CD-R - a technology primer

Recordable CDs

CD Recordable Drives

CD recorders have appeal to many kinds of users: graphics professionals who need an inexpensive way to store several hundred megabytes of scanned image data for easy retrieval; multimedia authors who encode digital video onto Video CDs, or create multimedia "demo discs" of their clients' products; even those who want to simply duplicate existing CDs, much as a few years ago they would have copied a floppy.

We have tested several CD recorders and numerous CD-burning software packages over the past few years. Hardware tested includes units from Pinnacle, Hewlett-Packard, Ricoh, La-Cie, JVC and others. We've performed extensive tests on a Pinnacle RCD1000, Hewlett-Packard 4020i, 7110e, 7200 and 8200 series models (models are also available as a parallel-port-connected version suitable for use with portable PCs), and a JVC-XR-W2010, plus the many source drives shown in the illustration above. Of the three, we'd rate the Hewlett-Packard units as the best recorders tested on both PC and Mac. We had initial problems with the packet-writing software shipped with the JVC (problems specifically mentioned in the JVC section of Andy McFadden's CD-R FAQ), but after updating the firmware, switching to Nero (from www.ahead.de) and later updating to -- and sticking with -- Adaptec Easy CD Creator, the PC problems diminished and the drive became usable as a CD-ROM drive as well. However, as we discuss later in this article, there are a few reasons why you might not want to use a CD-RW drive as your everyday CD player.

When the JVC drive was tested on a LC040-based PowerBook, a readme file included with the CD burning software -- Astarte's Toast 3.0 -- mentioned that the JVC unit didn't support the program's RAM cache feature and, sure enough, we found the drive essentially unusable on that machine. As it turns out, an extensive README file included with Adaptec's TOAST 3.5.1 details a number of compatibility issues with virtually all PowerBooks, including their inability to support some SCSI functions. But, after switching to a PowerMac 8100, the software and drive performed flawlessly. In fact, we eventually found the Mac to be the best platform for writing both PC and Mac CDs. More on this later.

The Pinnacle unit exhibited some noise problems (sometimes it made strange noises as if the mechanism was going bad), but it proved otherwise reliable. The two programs we found to work the best were Corel CD Creator 2, which we tested with Windows 95, and Toast (we had no problems with versions 3.0.5 and 3.5.1), which we tested on both 68K and Power Macintoshes.

Both of these titles allow, with the right CD-ROM and CD-R hardware, to copy a disc as easily as one might dupe a floppy. The potential for illegal use aside, this is very useful for security purposes.

Interestingly, the Corel title only supports this function if your CD-ROM source drive is connected via SCSI. We had a EIDE CD-ROM drive that didn't work -- rats! When a SCSI unit was connected, CD Creator 2 automatically configured it and made a successful copy the first time. The Windows-based CD Creator's interface is better than that of Toast on the Mac, but that's not to say that Toast is a slouch. Toast allows Mac users to drag and drop files or even whole discs into the program's "Source" window, and a variety of menu settings allow the selection of the many options Toast provides. CD Creator is almost completely "wizard driven" -- as most Corel titles these days are. Toast must be configured manually for the most part, and it uses somewhat more complex terms and lacks the sophisticated Help found in the Windows environment with the Corel product.

The up-and-coming CD-R technology is "packet-writing" that allows you to write to a CDR disc as if it was a giant floppy drive. WQhen we first tested this technology, only the JVC supported this packet-writing function, and only on the PC. We had some severe problems with this software, as noted below.

Another thing to look for in CD-R drives is a large buffer. As mentioned above, he JVC does not support the RAM buffer function in Toast on certain Macs, which essentially crippled it in our PowerBook test. On the PC, the JVC unit could only write a disc at 1x speeds with Corel CD Creator, although it should have been able to handle 2x writing. the HP successfully handled 2x writing on both Windows and Mac.

We found a super-high performance PCI SCSI adapters and high-powered computers to be unnecessary. We burned discs reliably on an old 68030-based Mac, and on a PC with an old ISA-bus Adaptec 1542CF SCSI interface.

We'd recommend an Adaptec card for PC-based systems. Corel's software recommends particular setups for various recorders and hard disk setups -- some of which may require two SCSI interfaces.

Choose a Windows CD-R authoring package that supports the "Joliet" format -- Microsoft's Windows 95 and NT CDFS standard for long file names -- long file name support is increasingly important. Interestingly -- and probably not coincidentally -- Toast's "Allow Mac file names" option for ISO9660 discs creates a disc with long files names that work perfectly on both Mac and Win95 systems.

