The way it's been explained to me is that the reflectivity on a home recorded CD-R cannot be read by the laser on some machines. It has something to do with the sensitivity of either the CD surface, the laser, or both. I recently bought a DVD player at Best Buy---a Panasonic, model 32 (I think). It cost a little over a hundred bucks and plays everything. I took one of my CD-Rs with me and tried them on each machine on the shelf. On most, the screen would read "no disk". The Panasonic worked fine and has played everything I've thrown at it.

Have you ever used this site. http://www.mixonic.com/?source=overture
I'm just making some up for demo's friends and family. This looks a neat site.

------------------
I don't steer the ship, I bail out the water.

Yes, there are combination DVD players that can also read CDs. I've made about a dozen albums during the past year, and about 10 copies of each, totaling about 120 CDs. All were burned using Adaptec CD Creater, and out of all of those CDs, I only had one person that said she could not get it to play. Turns out she was using a standard DVD player to try and play the CD. When she put the same CD in her car stereo, it played just fine.

There is one thing, however. When my main computer crashed and I used my back-up computer, it did not have Adaptec, but instead had Nero-Burn. It's a good program, but somewhat complicated to work with--especially when it came to finalizing the CD. If the CD is not finalized (closed), you can usually play it in your computer's CD burner, but when you place it into a standard player, it says there is nothing there.


BTW, if you would like some tips on recording directly from your keyboard to your computer and then burning a CD, go to http://psrtutorial.com/Lessons/L_Recording/LPR-MakeCD/lpr-makecd.htm

Hope this is of some help,

Gary

[This message has been edited by travlin'easy (edited 03-19-2003).]

Gary,
How do you think I made my CD? I took your advice and used goldwave. Recording from my keyboard to the mixer while adding vocals in one shot. I wish I was ambitious enough to try doing programs with separate tracks, however, I like to do it all in one shot. The only thing I'm doing different now is recording the piece 3 times. And if their is a place I go a bit flat during the song I cut and paste out one of the others that is good. I find I can get a very nice recording this way. And I'll probably use http://www.mixonic.com/?source=overture
To make copies of the CD and for label making...
Thanks,


------------------
I don't steer the ship, I bail out the water.

Gary , I have a RCA DVD player that also reads CD, and MP3's.CDRW amd CDR formats. It will also show titles up to 7 letters..

Sounds like a nice rig Fran--where did you buy it, and if I'm not being to personal, how much did it cost? My wife has been on my case for a year to buy a DVD player that can also play cds. Who knows, you could be the salvation of my marital status.

Thanks,

Gary

Looks like a heavy hit from www.mixonic.com/?source=overture to produce just a few CDs. Additionally, they didn't say if the price including mailing costs.

I've been paying $19.95/100 CDRs at BJ's Wholesale Club, and about the same price for slim-line jewel cases. Labels averaged about $10/100 and I print them using Adaptec Easy CD Creator, which is the same program that I use to burn the CDs. When you consider the cost of the ink for the printer, it probably works out to about $1 per CD to make them yourself. Ironically, it cost about $1 per CD to mail the damn things to potential clients, but it's well worth the expense.

If there's anything I can do to help you get this project underway, I'll be more than willing to assist you in meeting that goal.

Cheers,

Gary

Gary, it was a Father's day present from my youngest daughter..It is a RCA and I think it sold in the $250-$300 range

[This message has been edited by Fran Carango (edited 03-19-2003).]

Gary,
I suggest that you stay away from stick on lables too. They get stuck in many changers that don't have a top load design. My car has specific warnings about just such media. Send them to a print house, or look into buying a printer yourself. I've seen great results from a unit that was about $2000. It prints right on the CD .... much more professional and durable.
The exessive heat generated by some CD players can melt the glue and wrincle a stick on lable ..... making the CD wobble at a funny angle as it spins. Beware of low cost options. They sometimes can be harmful.

Thanks Fran for the info--maybe the woman will keep me after all.

Dave, I haven't experienced any problems using memorex labels, but I have heard of some that have melted the adhesive and jammed up the CD player. I keep that in mind about the high end printer, especialy if I begin marketing my CDs. That would be a good option and I'm sure the quality of the labeling would improve dramatically when printing on a smoother surface.

Thanks again guys for your help,

Gary