CD-R frustration

I know CD-R's are not always good in car stereos, but I'm really getting frustrated.  I am having problems playing various types of CD-R's in my Scion stereo from start to finish.  Commercial CD's play fine.  One CD started skipping toward the end to the point that it would not play, and another CD I burned a year or two ago played fine then, now doesn't even get half way through before it sounds like static and skips.  The only thing I can do to help it is keep the A/C on, it seems to cool the stereo a bit, but I shouldn't have to freeze myself to finish listening to a CD.  In contrast, the first CD-R I burned is Pearl Jam's Vitalogy when it came out, and it's never had a problem. 
 
So are there any good brands or types of CD-Rs that work best in car stereos?

And mp3 players are not an option, so don't mention them.
 

I guess there's a couple of factors to that.
I have some burned CDs from 1999-2000 that still play like a charm, while now I burn a CD from time to time and there's at least 2 ''skip sound'' on it. I guess that has to do with everything becoming cheaper. In '99, we only had a CD burner and our computer cost like 1000$. Now, I have a computer 5 times stronger that cost 700$ in 2008, but the burner can't burn DVDs anymore; they tend to freeze or the image speeds up. CDs are fine, but like I said earlier, they have little skipping sound now and then(I tried Itunes, Nero, WMP). 
Plus, a radio in a car gotta tend to become really hot or really cold, given the seasons, and given the bumps in the road and that CD-R are cheaper than ''real'' CDs (I think?), they just don't last very long anymore.

At what writing speed are you burning these CD-Rs? In my experience, it's usually sensible to keep the speed below or up to 8x.
 
And yeah, CD-Rs have definitely gotten cheaper throughout the years. My dad has a Tascam CD recorder that has trouble even recognizing the newer CD-Rs.

When I first bought my first CD Recorder back in the late '90s, I knew nothing about CD-R processing.  It was a P.O.S. Sam's Wholesale thing, and it couldn't do disc-at-once recording, which caused an endless series of problems.  So I spent the next couple of months learning everything I could about CD-Rs, CD Recorders, CD recording software (I wound up purchasing a $600 Plextor in the end that could do pretty much anything I could dream about doing). One of the things that I found was that (at the time) some 80-minute CDs would not play well on some older automobile players.  It caused exactly the kind of problems you're talking about.  So whenever I was asked by my church or friends to make something that would need to be played on more than my own stereo, I always defaulted to 74-minute CDs.  Since those days, the manufacturing process or architecture of a CD-R must have changed dramatically, because 80-minute CDs no longer cause those kinds of problems.  But if you have an older CD player in your car, my absolute first recommendation is to try and track down some 74-minute CDs to use instead of the (now much more common) 80-minute deals.  Try playing any of these CDs you're burning on a home player (or a computer player, even). If the problem resolves itself outside of your car, it's probably the media.
 
It could also be the way you're recording.  I don't know what software you're using, what speed you're recording at, or what kind of computer you're using to burn them, but both can have an effect on the end result.  For example, you may notice that all CD-Rs have, on the label, a maximum recommended recording speed.  For example, 80minute 4x CD-Rs are CD-Rs that they are recommending you don't use any faster than 4x burning to record.  Most software will default to the fastest your CD Recorder can handle, and if the media you're trying to burn on to is only 2x or 4x-recommended, it can cause these sorts of problems as well.  Try slowing down the burning process and see if that helps. 
 
In terms of CD recording software, I'd still be using Goldenhawk's CDR-Win if either of my Plextor blu ray drives were recognized by the software anymore.  I always recommend the software.  Beyond that, Nero and Roxio both make good (the former is better than the latter in its ability to do things like overburning, but dear god the cost of either can be prohibitive), commercial software.  I wouldn't really recommend anything else, as CD burning for most other software is a secondary feature. 
 
And finally, the power of your computer can also be a factor.  If you have a slower computer, or have a few programs running while you're trying to burn, that can cause a whole different series of problems, some of which can result in the same kinds of things your describing.  Again, try your CDs on your home players... if the problem DOESN'T resolve itself on a player designed for the home, then it was a problem that occured during burning and probably not the media itself.  In that case, try closing programs before you burn, burn at a slower burn rate, or try a better software package.

So how the CD is burned can affect how it plays?  Huh.  Didn't know that.  I usually burn at 40-48x with Nero 10.  I use a bare system when I burn to help stop buffer errors.
 
My car CD players always seem to heat up, even in cold weather.  (Cold is relative...40-60F).   I used to think it was the heat, and I noticed that some CD's start to warp if they get too hot.  But then in hot weather, I'd have the A/C on and not have a problem.  They also skip the most if I play them non-stop (a long drive), yet if I'm in the city and stopping and starting, they don't skip as much.  Just some observations.
 
I have a 2011 car, and a Memorex CD just skipped toward the end, when it played fine the last time I played it in the car.  I don't listen to CD's outside of my car.
 
Thanks for all the help.
 
 

http://www.alpine-usa.com/product/view/ida-x305s/
 
I have the first version made in 2007 and it haven't looked back.

dparrott
So how the CD is burned can affect how it plays?  Huh.  Didn't know that.  I usually burn at 40-48x with Nero 10.  I use a bare system when I burn to help stop buffer errors.

