CD-R, CD-RW, SCMS??? Need Advice!


Could somebody please give me 'in a nutshell' the 'gist' of these different CD recorder formats and the 'Serial Copy Management System?" I've seen various comments as to CD recorders that you can 'fool' in some way, and then other comments as to regular CD players (particularly car players) that won't play recorded CDs. Help! Thanks, -John
musikdok
Thanks Craig, for your advice here and on the other thread. I plan to start auditioning a few different players soon. -John
Hi Musicdok; CD-Rs can be recorded on by computer "burners" and pro CD-R recorders. CD-Rs with SCMS watermarking are required for use in consumer grade CD recorders. These CD-Rs are are called "CD-Rs for consumer audio", or for music. Because they are watermarked, a consumer audio CD-R cannot be copied in the digital domain, but it can usually be copied in analog with some reduction in quality. The computer and pro CD-Rs can be copied in the digital domain, and the disks are cheaper to begin with. As to playback of CD-Rs, it's really a crapshoot. I think most recently manufactured CD players will play CD-Rs, many older players may or may not play them. Levinson says their transport will not play CD-Rs, but in fact it does. The reason for this play inconsistency has to do with the lower reflectivity of CD-Rs vs standard CDs. CD-RWs are recordable, erasable, and recordable many times, But because of their quite low reflectivity, most players-- except those that made the copy-- won't play them. Bottom line, you just have to ask all these questions before you buy, or to be sure, try them for yourself, ie if you want to play CD-Rs in your car, if you can, try a few before you buy a recorder for that purpose. Confusing?-- you bet, but also exciting. I have a Pioneer recorder that makes excellent copies and is really easy to use. Of course I have to use the consumer grade CD-Rs with the watermarking, but I have not found this to be a problem for my purposes. Cheers. Craig.