Burning to a CD - static on CD but not original file

[jcsbrook]

Hi,

I've got a LITE-ON COMBO LTC-48161H Optical Drive (DVD Reader/CD Writer) and am trying to burn a CD with a soundtrack I've created myself. The MP3 I've created has no static on it at all, is about 40 minutes in length and seems OK.

When I burn the audio CD (creating a .CDA file), then play the CD back there is a lot of static on the track, rendering it useless to listen to.

The static is definitely not there on the original MP3 file

The file is converted to a .CDA / audio file on the CD

I've tried listening to the newly burnt CD in different CD players, including the original LITE-ON COMBO drive - all have static.

I've looked on the internet for drivers for this drive and can find none

The driver itself is flashed to: KTH2 (most up to date firmware I believe)

The DMA is enabled

I've gone through around 5 CDs now, all of which have the same "static/crackle" problem

Other CDs (i.e. shop bought) play fine in this LITE-ON player

I've tried various speeds - the slower the speed the worse the static gets (bizarrely enough)

This drive has been fine in the past - although my PC hard drive did crash a couple of weeks ago and I have done a complete fresh installation - using exactly the same drivers as before.

The CD-R's I'm using are Tesco's own brand (which have worked fine in the past).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,

J

 

[Mimoso]

You can scan the disc for errors with Opti Drive Control or Nero DiscSpeed.
Most likely these programs will show many errors which is an indication that the drive didn't burn the disc well.
You could try burning the CD at a lower speed but it's better to use a different brand with a good reputation, Verbatim for example.
If that doesn't work either then the CD burner is probably dying.

If no errors are found then the burning software may be to blame.

 

[jcsbrook]

You can scan the disc for errors with Opti Drive Control or Nero DiscSpeed.
Most likely these programs will show many errors which is an indication that the drive didn't burn the disc well.
You could try burning the CD at a lower speed but it's better to use a different brand with a good reputation, Verbatim for example.
If that doesn't work either then the CD burner is probably dying.

If no errors are found then the burning software may be to blame.

Hi Mimoso..

I'll try the Verbatim media to see if that makes any difference (could you/anyone explain why a different brand would eliminate static on audio recording though?)

I have tried burning at a lower speed (various speeds, in fact) and it seems that the slower the speed, the worse the static problem becomes!

Incidentally, I copied the file to a flash drive, then burnt it to the same brand (Tesco) CDs from a laptop, and there's no static issue - so its definitely not the original file (and the Tesco media is fine also!)

I will try the Opti Drive Control software and see what that reports... I've also got another CD Burner that I can swap over, which I'll try next, but I seem to remember the reason why I swapped this out in the first place was due to the same static generating problem on audio CDs...

I did chat to a guy in a shop just before I was about to buy a new DVD writer, who said it could be the PC itself emitting static so ANY CD/DVD writer I use would have the same problem!!! Has anyone heard of this, and if so, how can it be fixed?

Many thanks,

J

 

[Guest]

It's probably not static, just noise from the CD mistracking.

Before slinging the drive, try downloading a different burner program -- Ashampoo Lite works for me as does Koyotesoft's Free Easy CD.

 

[jcsbrook]

Hi fihart - I think I forgot to mention I've tried burning from:

RealPlayer SP v1.0.4,
Windows Media Player Series 9 (9.00.00.4057)
CD Burner XP.

 

[Guest]

Check that the drive is primary or master on the IDE connector (or if SATA the SATA equivalent -- sorry I've not much experience of SATA)

Frankly, as you've tried different discs and firmware and burner progs I think this drive may be a dead parrot. Good news is new ones are cheap.