Buring with 16X

[Andr3w42]

I've got a Plextor 16/10/40A and a P4 1.7 GHz and I've been recording my DC games for a while at 16x (loading an 8x burned game to my HD and then recording at 16x). Is there any harm in recording at that speed? Would I get better results at a lower speed? All of the games I've burned so far seem to work all right.

[ayoni]

it is allot safer to burn at lower speeds, but hey if you've got no probs so far why stop,lol

[Andr3w42]

But I mean why would they be safer? I'm basically using CDCopy to burn my friend's already burned DC collection. Only a few games (F355 Challenge, Echo the Dolphin) are posing any sort of problems, but I don't think they're related to my burning at 16x.

[sixdsix]

I think someone a few posts earlier, stated that burning at lower speeds is "safer". I would tend to agree, but if you can do it at 16x, flippin go for it. The burner I use is only 8x, and have only had one problem that I think is related to a speed issue. On "Metropolis Street Racer" it jerks when loading menus sometimes, and it also doesn't load EVERY time.

MSR btw is an awesome game! If you don't have it.. GET IT!

[TheMaskedm0m0]

MSR is also tough.

Andr3w42, Wayne or Bravo_Boy posted awhile back a theory, that burning at high-speeds whether just for backup or DC games, that the burn is not as high-quality as a burn would be at slower speeds. Unless your Plextor has PoweRecII, a feature I've only seen so far in Plextor's 24/10/40 burner, then I would suggest burning at 10x or 12x. Over time, I have noticed some of my older DC burns, which were burnt at 12x, slowly have become less-readable in the DC, not due to scratches, because there are none.

~The Masked M0M0~

[Wayne]

My theory is that there may be some fade or similar in the dye as time goes by. By fade, I mean the dye's opacity state may change from opaque to clear, sufficiently to change how it's read by the Dreamcast.

It has already been noted on some CD-R message forums that the faster you burn, the less time the dye has to turn opaque. This is obvious. This is why 6x discs may not burn properly at 8x. The time it takes to burn a bit to OPAQUE takes longer on these discs.

It is possible that the dye may be turned opaque by a fast burn, but not as OPAQUE as it could, if the burn was slowed down a little bit. Such discs may be OK at first, but the opacity of the dye ####ts to fade as time goes on.

Hope this all makes sense.

[Bytre]

For what its worth, my DC is rather picky about the discs it'll read. I have a stack of 16x backups from a friend which it won't read. If I copy them at 12x (speed of my reader), it won't read them. If I copy them at 4x, it will read the 4x copies.