CD Architect: Red Book Audio vs. Burn Speed?

[mark4man]

About half way through production of a compilation CD, I am wondering...what is the advantage to using CD Architect for mastering my .wav files prior to replication? (meaning on a comparative basis...such as; CD Architect vs. Nero or Roxio.) I am using SoundForge at present; & aside from PQ coding, are there any special audio advantages that would make the music sound better?

Also: I have heard mastering engineers mention the advantage of slow burn speeds for mastering. Right now I am using a TDK, the slowest speed of which is 4x. Can specialty burners that use speeds as low as 2x or 1x be had?

Thanks in advance.

mark4man

[macouno]

Well... using a good proggy geared up for audio burning of course means that it'll be slightly better... doubt anyone would notice the result. The burn process works the same for all basicly. Expecially nowadays. The days where you really wanted a standalone burner to get the best results seem to be over. A puter cdr drive does just as well.

And yup slow burning for audio is definitely more precise and better. 4X seems to be solid, but faster is dodgy, especially if you want to replicate the cd later on.
Has to do with the spacing of the bits on the cd, at higher speeds that's less accurate which doesn't matter if it's just data, but an audio cd gets read and converted straight into audio, so discrepencies in bit spacing have a direct repercussion in audio.
But again... It's not something you'll notice straight away after burning a cd at 24 speed usually.

From my own experience though... the higher the speed I record a cd at the more old cd players spit it out and complain.

conclusion... good idea to keep it at 4X or around that. And don't worry too much about the proggies using for the actual burn itself. Just find the one with the options you like.

[mark4man]

Macouno,

Thanks. That's where I am right now (4x.)

mark4man