CD-R Media Technical Performance Benchmark

Baseline Tests
The first 7 tests used standard test discs to establish the baseline sensitivity of the CD player used for the rest of the tests. This was done using industry-standard pre-recorded CD's, not CDR discs. Tests of CD-R discs follow, below.
	RF output at optics, Volts peak-to-peak
Disc	Track 1	Middle	End	Comments	Second Reviewer Comments (tested in Sony 209ES, current RAZ, improved RAZ)
YEDS-1	0.928	0.912	0.856		Did not test/not available
YDDS-2	0.980	0.892	0.992		Did not test/not available
YEDS-7	0.920	0.996	0.976		Did not test/not available
YGDS-13	1.064	1.028	1.012		Did not test/not available
YEDS-18	0.944	0.972	0.900		Did not test/not available
SH-CD001	0.880	0.940	0.968		Did not test/not available
38C39-7147	0.944	0.944	0.956		Did not test/not available
Recent Tests (5/2002)
Disc	Album	Laser Identification	Ink Dot Identification	RF Level in millivolts p-p			Comments
Disc	Album	Laser Identification	Ink Dot Identification	Track 1	Mid	End
Comp USA	Paula Cole	CD-R 74MIN IIAEDAAD	C2041906	680 M*#	720 #*	650 S*#	Severe jitter, fisheye coating defects on ID,
Comp USA	Cranberries	CD-R 74MIN IIAEDAAL	EA011706	800	800	800	Plays OK
Comp USA	Elton John	CD-R 74MIN IIAEDAAL	EA011706	800 S*	820 S*#	640 S*#	Once around audio mutes due to UV exposure
Comp USA	NSYNC	CD-R 74MIN IIAEDAAL	EA011706	732	716	700	first song has audible noises, rest of disc OK
Comp USA	Allman Bros.	CD-R 74MIN IIAEDAAL	EA011706	750 M*#	750 M*#	750 M*#	Fairly severe jitter, but perfectly playable
Comp USA	U2	CD-R 74MIN IIAEDAAL	EA221606	825	800	760 to 500	Severe amplitude reductions, but plays OK
Comp USA	The Cardigans	CD-R 74MIN IIAEDAAL	EA221606	752	736	760

Comp USA	Rebecca St. James	????	R8X74 ZD0158417 07230658 MB/B1	700	800	750
Comp USA	Kate Bush	4114	R8X74 ZA0140873 07242032 MB/B1	672	672	672	Higher jitter, but steady envelope, plays OK
Comp USA	Tracy Chapman	????	R8X74 ZC0126074 07230041 MB/B4	700 M*#	780 *#	800 to 750	Eye pattern winks, noises in audio output
Comp USA	Taylor Dayne	????	R8X74 ZC0162550 07230054 MX/BX	750	790	825

Hi Val	SRV/Carnegie	CD-R 74MIN EP024AFV	1103 DA183 0020	780 S*	720	880 S*#	Perfectly playable
Hi Val	Keiko Matsui	CD-R 74MIN EP024AEO	1101CL151 0045	800	800 M*#	780	Moderate jitter on first song, but perfectly playable

No Brand Name	Lenny Kravitz	R8-AAO	09N04052118 2703772	300 to 250	300 to 150	250 to <100	Extremely severe UV fading of reflective coating, especially at outer edge, last track not playable

K Hypermedia	ABBA Gold	CD-R 80MIN KILH0249	LH3151 EB298 0206 D3	575	725	700	Fairly low RF output on ID, but plays OK

Imation CD-R 80		CD-R 80 KOLH2222	5101FA071LH5548	700	700	700	Recently recorded on Plextor 8/20

