What does "Maximum Speed" mean when burning?

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Level 1

7 points

What does "Maximum Speed" mean when burning?

OK:

When burning CDS (and I want a really good quality one for duplication later)

Does MAXIMUM speed mean "Maximum, or fastest amount of BURN TIME---quickly done" or does it mean "burn at the maximum or LONGEST amount of time" (for better recording).

Perhaps I want to ask: For the best possible CD burn --best QUALITY (don't care how long) what should I do? 1x ? 4x? 24x?? MAximum possible?

AND< while I'm here, what does the radio box check "USE SOUND CHECK" mean when checked?

Thx!

G5 Desktop, Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Posted on Mar 9, 2010 12:38 PM

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Answer 1

ed2345

Level 9

63,602 points

Mar 9, 2010 5:35 PM in response to Jon Mutchler

Use 2x. iTunes burning is quite finicky, and many iTunes burning problems can be corrected by slowing down to 2x.

In particular, if you notice audio artifacts (static, whooshing) on the higher numbered tracks of a burned audio CD, try again at 2x.

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Answer 2

Limnos

Level 10

428,159 points

Mar 9, 2010 1:24 PM in response to Jon Mutchler

It is usually recommended that you burn at a slower speed than maximum for better quality. I think the idea is the data gets through more securely and the burn is better. On the other hand I have also seen it argued that modern CDs are designed with more responsive pigments and are not designed to be burned at really slow speeds. I know if I use cheap media I get a lot of coasters with fast burn speeds but if I slow it down I get fewer failures.

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Answer 3

varjak paw

Level 10

182,668 points

Mar 9, 2010 1:05 PM in response to Jon Mutchler

Maximum refers to the highest disk rotation speed the optical drive is capable of. Not all drives can burn a valid disk at their highest speed - a higher rotation speed requires a higher data rate onto the medium, and not all drives and media can sustain that - with all brands and types of medium. So it's often advised to cut down the rotation speed to reduce the data rate the drive/media combination needs to support. A higher rotation speed and hence a higher data rate usually means a faster burn time, and vice-versa.

"1X", BTW, when applied to a CD refers to the original rotation speed of the first CD-ROM drives, 500 RPM. 2X is 1000 RPM, etc. 1X, 2X etc. are different for DVD.

what does the radio box check "USE SOUND CHECK" mean when checked?

Just what it says right under the button: iTunes will attempt to adjust all the overall volume levels of the tracks so that they're more even. For a more detailed explanation, see:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2425

Regards.

Message was edited by: Dave Sawyer

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