Best blank CDRs

Attention!!! At this time shoppers, Office Max has cakes of 50 FUJI CDR's on sale for $14.99. These are not manufactured by Fuji, but rather TDK Japan and are highly recommended for their archival quality.

Also, of note, stay away from Imation 80min. Research shows that they are made by CMC Magnetics and do not hold up well over time. Too bad! Imations used to source out to a good factory. Oh well, time to tap another well.

In general, stay away from all CDR'd manufactured in Taiwan. Most of these are made by Ritek, Princo, CMC and other poor quality factories. Look for made in US or Japan, for better quality.

I looked up the web site that Ramstl mentioned, and found much confusion but also what appeared to be some good ifo. From the "aging" studies done, the chemistry used in blue/green CDRs lasted the shortest length of time and thus were considered the worst. Silver colored CDRs were "good" in the aging test, and gold colored were best re aging. I've bought/seen/used six different brands of CDRs and they all have blue/green recording surfaces. Short term, they all sound the same. BTW, I've never seen a silver or gold CDR-- anyone know where to find them? Ramstl? Cheers. Craig.

I too have had good luck with the HHB discs, these are generally only available from pro audio source but they're
not impossible to find. I've also had success with Maxell
74 & 80 minute blanks, only one defective disc out of nearly
200 so, not bad.
Good luck
Tim

There is no way to make any across the board recommendations that have any lasting power. There are around 12 manufacturers of CDR's and none of them sell direct, as far as I am aware. All of the brands available today come from one of these manufacturers and the brand names jump ship every other month. Therefore, making it difficult to determind quality control or the original source. Anyone that recommends a particular brand is just drinking from the well. It use to be that you could ensure better quality by buying from sourced US or Japan made CDR's and staying away from those made in Tiwain. However, almost all CDR's are made in Tiwain now.

That being said,from my experience I would recommend staying away from any that have be sourced from Rytek. Which means most of the cheap ones. Also, some TDK's and others. You should check out this web site www.cdmedia.com for studies and more specific information. Also there are a number of past post with good information.

In my experience I have had good luck with Imations and HHB.

If you come across any new information let us know.