copy direct from CDROM to CDR without the hard drive - not supported

[jdjohn]

Will any future upgrade of microstudio give the option to copy direct from cd reader to writer, without first having to create an image file, thereby saving a great deal of time when making a backup copy of cdg

[admin]

The conservative approach we have taken is not to provide this. It is easy to "believe" that a direct CDROM drive to CDR drive will work. However:

1. Microstudio only supports the Plextor SCSI CDROM drives that can read the CDG format. They are as expensive as a CDR drive. Any old CDROM drive will NOT work as they don't read the CDG disc format.

2. The computer cannot have any program running that would generate an interrupt. If it did, the disc being written would be scrapped. This WILL generate a very high demand on our customer support to solve the problems that WILL occur because folks won't disable all other tasks. This is a bad fact of life, but one we deal with daily.

3. This $50 product is for home users. If we add direct copy it will be for a higher price for professionals.

4. The few people who have requested this so far have not been willing to pay more for this feature, and we are now willing to add this in for free.

I would appreciate your comments on the above points.

[ROGER DREWIS]

With the very low cost of cdr's capable of reading and writing cdg's, and the ease of installing these ide units, I would think that MTU should make that an option. I find that it requires much less time (and attention)to record that way.
Thanks,
Roger

[admin]

Roger, I appreciate your perception, but the CDR drives that reliably read and write the CDG format are not cheap. The key here is reliably. We have bought, tested and sold Yamaha, Sony, HP (based on the Sony mechanism), Plextor, TDK and reviewed several others. The rejects we made on each lot we bought for the past 3 years has been painful and expensive.

When clients go out and buy what they "believe" is a CDG capable CD burner, the results can be disasterous. You can find a few documented in this Forum. Then, they call us because we CAN solve their problem when everyone else doesn't have a clue why they don't get their lyrics. The goal is to protect your Karaoke CDG discs, not just end up owning a CD burner(s) and software that won't do this.

I am writing from 3 years experience. The cheaper the drive, the worse the problems! That is why we sell CDG CERTIFIED CDR drives... so our users won't experience what others have, and that we did when we bought and sold drives without testing them.

We have seen the most incredible variety of problems with different user's computers with CDRs and Microstudio! If we add direct CDROM-CDR copying, the additional customer support load we would receive would be a disaster. For use to ignore the support demands could literally destroy MTU in under 90 days.

To provide quality customer support today is a VERY serious cost factor that rules the final decision. Often we can do this-or-that, but if we perceive the customer support demands would go up, we will not do it. We only want satisfied clients who's needs are met by our products... and support.

For 30 years, I have been at the Bleeding Edge of Technology... creating and delivering new tools before others even saw a future need. Our web page at http://www.mtu.com/basics/mtucomputers.htm proves this from our early accomplishments, and http://www.mtu.com/basics/mtuaudioproducts.htm shows some of our products and how we were first in the world to develop and introduce this class of product.

Yesterday I got a "prototype" of Microstudio V2.201. My primary reason for many of its features is to reduce customer support demands. However, a number of new features were added by client requests.

Roger, your "vote" has been heard. I spent a long time preparing this answer. However, my 30 years experience rules. We don't currently have plans for direct CDROM-CDR duplication.