Trouble with stray graphics & dots...

[bigdaddylddd]

I am currently using the Hewlett Packard 9300 (SONY CRX145) CD-Writer+ 9300 which is listed on the MTU website as compatible with CD+G.

When I import Sweet Georgia Brown Disk #39 and a few others (these are brand new, never used), I am getting severe artifacts left over from when the graphics sweep across. It starts with a few dots and then progresses, and by the end of the song, there are dots and stray graphics all over the screen.

I then tried importing the same disc on another PC using AudioGrabber to convert to CDG+MP3. When played back in ************ I got the SAME dots.

I then tried playing in my Pioneer Laser/CD+G player and it played PERFECT.
There are NO scratches, smudges, or damage to the disk (new).

Is this due to my HP 9300 player? Will the Plextor eliminate this?

P.S. Even tried changing the drive speed to 1x speed. Still the same.

[Beavis]

did you try upgrading your video drivers from the manufacturer?

[bigdaddylddd]

Originally Posted by Beavis

did you try upgrading your video drivers from the manufacturer?

Yep, I just built the machine the other day and downloaded all the latest drivers from the manufacturers website.

Fresh install of WinXP Pro, SP2, and ALL updates and Direct 9.0C.

I have a HP 9100, HP 9200, HP 9300, & a Yamaha 16x. I will try the others to see if it makes a difference.

[mindonstrike]

I too have this problem, SGB being the worst but also problems with Chartbuster and Sound Choice as well. SGB and CB don't refresh their screens so the crap just builds up untill some times the screen is unreadable, SC refreshes after every page so the problem doesn't get that noticeable/annoying. I use Plextors, one MTU certified the other not.Same problem with both. I've tried using a copy from Microstudio, sometimes it improves things, sometimes it gets worse. finally decided it was the cheap media these brands use.
No solution except not to buy SGB or CB anymore. If you find a solution I'd love to hear it.

Sam

[bigdaddylddd]

Thanks Beavis & Sam for the response.

Tried the HP 9100 and same issue. The Yamaha 12X was not CD+G compatible.

SGB Disc #38 Track #09 "If I Had A Million Dollars". First few screens of text are nice and clear but the little graphic remnants remain on the screen.

MTU Support: Will the Plextor drive correct this? Don't know whether I should keep importing the SGB set or not?

[admin]

If you read our warnings on our CDR page towards the bottom, we list "random dots" in the characters and background as the first sign of a CDR drive that is not certified for CDG. Looks like that may be your problem.

W return those Plextors that fail our testing, so a non-MTU Plextor may have problems that we would have caught.

My guess is that our Plextor drives would do a better job, but bad media will still cause a "mis-read". I talked to one user who said ONE TRACK on a SC disk took 25 minutes with our Plextor and Microstudio to read in. He let it run, and when it was done, the .cdg file was there and was good.

Microstudio will retry until it gets a good read on each sector from a bad Disc. Using any other CDR drive than Plextor is adding gasoline to the fire.

Getting a bad .kma file is the sum of all the things that can go wrong:

1. Bad media (scratched, dirty, fingerprints, poor reflectivity product,
   
   
2. Non-Certified CDG Drive, or one with a dirty laser (everyone should clean their's periodically), or one with a lower laser output, or poor lenses that don't focus as well.
   
   
3. Bad cables hey, it can happen!
   
   
4. Not using Hoster or Microstudio software. This doesn't apply to importing .kma files as only Hoster does that. However, it does apply to other files like BIN, MP3+G or ZIP that Hoster 3.100 will allow adding to Hoster's Songs Database. Whatever condition these are in, is what will get into Hoster. If they were imported with a bad drive, they will look worse than KMA files would from the same CDG Disc.

[Beavis]

David,

you should get into sales ! forget about the computer stuff !

Just kidding

[bigdaddylddd]

Again, thanks for the responses!

So purchasing a "certified" CD+G drive from MTU should 'hopefully' solve it. Will order it tomorrow then.

AND I should purchase MicroStudio as well? Doesn't Hoster retry until it gets a good read on each sector from a bad Disc? Why should I need another program?

[admin]

Originally Posted by bigdaddylddd

Again, thanks for the responses!

So purchasing a "certified" CD+G drive from MTU should 'hopefully' solve it. Will order it tomorrow then.

AND I should purchase MicroStudio as well? Doesn't Hoster retry until it gets a good read on each sector from a bad Disc? Why should I need another program?

If you are only importing into Hoster, you don't need Microstudio. If you want to make CDG Disc backups, you need Microstudio.

[bigdaddylddd]

Originally Posted by admin

If you are only importing into Hoster, you don't need Microstudio. If you want to make CDG Disc backups, you need Microstudio.

I don't know, from other posts I've read, if you have Multi-Session discs (such as Sound Choice, which I do), Hoster will not import ALL these tracks on its own. So I'm understanding that MicroStudio is required to extract the tracks on these discs in order to import into Hoster.

Am I understanding this correctly? If so, maybe MTU should offer a bundle price on Hoster AND Microstudio together.

I have gone ahead and purchased MicroStudio and a MTU drive today.

[songpony]

I wish I'd seen your post sooner. Don't expect a Plextor drive to eliminate all of your problems. I have a Plextor (external drive) purchased from MTU, and I still get the "confetti" problem on occasion. SGB is one of the bad ones, and I see it frequently when I import a song from a singer's disk (which is frequently a copy rather than an original). I've gotten around some of the problems (especially with SGB and other cheap disks) by using Microstudio to burn the songs to a new CD (better media), and it frequently helps. Just some more info for you. Don't want you to get your hopes up TOO high that a Plextor drive will solve all your woes.

[admin]

Originally Posted by admin

My guess is that our Plextor drives would do a better job, but bad media will still cause a "mis-read".[/list]

Not trying to hide anything. However, the confetti he showed us in the image is EXTREME, wouldn't you agree?

I'm confident our tested Plextor drive will do the best job possible, given a bad disc. That's all I am claiming. It will NOT eliminate all confetti, but ON A BAD DISC, there will be less when imported, giving you the best results in an already bad situation.

This is because the laser, lenses and electronics are better on these drives than any others out there. Plus, our testing weeds out those that may have problems with CDG that can read in confetti.