General Questions

A: By standalone duplicator, we mean a duplicator that does not connect to a computer and does not take a computer to operate the duplicator.  It has the advantage of running independently of a computer & its performance will not be affected by a computer.  Being standalone also has the advantage of allowing you to setup the duplicator anywhere in an office or home, not necessarily near a computer.

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Q:  2.  How many copies of a CD disc can I duplicate per hour?                          

A: The answer depends on a number of factors - the amount of data stored on the master disc, the speed of the burner drives on the duplicator, the recording speed of the CD-R media, and the quality of the master disc. 

In addition to burning time, there is the time to initial check the master & the blank discs, the lead-in time, the finalization of the disc, and the manual loading/unloading of the discs.  

Assuming that the master disc is full & that you have good quality media, a 40x duplicator should copy discs in 4-5 minutes and a 5x duplicator in 3-4 minutes.  

If you are making copy of audio discs, many customers turn the burn speed down to 16x or 24x for better quality and to prevent background clicking and hissing.

Also, If you are going to be burning continuously, we recommended shutting the duplicator off for 15-20 minutes every 2 hours to allow the burners to cool down.

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Q:  3.  How easy is it to operate your duplicators?                                                     

A: Our duplicators are very simple to operate.  They do not require extensive training or complicated manuals.  To make copies, you simple insert your master disc in the reader drive, insert blank media in the burner drives, select "Copy" mode, then press the "Ent" button.  Additional functions allow you to test copy, verify, compare after copy, prescan a master disc, and change the read or burn speed.

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Q:  4.  Will your duplicators copy with Karaoke discs?                                            

A: No, our duplicators are not equipped to copy Karaoke or CD+G format discs.

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A: When you are ready to move beyond felt markers for labeling duplicated discs, there are four methods used to give your discs a professional look:

• Paper labels created with ink-jet or laser printers, then applied to discs
• Ink-jet printed discs
• Thermal printed discs
• Silk screened discs

Paper labels are the easiest way to label a disc.  The labels can be quickly printed on either an ink-jet or laser printer.  Label makers offer design software and label applicators to make it simple to create professional results. The disadvantage of paper labels is that they can be difficult to apply, if not applied properly can cause discs to wobble at high speeds, and if allowed to dry out excessively can disintegrate inside CD drives. 

Ink-jet CD Printers offer a much more polished look over paper labels.  They offer high resolution for text and graphics.  We offer the EZ/CD Printer and Primera Technology ink-jet CD Printers.  The disadvantage of ink-jet printed discs is that they are more susceptible to scratches, smudges, and water damage.

Thermal CD Printers use a heat-transfer printing method to create incredibly professional labels.  Thermal transfer inks are highly scratch- and smudge-resistant and are completely waterproof.  We offer the Primera Inscripta thermal printer.

Silk-screening is the ultimate in disc labeling.  It is a good option if you are going to be creating a very large quantity of mass-produced discs.  Typically silk-screening is offered by as a service by media distributors.  We currently do not offer silk-screening.

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A: All of our CD and DVD Duplicators come with a 1 year parts and labor warranty.

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A: Our standalone CD Duplicators can be setup in any room with electricity, but is also necessary to have a clean, climate-controlled area for the duplicator.  Avoiding dust, excess humidity, heat and electromagnetic interference is also important.

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A: No, our duplicators are totally standalone and have no ports to interface with a computer.

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A: No, most movies from major producers are copy-protected to prevent copying.  Also, most movies are dual-layer DVD, while DVD-R media single layer, so they will not fit on the media. 

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A:  No, you can copy 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 discs at a time.  The duplicator will determine which drives have blank discs and copies only to those drives.

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A: Not necessarily.  A hard drive is very useful if you are burning copies of the same master disc over and over again, and you will continue copying from that master in the future.  You can load an image of the master disc to the hard drive, then copy from the hard drive each time.

If you mainly duplicate from different master discs each time, then a hard drive does not make sense

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Q:  12.  If I have a 52x Duplicator, can I copy discs at a slower speed?

A: Yes, you can set the burn speed and the read speed to slower speeds on the duplicator.

