer is older, you'll need to go out and buy the drive, which doesn't cost much money
and is very easy to install.

If you have a DVD-RW drive, you'll be able to copy both CDs and DVDs. The rate of copying will vary, with 4X being the slowest and up to 48X being the fastest. If your drive supports 48X, you can duplicate a CD in a matter of minutes.

Once you have the CD-RW or DVD-RW drive and some blank CD-R media, all you need is the software to duplicate. Nero is among the most popular, as well as Sonic Record Now and Easy CD Creator. There are many different types out there, from those that cost money to the freeware software that doesn't cost anything to use.

Once you have everything you need, simply run the software and create your disk. You can copy many types of media, including pictures, video, audio, and even data from your computer. Depending on what you want to copy, all need to do is select it from the software menu and let it rip.

CD duplication is a lot of fun and easy for everyone to learn as well. You can back up a lot of things, or just save pictures of your special memories - the choices are entirely up to you.

Factors In CD Duplication

The process of writing data to a recordable CD can be a complex process, as it demands a lot from both hardware and software programs. Much of this complexity is hidden from the user by the program, although you should be aware of these factors.

Data

The total amount of data you are writing is much less important than whether or not it contains large or several small files. If there are a lot of small files, the system may have problems with
locating and opening the files quickly enough to send them smoothly to the CD recording drive.

The computer

Any interruption that may occur is fatal to CD duplication, so you should ensure that your
CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT don't load any TSR utilities which may interrupt operations. Screen savers, alarms and reminders, or incoming faxes may also kill disc writing. You should also turn off network sharing so no one will access the files that you are trying to write, as this could also kill your disc recording.

Hard Disk Speed

To write an image to the CD, the hard disk from which you are writing must have a transfer rate
that is fast enough to keep the memory buffer full in the CD recorder. This normally means an average hard disk access time of 19 MS or better.

Defrag

If your hard drive has to search everywhere over a fragmented hard drive for the data to be written, it can cause the operation to slow down or even cause a fatal error. Therefore, always be sure to fragment your hard disk drive.

Recording speed

Most new CD recorders and even some older ones, are capable of writing at two (sometimes even four) times the standard playback. It should be possible for you to select the speed; as even though fast recording is a time saver, it can also cause some bad situations.

When you copy an ISO (image file) from the hard disk to a CD, the speed is rarely a problem as the image is already one large file in which the files and structures are already in order and
divided into CD-ROM sectors.

When you write from a virtual image, things can get a bit trickier. In order to copy to CD, the
program must consult with the database to find where each file should go in the image and where
it is actually stored on the hard disk drive.

Then, it must open the file, divide it into CD-ROM sectors, at the same time sending the data in a
smooth continuous stream to the recorder. Locating and opening the file is a bit more time consuming, as writing is more difficult if you have a lot of small files.