Guidelines for making audio CD masters

[admin]

[list=1][*]Run MicroCD alone without MicroEditor or any other application program that would use the Krystal DSP Engine (only multimedia programs can if MSND.DLL is installed as the multimedia device driver). If you have two Krystal DSP Engines, running MicroCD on one and MicroEditor on the other is allowed.
[*]MicroEditor Projects for MicroCD must be 44.1K sample rate and have 2 tracks.
[*]The MicroCD manual describes PQ coding using project or segment "T, P and I" flags inserted in the MicroEditor project.
[*]Periodically clean the CD-Recorder laser lens with a cleaning CD to remove dirt and dust or you will produce "noisy" CDs
[*]Insure there is free space on the hard drive containing the MicroEditor project. A MicroCD Image file for a one hour CD requires 635 megabytes. Insufficient disk space will cause MicroCD to terminate early and ruin the media being written.
[*]Recording a CD requires a sustained uninterrupted data stream. To insure this, follow these rules:
*Clean the media before inserting it in the CD-Recorder
*Do not run other programs (including MicroEditor) while you are burning a CD
*Disable Screen Saver programs you might have running in background
*Do not have a Schedule program running that might present a reminder while writing a CD
*Do not allow network access to your computer while writing a CD
*If you keep files on disk, optimize the disk before you write a CD (disk fragmentation can impair data transfers)
*Use AV hard drives - drives that perform thermal or fixed recalibration may drop audio while writing a CD
[*]If a mastered CD-R media will not play, and you verified the CD, try these tips:
*Try another player. Some older CD players will not play CD-R media
*Have the CD player laser calibrated; it might be out of alignment
*Insure the CD player AND CD recorder lasers are clean by using a cleaning CD periodically
*A particular CD-R media may not work on a particular CD player. This has been reported
*Be prepared - take a CD player that will play the CD-R media when presenting to a record company or agent
[*]When handling CD-R media, follow these tips:
*CD-R media contains a lacquer protective coating that can be damaged.
*Keep the media out of the sun, strong light, high heat, high humidity and away from chemicals and their fumes.
*Only use labels designed for CD-R media.
*Other labels may react with the lacquer or cause an imbalance that prevents playing.
*Never remove a label as it may remove some of the lacquer and the reflecting surface.
*Only use round labels that are carefully centered on the media. Off centered labels can cause a CD player to spin the CD media off balance, causing failure when reading the data.
*Do not use alcohol based pens to write on the media as the ink may react with the lacquer and eventually damage the data.
*Do not use a Ball point or other sharp pen which can scratch through the lacquer and eventually destroy the CD.[/list=1]