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CD Recording FAQ
4. CD-R media
4.6. Which brand/colour of media is better?
Since there are so many variations of cdr media, the question that naturally rises is whether there exists some kind of media definitely better than any other.
The simple answer is that there is no such thing. Though cdr media do vary in quality, there is no definitive criterion to decide on the best choice.
To start with, hardware manufacturers often give a short list of brands (note the use of "brands" instead of "manufacturers") that are guarranteed to work flowlessly with their hardware. This list is rather informative than useful and usually is of minimal importance. Its real meaning is that, in case of trouble, you should try the recorder with media chosen from this list to determine that the problem is with the recorder and not with the media.
Reflectivity of media is also mentioned as a criterion. However, reflectivity can't be judged by the human eye, but by the wavelength of the laser of a cd reader. Pthalocyanine, cyanine and metal azo are equally qualified to be used in recorders with excellent results.
Judging by brand is also difficult, since often the same brand uses products of various manufacturers with varying quality.
The most secure criterion is judging by the manufacturer. Keep in mind though that certain manufacturers gained negative publicity in the past, but afterwards greatly improved their products, while manufacturers of superior products often produce a banch of defective media or lower the quality of their products once they gained a good market share.
All these mean that, while brand and manufacturer are important, no one guarranties that you will always have the same results with a particular brand or manufacturer.
Apart from these issues, suppose that there is no change in quality of various brands and manufacturers. Which one of them is better? you ask.
The answer depends on the particular combination of cdr media and recorder. Several recorders work better with certain media, but often even recorders made by the same manufacturer and of the same model give different results. This means that it is better to buy small quantities of media of a certain brand/manufacturer and try them out in order to decide which one works better with your recorder.
At this point it must be emphasized that quality recorders work well with all kinds of media.