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Technical Questions

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A: Manufactured CDs store data files in digital form, represented by a series of 1s and 0s. The 1s and 0s are represented by millions of tiny bumps and flat areas on the disc's reflective surface. The bumps and flat areas are arranged in a continuous track on the CD.

A CD-R doesn't have the same bumps and flat areas as a manufactured CD discs. CD-R discs have a smooth reflective surface with a dye layer underneath. On a new CD-R disc, the dye layer is translucent and reflects all light. When data is recorded on the CD-R, the write-laser on the CD-RW (burner) drive darkens spots on the CD-R disc which are non-reflecting.  The laser selectively darkens areas on the CD track and leaves other areas of dye translucent, thus creating a digital pattern of 1s and 0s - translucent/non-translucent. 

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A: Our CD Duplicators will copy CD-ROM (Mode1 & Mode2), CD-ROM/XA (Mode2 form1 & form2), CD-DA, Mixed-Mode, Video CD, CD-I, Photo CD (Single & Multi-session), CD-Extra, HFS, CD-Bridge, ISO9660, CD-R, and CD-RW.  Our DVD Duplicators will copy DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, DVD-RW and CD-R/RW.  (Upon request, the DVD Duplicators can be setup to ready DVD-RAM discs)

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Q:  3.  What is the difference between DAO and TAO?

A: DAO (Disc-at-Once) is a burning mode that requires all of the data to be written in one time. It is also known as "Single Session" recording.  TAO (Track-at-Once) is a burning mode that allows a tracks to be written multiple times.  The disc may be removed from the writer before the session is finalized.  Typically TAO is used for audio discs. 

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Q:  4.  What is buffer underrun?

A:  While burning a disc, it is critical that the source drive provide a continuous data-stream at the CD-RW drive's recording rate.  The CD-RW drive has an internal memory-buffer to compensate for small gaps, but if the stream is interrupted for too long, and the available buffer can not supply enough data to cover the interruption, the recording stops-reporting a buffer underrun, ending the session, and wasting a blank disc.

CD writers utilizing buffer underrun protection technology such as Burn-Proof (by Sanyo) or JustLink (by Ricoh) virtually eliminate the problem of buffer underruns.  The CD-RW drives used in our CD Duplicators utilize buffer underrun protection technology.

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A: When recording in TAO (Track at Once) mode, after recording all of the individual tracks, the final session must be closed or finalized, also called fixated.  Finalization is a process of writing the lead-in information including TOC (Table of Contents) and lead-out information.  If the disc is not finalized it cannot be played on CD players.

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Q:  6.  Do I need to use CD-R Audio discs when recording music CDs?

A: No, you can use either normal CD data discs or CD Audio discs.  Either will work well but the CD data discs are less expensive since the price of CD Audio discs includes royalties for the music industry.

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Problems

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Q: 1. What if I the duplicator cannot read my master disc?

A: There are a number of factors that can cause read problems with the master disc.  The master disc may require cleaning, it may be scratched, it may have been created on a burner that is not compatible, or the CD media may not be compatible with the reader.  You can try to “Prescan” the master disc to test the disc.  If you still encounter problems, you can try placing the master disc in any of the CD-RW drives and try to read it.  (Any drive can be selected as the source drive using the “Select Src Drive” function).

Another test is to use a store-bought audio or data disc as the master disc and see if you can make copies.  If you are able to make copies from a store-bought disc, it indicates that there is a problem with your master disc.

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A. Problems duplicating a disc can be caused by a poor quality master disc or incompatibility in the CD-R media.  You can try using a different brand CD-R media.  You can also try  burning copies of a store-bought audio or data disc.

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A: Clicks, hissing, and background noise on audio copies can be caused by a poor quality master disc or burning copies at too high a speed.  You can try creating the audio master disc at a speed of 4x or 8x and burn copies at either 24x or 16x.

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Q: 4. How do I know that the discs have duplicated accurately?

A: You can use the "Compare" function on the duplicator to compare the duplicated discs to your master disc.  You can either do this as needed or you can set the duplicator to automatically compare after each copy process.

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Q: 5. How do I prevent high failure rates when I duplicate?

A: High failure rates are typically due to problems reading your master disc, especially for high-speed duplication.  To reduce reading problems, you should create your master disc at slower burn speeds, such as 4x for CD Duplicators,  and 1x for DVD Duplicators.

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