Macs, of course, come with internal SCSI and long file names as standard features. We had great success using Miramar's MacLAN Connect Mac/PC networking utility to move PC files over to a Mac hard drive and burned PC and Mac files -- sometimes both -- onto discs using Toast. See the MacWatch page (http://tcp.ca/gsb/Mac) for more details on MacLAN.

A few tips seem prudent to pass along:

Always run a simulation before burning a disc, unless you like expensive shiny drink coasters.

If you burn multisession discs in ISO 9660 format and you encounter a failure during a write session, you can still write other sessions to the disc, and read sessions recorded prior to the failure. In fact, ISO 9660 format automatically makes incremental backups, skipping unchanged files when recording multiple sessions.

Avoid internal CD-R drives to maximize drive life. Heat is the issue here. All external units have a fan. Most internal ones don't get sufficient cooling from the system's fan.

Don't be fooled into thinking that a CD-R makes a good replacement for a CD-ROM player. Yes, they can read the discs, and yes, there are models that give reasonable 4x or even faster performance, but the MTBF (mean time between failures) is relatively low -- and the drives are too expensive to be burning out while doing the job of an $89 player. Smart users will have two CD drives: a 4x or better (SCSI) CD-ROM and the recorder.

CD-R is our favorite backup medium at this point -- the glitches mentioned above with the CD-R Extensions packet-writing software driver (based on Smart Storage's FloppyCD software) for JVC's XR-W2010 CD-R drive notwithstanding. When packet-writing works more reliably -- and we have every reason to believe that it will -- this will be a killer feature.

Nearly everyone's got a CD-ROM drive at this point, so we don't have to lug a drive around -- just a few discs.

For authors who need to record both Mac and PC discs, Toast and a Mac is the best CD-R solution going. (Nero 3.0 from www.ahead.de can also record Mac HFS and so-called "hybrid" discs. It is available for Windows 3.x/95/NT.)  Both Toast and Nero can write "hybrid" discs -- with part of the disc formatted for Macs, and another section formatted for PCs. Mac discs can also be made bootable with Toast. We use Miramar's MacLAN Connect 6.01 to connect our Windows PCs and Macs. We then copy Windows or Mac data and application files to a Mac hard drive partition and then drag and drop the files into the Toast window. After running a simulated burn (which virtually always succeeds), we write the data to CD in ISO 9660 format. We turn on the "Allow Mac file names" option even when we are burning Windows 95 data -- it keeps the long file names intact. Multiple sessions show up as separate Mac drives, and appear to a Win95 PC combined on one single drive (with directories, of course).

Andy McFadden's CD-R FAQ (http://www.fadden.com/cdrfaq/) lists the top models of CD-R.

Yamaha heads the list, followed by Sony, HP, Philips, then "everything else."

As mentioned above, we tested the JVC CD-R Extensions packet-writing software, but we strongly recommend against using it, at least in its 2.01 incarnation. While we think the software has enormous potential (it makes a CD-R behave like a giant floppy drive), we've noticed similar problems on all three systems we tested the 2.01 version of the software on, and the problems are just too serious --and too consistent -- to assume are just random glitches. Test the CD-R Extensions if you must, but read McFadden's FAQ warning... and back up your system first. The version(s) we tested disabled my other CD-ROM drive, messed up the Eject function of our removable media drives, had problems after installing the unlockCD software (and didn't provide an uninstall option for this software, either!), and had difficulties reading the discs we burned after finalizing them. All of these problems were repeatable, and at this point we're gun-shy of even using the discs we created with the software (you have to run the "Unlock" software to read them).

(Andy McFadden's CDR FAQ makes some very alarming comments about the JVC drive, citing "serious flaws." Our test unit had the 1.51 firmware McFadden refers to in additional comments, posted at ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/fa/fadden/jvc-prob.txt.) In our tests, these flaws (and they truly were serious) vanished as soon as we stopped using the supplied CD-R Extensions software and switched to Corel CD Creator 2.

The JVC 2010 proved to be a disappointment when we connected it to a PowerBook, as well. The Toast software that works so well with many other drives supports the JVC unit, but limitations of the hardware do not allow Toast to turn on its RAM cache on certain Mac models (we noticed problems only on one of three tested Mac systems -- it was the only one without an FPU). Without the RAM cache, we were unable to successfully write a disc "on the fly," even when dropping down to 1x write speeds. The HP and Pinnacle drives, according to the readme file, support the RAM cache. Astarte's web site (www.astarte.de) lists other drives incapable of supporting Toast's RAM cache. The latest version of Toast, 3.5.1, supports direct audio CD to CD-R recording, allowing the creation of custom music CDs. Other than that, it strongly resembles its predecessor.

In short, we would name Toast (recently purchased by Adaptec from its German developer Astarte) as the best CD-R authoring software. It runs only on Macintosh.

