undesireable copies

[Joyceejons]

I'm trying to back up my karaoke discs with a plextor writer PX-W4824TU and certified cd discs from Mtu but I keep getting poor copies with lots of spots on them and slow to read tracks. Seems to work good on the first few tracks but on the higher tracks such as 10 through 15 the problem begins. I have wasted several expensive discs trying to record them. Could some one please help me with simple step by step instructions. I'm not the best at understanding computer language so the instructions have to pretty simple.

[flipper]

Joyce -

Refer to your microstudio manual for help on this problem. It is titled
"Making Good Copies" it has a wealth of information there on this subject. In fact they refer to bad copies on tracks #7 and higher several times.

Is your plextor driver MTU certified?

Even though it is the same drive number that MTU sells it does not mean that it will produce clean burns. They reject a fair number of drives when bench tested right out of the box from plextor.

I have found that most problems I have encountered with microstudio have been hardware related. Sometimes it is the condition of the source disc that I'm copying from.

Flipper
Flipside Karaoke

[Joyceejons]

I purchased my plexwriter from MTU and have been using it all along to make copies. Although I have purchased a new Voco Pro Twister which doesn't read copied material on cheaper cd's. But I am using certified cd's and also the plexwriter from MTU. I'll check the manual to see if it will help.

[MTUSUPPORT]

Have you tried these discs on another Karaoke Machine? I know we have had clients post in the forums in the Past, that had problems with the VocoPro systems reading the discs correctly.

Also, you might slow down the Read Speed to 1x to try to get the best copy. Also if the discs have alot of scratches, then they would give these type of errors.

Another thing to try is to clean your drive. You can do this by getting a can of compressed Air from Radio Shack, or somewhere else, and blowing out the drive. Dust can sometimes cause these errors.

[admin]

Buy a CD cleaning disc from anywhere (Office Max, Radio Shack probably, etc.) and spin it in your drive to help clean things that can dirty the laser led lens like fingerprints, peanut butter, you name it...

All CDR and DVDR drives have a finite lifetime. The fact the upper tracks are showing the damage could also indicate the drive may be wearing out. The Plextor drives we certify and ship have the BEST lifetime of any on the market. I see you have purchased 200 discs from MTU. I wouldn't think that would cause this problem. However, if you have also used other discs in the drive since you bought it in September 2003, say over 800, then you might expect this problem. Each drive is different. There is no absolute warranty for the number of discs that can be burnt.

This also depends on the environment the drive operates in. If your drive is exposed to dust or grit (we have seen some very dusty gritty drives returned to us), then this can reduce the lifetime of the drive much faster than expected. Could that be a problem with your installation and use of the drive?

[Joyceejons]

I wouldn't think that my plextor is exposed to a lot of dust. Although I have made several copies with other cd's. I did the self test on the unit and it failed to open automatically.

[MTUSUPPORT]

Joyce,
You can give Plextor a call at 800-886-3935.

[Jim Hinton]

I am using the latest Microstudio software version 2.6.0.9, and it works great, as well as a Plextor 48/24/48U burner.

I do have a problem in that my VocoPro player doesn't like to work very well with disks that have been made with Microstudio software.

This is interesting in that when I use CDRWin or CloneCD to make copies, using the same Plextor burner, the disks play okay in the same Karaoke machine.

I called the help desk at VocoPro, and they tell me that their machines are not guaranteed to work with "burned disks" ... only with "pressed disks". I hate to admit it, but all the original factory disks work fine.

What's up with that?

The burned disks, using Microstudio software, I was having problems with, do seem to work fine on a friends' Sony Karaoke machine.

Any ideas why my machine seems to recognize a burned disk, made with your software, and have a problem with it? Can I do something to correct this problem?

Finally, I wanted to mention that you will not have any problem with the quality of your burned disk if you slow it down to below 10X. I ruined a lot of copies when I first started making copies a few years ago, and the most critical issue I found was speed.

If your equipment works at all, then I suspect you just need to slow it down.

Best regards and good luck,

Jim

[Joyceejons]

Thanks Jim! I have attempted to slow down the speed on my Plextor 48/24/48 and still am having a problem, but it is that the copies seem to be skipping but they are being read on my voco pro. I purchased a plexwriter premium u and I slowed the speed down to 24 - reading speed and 16 for the writing speed and it seems to work fine. So I'm thinking there is something wrong with the other burner.

[Jim Hinton]

Hi Joyce:

Maybe I wasn't very specific about the speed you make copies. You need to turn down the copy and burn speeds to 10X or less! I know we have these blazing fast burners, but they do not lend themselves to making good Karaoke disks!

Remember this: slower is better.

A earlier message post mentioned turn the speed down to 1X. If you get good results it has let you know that your equipment is working well.

If the above is true try speeding up your burns until the problem starts again. I know from experience that anything above 10X will have problems just like you're having.

Best regards, and good luck,

Jim

[bjswaim]

Joyce,
I have the same Plextor burner as you and I burn at 48x and get great copies. I have had no problems. However, I know there are some karaoke players that don't like copies that are burned faster than 1x. I use a JVC player and have no problems with copies burned on the Plextor.

[Garry A. Leslie]

Hello All,
I have had a number of Plextor writers, (None bought from MTU, so not certified) which have never had any problems reading and writing at all speeds.
Just picked up a 40/12/40A on Ebay for $17.00, and again no problems.
The debate will rage as to the best burning speeds, but bad originals usually need a slower speed, whereas some will say the faster the burn the less problems are highlighted.
Cleanliness is the paramount factor with both originals and the copies.
Try a disc cleaner on the originals.
Regards from across the pond.
Garry