My car CD players always seem to heat up, even in cold weather.  (Cold is relative...40-60F).   I used to think it was the heat, and I noticed that some CD's start to warp if they get too hot.  But then in hot weather, I'd have the A/C on and not have a problem.  They also skip the most if I play them non-stop (a long drive), yet if I'm in the city and stopping and starting, they don't skip as much.  Just some observations.

I have a 2011 car, and a Memorex CD just skipped toward the end, when it played fine the last time I played it in the car.  I don't listen to CD's outside of my car.

Thanks for all the help.

Hmm... You know, while I'm not the biggest fan of Pandora, PetFish makes a good point in that you may well need a new player.  I really would recommend playing these CDs somewhere other than your car, just to check to see if it's the media.  Certainly, any of the things I mentioned previously hold true.  But if the play is doing this with all of your CD-Rs, and you notice it getting worse over time, I'd actually put money on something being wrong with the laser settings in your CD Player itself.   For example, if your first play through plays mostly fine, but by the third or fourth it's skipping more and more, that sounds like a laser alignment issue and you might be better served just getting a new CD player.  Good way to check that is to play it in a friend's car and see if you have the same issues.  If not, I'd suggest it's your player.  If so, it's your media or your burning process.

As others have said there are several factors in getting a good CDR burn.
 
1)  Burn Speed; I would recommend nothing faster than 8X.  If CDR's burned at 8X have quality issues, step it back to 4X.  I would imagine with today's burners you wouldn't have to burn any slower than 4X
 
2)  By far the largest factor in getting a quality CDR burn is the quality of the media you are using.   You should always use media made in Japan and the 2 brands that are head and shoulders better than all others are Mitsui and Taiyo Yuden.  The Mitsui Gold CDR's have been subjected to accellerated aging tests and calim to have a 75-100 stable lifespan.  Now there is no way to really check their claims but I don't think I'll be around in another 100 years to find out.  They should still have the longest lifespan, whatever that number ends up being.  One of the best sources for these CDR blanks is American Digital; Mitusi - http://www.american-digital.com/prodsite/category.asp?c=51  Taiyo Yuden - http://www.american-digital.com/prodsite/category.asp?c=93
 
3)  CD burning software can effect the end product as well.  I would also recommend CDR-Win for burning if it will work with your drive.  Also for audio extraction ther is no better software than EAC (Exact Audio Copy).  It is the ONLY was to assure you get an exact copy bit for bit of the cd you are copying.  It is freeware and the creator even participates in the Yahoo Group for it and will help people out with any problems.
 
And by the way, don't use and labels on your CDR's.  They have a bad tendency to peel up and get result in a cd getting forever stuck in a "slot" type cd player.  In addition the glue used to put them on the CDR can accellerate the aging and "eat" through the plastic and destroy the data.

Labels can eat through the plastic????  Wow, most of my CD-Rs are labeled.  That explains a whole lot.  However, I do think it's the media.  I notice some brands stop playing sooner when they get barely warm, others can tolerate heat more.  I doubt it's the player since this happened in my old car also with a different brand of stereo.   I'll try those brands of CD's, thanks.

I can't afford the discs on those pages, but I did find this:
http://amzn.com/B00065DGJG
I'll try those.
 

Crow has it down. There are many factors but he hit the most important ones. Look at the bottom of these CDR's now. Notice not only are they looking cheap but the reflective layer seems to be gone. The "Made In Japan" CDR's etc seem to have more dye on them. They really work better. When my local FYE closed last January they were blowing all of their merchandise out. I scoped out all of their CDR's and bought a couple 100 packs of Fuji discs (Made In Japan) while I left the Fuji "Made In Taiwan" packs on the shelf. Finding
"Made In Japan" discs in your local Wal Mart, Shopko, Office Depot etc is getting difficult.
 
The manufacturers are cutting costs so the quality goes out the door. Of course they are not selling CDR's in the quantity that they used to as well.
 
I also was having problems burning these cheap CDR's on my Roxio player. They would not completely burn. I switched to my stock XP burning software and that has solved my problem. No more "coasters" anymore.

Update: I saw online that Nero has a Disc Speed tool to measure optimal burning speed.  It averaged 8x.  So I burned a disc at 8x in about 10 mins with no problems.  That's about the same amount of time as it took to burn at 40-48x.  I guess I've been really burning at 8x all this time when it's set to 40-48x.  No wonder I've been getting so many write errors.
 

dparrott


I can't afford the discs on those pages, but I did find this:
http://amzn.com/B00065DGJG
I'll try those.

American Digital has Tayio Yuden CDR blanks on sale right now for 20cents each.  Thats a pretty good price on some of the best CDR blank media being made today.  You do have to get a 200 pack to get that price, but you get 200 quality blanks for just $40.
 
http://www.american-digital.com/prodsite/product.asp?p=2426

I been having trouble getting my computer to even recognize CD-Rs lately. Not that this is a solution to your problem, but I finally replaced my stock CD/tape deck with a CD player that has USB iPod integration plus and AUX jack on the front of it. Everything I buy ends up on my iPod sooner or later anyway, I guess got tired of burning "car copies".

Those MAM-A CD's work perfectly!  I re-burned my Metallica mix CD's on them and played them without one skip!  Thanks!