On the PC, our favorite two CD Recording titles are Adaptec's Easy CD Creator and Nero from Germany's Ahead Software gmbh. Nero is gaining acclaim as undoubtedly the best value in CD-R burning software for Windows 3.x, Win95 and NT. It allows you to rewrite directories on the fly, making previously recorded CDR files or directories invisible. Nero is only US$69, but supports advanced features like variable gap audio CD recording, drag and drop file management, disc-at-once writing and support for a wide range of CD-R units (a full list is at the company's website). It supports multisession recording (and mounting) and Microsoft's Joliet long filename convention. A fully functional demo version of Nero (for Win95/NT only) is freely downloadable from the company's website at www.ahead.de. Check it out -- and keep your fingers crossed for a more reliable packet writing program than DirectCD, FloppyCD or CeQadrat's PacketCD that fulfills the enormous promise and potential of packet-writing. Although Adaptec's Direct CD 2.0, bundled with the HP SureStore CD-Writer Plus 7110, comes closest to being a "keeper," we've wrecked a few too many discs -- usually after successfully storing several hundred megabytes of data! --  to recommend it wholeheartedly. Perhaps some enterprising company (Symantec, perhaps?) will market a "Norton Utilities for CD-RW that can recover trashed files. Until then, we'd recommend writing your discs all at once.

There is also a Macintosh version of Direct CD. It was announced in Jan. 1998. (See Business Wire for more info.)

Users with IDE CD-ROM source drives should check out Adaptec's Easy-CD Pro 95 2.11, which adds support copying from IDE CD-ROM drives. Details at Adaptec's site. Easy-CD Pro is US$99.

We do not recommend the CD-R title known as GEAR. GEAR, like Adaptec DirectCD and early versions of Corel CD Creator, has demonstrated an annoying propensity to destroy all data on a CD, rendering it entirely useless. While disasters can, we're sure, happen with any CD authoring program and/or recorder, our experience of the US$69 Nero from www.ahead.de suggests that it is much more reliable than Gear on the CD-R units we've tested. Adaptec's Easy CD Creator has also proven quite reliable.

Corel CD Creator has a (Discontinued titles)

Corel CD Creator 2 / Easy CD Pro

Corel CD Creator, for 16- and 32-bit Windows, was a very nice piece of work that Adaptec bought and refashioned into Easy CD Pro. Compared to Toast, our favorite Mac CD authoring tool, the Adaptec/Corel offering does more and simplifies many of the steps along the way with its wizard-driven interface. On Windows 95, it supports the creation of discs in ISO 9660, PhotoCD, Microsoft Joliet (a Microsoft "standard" that adds support for long file names) formats, plus video and audio CDs.

A notable limitation in the package is its inability to create Mac HFS discs (Ahead's Nero can do this); however, it can create ISO 9660 discs which can be used on virtually any platform, including a Mac.

The package includes a driver that allowed our otherwise invisible JVC W2010 CD-R unit to show up as a CD ROM player, and the software allows the JVC (and many other brands of CD recorders) to extract audio tracks from audio discs, too.

Another limitation of CD Creator was its requirement that your CD ROM player be connected via SCSI. In other words, our system's IDE CD-ROM drives were not be recognized by the configuration program. Recent releases of Easy CD Pro have added support for ATAPI recording devices, but still cannot do CD-to-CD copies from an ATAPI source drive.

CD Creator/Easy CD includes a label-making utility, a sound editor, multisession mounter, disc-at-once duplicator (which does not require you to devote 650MB of your hard disk to the task!) and extensive help, listing the unique capabilities and limitations of the many CD recorders it supports. Recommended. See www.adaptec.com for details.

For more info on CD-R technology, see http://www.fadden.com/cdrfaq/.

Also, be aware that rewritable CDR(W) drives are now available (we've seen models at prices starting under C$300). With these drives, you can write normal CDR-CDs with it as well as CDRW-CDs that can be re-written up to 1000 times. In other words, you can use rewritable CD-RW media when you wish to do CD-RW; you use CD-R media when you wish to do CD-R. It works great!

See our review of the HP 7110e for more info.

For further reading:

• DVD Status Report
• Recording CD ROMs
• Deal-Mac tracks the best prices on CD-R drives and shows how you can get blank CD-R media for free.
• See http://www.fadden.com/cdrfaq/ for more info on CD-R, DVD and related technologies, plus buying tips and other info.
• http://www.mactimes.com/lowend/tech/burning_cds.shtml - Differences between recordable CD-R media types; burning CDs on Macs.
• (May 30, 2000) CD Facts - Information on the care of CD discs.