"Dirty" Copies

[eldonideus]

I am trying to assemble a custom disk but the quality of the copy is less than desireable. It comes out with a lot of trash through out the song that accumulates by the end. Some songs are worse than others but none are what I would call professional.
I tried to sort through the forums and troubleshoot everything myself but I am stuck.
I am using XP Pro. I have a Plextor PX-708A. I wanted to make sure I had a 'good' burrner do I ordered it through MTU and am using the MTU silver media. I have an NVIDIA GeForce4 integrated video card and a souundblaster live value sound card. I have downloaded the latest drivers/firmware for my soundcard, video card, motherboard, and DVD burner. I have tried both the MTU ASPI and default ASPI. My ASPI version is 7.71.2. I have tried disabling the screen saver and my anti-virus software and software firewall just in case.
Any ideas?

Thanks,

Eldon

[George]

Which version of DirectX are you running? Microstudio requires DirectX 9.0b .

If you're not sure how to tell, Click RUN, then type in DXDIAG, and click OK.

Near the bottom of the first page that pops up, it will tell you which version you're running.

If you need to upgrade DIRECTX go to the Microsoft website, look in downloads, and get the one for your operating system.It's free.

Hope this gets it for you,

George

http://www.microsoft.com

[Lauraine Graham- with the Lord]

Forgive me for mentioning something that you may have already thought of, but you do not mention the quality of your source material. If the discs from which you are compiling are damaged or dirty (or copied from a corrupted source) the file you generate will be corrupted. Clean copies cannot be got from a dirty source.

Also, the laser in your drive(s) must be cleaned on a regular basis. This is a process which can be forgotten when one is busy.

If the above can be elliminated as a reason for your problem I apologise for bringing it up.

[Garry A. Leslie]

Helen Lauraine,
Just a thought.
I have had some awfully dirty discs that I have tried to record from, notably a well used "Blues Brothers", badly scratched and in the worse possible condition.
I cleaned this up with "Disc Doctor" from Dixons and managed to get a clean usable copy onto the hard disc, once there it is permanently usable.
If you say your discs are "dirty" anything that will help without re-buying the discs is acceptable.
Regards from this side of the pond.
Garry

[Garry A. Leslie]

Hello Lauraine,
Sorry if I sounded as if I was advising you when it was Eldon who set the question.
I was just thinking about an "illegal" I did recently from a friend who had a copy of a tune I couldn't find anywhere else. despite thoroughly searching the net.
It is only for my own personal use, I am transcribing it, but it was "dirty" in more than one sense.
He says he bought it legit, but I have seen a lot of copies which are quite well presented but poorly done. Pirates always seem to use inferior discs.
Regards from this side of the pond.
Garry

[MTUSUPPORT]

Eldon,
The disc that you are saying is "Dirty", is this when you play it in a Karaoke Player or just in Microstudio, or are both of them playing it back dirty?


Please let me know.

[Lauraine Graham- with the Lord]

Garry: I took no offence, I receive all advice in the spirit in which it is meant. As it happens I have a nice piece of kit called Dr.Fix-It, but thanks for the tip. No, my main concern was with corrupted files. For my use, as long as the music is OK I can reconstruct with KHP. I rarely use my bought tracks in their original state anyway. I usually have to change the key, sometimes the arrangement and always on CDGs the graphics presentation is far inferior to KHP. I have got used to quality and now nothing less will do.

Eldon: I hope you don't think I am ignoring you, just clearing up a point with our friend.

best wishes

[eldonideus]

Thanks for your responses.
I should have mentioned that I did download the latest version of DirectX.
The quality of the CDG file looks very clean when I play it on my computer. The problem shows up only on a burned CD. I have played the disc in two different karaoke players with the same result. The original media are all original and the graphices look just fine when played. I have several different manufacturers (Top Tunes, Chartbuster, Sweet Georgia Brown, etc.) and all have some problems. Charbuster seems to be the worst followed by Top Tunes.
I have not cleaned the laser (didn't know that I could/should) but since I just received the burner from MTU in the previous week, I wouldn't think it should need it.
Thanks,

Eldon

[MTUSUPPORT]

Eldon,
The laser will not yet need to be cleaned. This is normal, for it to be stated, because when they have been in use for say 6-12 months or more, sometimes this can happen. Yours is brand new, so it is clean.

So the discs that you place into the drive and play in Microstudio are playing back with no problem in Microstudio?

How about trying a different Read Speed, to do a test. To do this, go to the Tools Menu, Speed Selection (in Microstduio). Uncheck the Auto check box beside Reading Drive. If this is not checked then, check it and burn a disc. Also make sure that the Auto Select checkbox is checked beside Writing drive.

If these 2 boxes above are not checked, then please make sure that you check them both, then burn a CD. Then let us know what happens with this.

