A recent article on the Time Digital website asserts that burning audio CDs on PCs is notoriously unreliable. In fact, by the look of it, the author Chris Taylor, even after investing in a HP CD burner and spending hours on the phone with technicians and hundreds of dollars on extra-cost Windows software, ended up so frustrated that he wound up with tears in his eyes... and a Mac in the end. (Ouch!)
While it's true the Mac does a good job of making many computing tasks easier, the article, it seems to me, is a little too glib for its own good. For one thing, the author complains that he wasn't able to achieve good results on a PC, yet the article doesn't draw a distinction between the hardware and the software he tested. He says the PC software reported a "lack of memory," but doesn't say how much was installed, or even what kind of computer he was using. Was he comparing "apples to apples," as it were? No. The SureStore 8200 drive he tested under Windows isn't even supported by the software he says he used on the iMac. As the HP8200 has a relatively small 2MB buffer (a factor which, along with its sluggish 12Mbps maximum transfer rate, greatly contributes to the risk of buffer underrun failures), the Mac's better performance may in fact be attributed to the fact that the standard 8x4x24 CD-RW drive in the iMac is a better piece of hardware. Indeed, it is. The 8200e (4x4x6x external USB) model the author touts as "one of the most popular" is one of the worst-performing models HP ever made.
As well, he neglects to note whether iTunes was able to successfully import MP3 files ripped on third-party (PC type) platforms (a task Roxio's software handles with aplomb), as one might encounter if downloading music. (In fact, this often fails on a Mac.)
Does iTunes have the tantalizing features that drew him to Roxio's software in the first place? (No.) Did he try reducing the burning speed on his PC to reduce the potential for conditions that might contribute to a buffer underrun? (Apparently not.) Did he use the Simulate burn feature until you found a setting (and/or perhaps a brand of discs) that worked reliably? Did he even use the same drive to rip the audio tracks "that skipped like a heavyweight boxer?" Was he using a hub, which the CD-R Forum FAQ cautions can affect performance? If he did, he neglected to mention it. Instead, we get a diatribe about software that "wouldn't even admit my CD-R drive existed." Perhaps he hasn't noticed that third-party choices are much more limited on the Mac.
While I think the 8200e is, like all external drives based on the sluggish USB 1.1 spec, a poor drive compared to the vast majority of burners available today (the best of which are practically incapable of underruns, thanks to technologies like "BurnProof"), I will admit to owning one and I NEVER, EVER produce coasters with it. Why? Because when I first installed it, I ran a few "simulated" burns to determine its most reliable settings, and I learned that, in order to achieve 100% reliability, I needed to reduce the speed from the maximum (writing at 4x - woo hoo!) to one more suitable to the equipment I was using.
As for pops in the audio, there is an error correction setting in most audio CD burning titles that he may not have turned on. Or, perhaps he is using a different source drive to rip the audio (in which case, the problem isn't fundamentally a software issue at all). Or perhaps, he could try analog extraction, instead. I never get pops when extracting audio with my 8200, so it's clear he's doing something wrong.
So, if the intent of Taylor's article is to say "I'm not really technically inclined and if you're like me, you probably won't know how to make these darned PC burners work," he succeeded. If however, he genuinely believes that Easy CD Creator and the other leading programs on the PC are incapable of producing audio CDs successfully, it is my experience that he is mistaken. If anything, it is his hardware, settings and/or his testing methodology that appear to be flawed.
It is my opinion that Time's readers would be better served with a few practical tips instead of a tale of "tears in my eyes" woe with no apparent strategy other than spending "several hours on the phone" with technicians. We wonder whether the technician(s) suggested turning on error correction or "Disk at Once" mode, checking DMA settings or reducing the burn speed. As a technology advisor, that's part of my job, and I think it should be Time's editorial duty, too. Telling PC owners, in essence, to give up and buy a Mac just to burn CDs makes a technology journalist look foolish at worst and naive at best.
Of course, that's just my opinion. What's your take?
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