[eldonideus]

I had not played the disc in Microstudio but did with my latest round of tests. It plays perfectly on the computer when playing from the created disc.
My settings were left from the last time I tried to burn compilation CDs. I had the Read Speed on Auto (Checked) and the Write Speed set to 1x (Unchecked).
I tried Read Speed 1x and Write Speed 1x. Even though it was set to 1x it seemed to read and write faster than I would have thought. I was only trying one song but it was over three and a half minutes. The read and write each took less than three minutes (closer to two). The write estimated 8 minutes and took no where near that long . In the end, the results were the same. The burned disc played nicely in Microstudio but had trash appear on the karaoke machine.
I tried with both Read and Write set to auto. It was noticably faster (of course). The write estimated 1 minute and that seemed about right. The burned disc looks great on the computer but dirty on the karaoke machine.
Any other ideas?

[George]

I was going to suggest Auto selection, but after I posted I noticed you'd done that. Plextor support told me the newer burners are not good at low speeds, especially 1X.

George

[TERRY STALEY]

i am starting to have this same problem. on chartbuster and sometimes on sound choice. the copies play dirty on micro studio and play just fine on a cavs player, an rsq player and a pioneer player. have used several different types of media and various speeds, but the out come remains the same. any ideas ??
terry staley

[eldonideus]

I saw a post that talks about Roxio EZ CD Creator 6 causing some problems. I believe this came with my DVD burner (and is now installed). I don't have any auto-options turned on when I insert a blank disk and I don't have any of this software running (system tray, etc.). Would this have an effect and if so what DVD burner software should I have to allow me to use the burner outside of Microstudio?
Thanks,

[George]

Roxio had a program in their Easy CD Creator 5 called TAKE TWO that was problematic. I'd heard that they removed it from Easy cd creator 6.

Anyone running version 5 can go to their website and download the upgrade to version 6 at no cost.

I've been running both versions 5 and 6 without any problems, but I think that's the luck of the draw with any of them.

George

[Flipeoke]

IMHO, I would assume, since the CDs (both original and copies) play fine in Microstudio, and the copies play bad in the CDG player, perhaps the CDG player is at fault. Have you tried cleaning the laser lens on the player, or perhaps your player doesn't like CD-R media. I have heard, that the newer burners actually burn BETTER at faster speeds, so try burning at max speed (or auto) see if it makes a difference. There are so many variables...

Hope something I said here helps...

Flip

[mindonstrike]

I posted a similiar problem under "cd recorders" a couple months back. I had this problem with my store bought plextor. Hoping that was the problem I purchased the MTU cert plextor, I got a slight improvement on some songs but for the most part no change. Most of the problems occured on Chartbusters, because they don't refresh their their screens the crap just builds up till the lyrics can no longer be read. Soundchoice I get crap occasionally but it goes away after each new screen is painted.
I was trying to import these into Hoster with originals and then tried to make a copy in Microstudio to import to Hoster. No Luck. I tried converting the songs to mp3+g and then back to disk, still no luck.

The only resolution I found was to stop buying Chartbuster, and when singers bring their own Chartbuster (or dirty, scuffed etc) I use my player instead of the computer.
Sorry this isn't the answer you were looking for. Good luck.
Sam

[eldonideus]

I had posted a similar problem a few months ago with a store bought plextor CDR. The response I got was that my burner was at fault and that I could not see the 'professional' copies unless I had a 'certified' burner and the MTU media. That is the whole reason I purchased my new DVD burner through MTU. I found the exact same burner at least $50 cheaper elsewhere but I wanted to guarantee the copies would be clean. I got the Silver Media for the same reason. Without the ability to copy my CDG's to make compilation disks, the software has limited use for me. I have had it awhile but haven't been able to really use it since I kept getting bad copies. I was hoping I would finally see the quality copies I have been looking for but there hasn't been too much improvement over the old non-certified CD burner.
Just to recap, I have tried reading/burning at 1x and auto. The DVD burner is brand new and certified (about a week old) so shouldn't need cleaning.
I don't mind tracking down the different combinations once I know what to try, the problem is that I just don't know what else to try.

[S. Parks]

What kind of shape are the originals in that you are trying to copy. I've used my plextor, (not bought from MTU), and just about every brand of CDR media you can think of with Chartbuster stuff, and almost never had a problem copying. I wonder if this can be a current drivers issue or something? As for the speed of the burn, I've typincally found that the new plextors write better the faster they burn. If your disc are brand new, not filled with scratches there may be another issue. There is also a product called a "Disc Doctor" that will do a great job of repairing the playing surface of a scratched disc. If used it on disc that would even play anymore, and restored them to perfect playing condition. Just some things to think about. Also remember that what plays good or OK on a regular CDG player, may not play as nicely on your computer.

[eldonideus]

The originals look fine on BOTH my computer and my CDG player.

[eldonideus]

I am still having issues. Any ideas MTU?