KAO	LTT	N/A	KAXC 01289701660 1	350	360	380	KAO Disc #3 on pcavtech.com, plays perfectly OK
Sony CDR 80		R80HD-D0003 9	EC0305L11L029A80	650	700	700	Recently recorded on Plextor 8/20
These Tests of normal commercial factory-pressed CDs are presented as reference.
Telarc 70501	California Project	TEL CD-70501 7	N/A	600	750	800	Regular CD, 1985 issue
Telarc CD80390	P.D.Q. Bach	DIDX-033029 1 (IFPI L323)~	IFPI 5008 (molded raised letters)	850	925	975	Regular CD, 1995 issue

Notes		* Amplitude reductions (dips) on top of waveform
		# Amplitude reductions (dips) on bottom of waveform
		*# Amplitude reductions (dips) on top and bottom of waveform
		An "S" before any of the above , #, and # indicate severe amplitude reductions.
		An "M" before any of the above , #, and # indicate minor amplitude reductions.
		~ DIDX-# is seen from label side, IFPI-# is seen from reading side
Legacy Tests (1988/1999)
First batch of CDRs, recorded on Plexstor 4x12 w/ as-received microcode (ca. 1.03)
	RF output at optics, Volts peak-to-peak
Disc	Track 1	Track 29	Track 53	Comments	Second Reviewer Comments (tested in Sony 209ES, current RAZ, improved RAZ)
TDK Ref. CDR	0.844	0.860	0.876		OK. This disc produced at 1x on Yamaha dedicated CD-R
Verbatim 4X	0.828	0.832	0.824		Clicks left channel (procedural, not media)
Sony 4X	0.648	0.720	0.752		Clicks left channel (procedural, not media)
KAO 4X	0.720	0.724	0.740		Clicks left channel (procedural, not media)
Kodak 4X	0.688	0.808	0.848		Clicks left channel (procedural, not media)
Mitsui Gold 4X	0.880	0.896	0.924	Trouble reading at first on CDP-101	Clicks left channel (procedural, not media)
Ritek 4X	0.800	0.736	0.656		Clicks left channel (procedural, not media)
CMC 4X	0.800	0.776	0.784		Clicks left channel (procedural, not media)
Maxell 4X	0.940	0.996	0.956	No Play on CDP-101	Did not play on current RAZ, OK on all others

	RF output at optics, Volts peak-to-peak
Disc	Track 1	Track 29	Track 53	Comments	Second Reviewer Comments (tested in Sony 209ES, current RAZ, improved RAZ)
Verbatim 2X	0.832	0.808	0.800		Clicks left channel (procedural, not media)
Sony 2X	0.720	0.744	0.760		Clicks left channel (procedural, not media)
KAO 2X	0.700	0.700	0.740		Clicks left channel (procedural, not media)
Kodak 2X	0.704	0.768	0.800		Clicks left channel (procedural, not media)
Mitsui Gold 2X	0.820	0.800	0.820		Clicks left channel (procedural, not media)
Ritek 2X	0.812	0.720	0.640		Clicks left channel (procedural, not media)
CMC 2X	0.840	0.816	0.816		Clicks left channel (procedural, not media)
Maxell 2X	0.820	0.848	0.812		Clicks left channel (procedural, not media)
KDK 4X12X 2X	n/a	n/a	n/a		Clicks left channel (procedural, not media)
KDK 2X4X 2X	n/a	n/a	n/a		OK, note use of 2x4, not 4x12 CD-R drive. Problem found with microcode in 4x12 CDR & corrected

	RF output at optics, Volts peak-to-peak
Disc	Track 1	Track 29	Track 53	Comments	Second Reviewer Comments (tested in Sony 209ES, current RAZ, improved RAZ)
Verbatim 1X					Did not test/not available
Sony 1X	0.660	0.684	0.700		No time between some tracks - (procedural, not media)
KAO 1X #1	0.380	0.380	0.400		No time between some tracks - (procedural, not media)
KAO 1X #2	0.396	0.380	0.400		Did not test/not available
KAO 1X #3	0.352	0.364	0.380		Did not test/not available
Kodak 1X	0.596	0.652	0.656	Trouble reading on CDP-101	No play in current RAZ.
Mitsui Gold 1X					Did not test/not available
Ritek 1X					Did not test/not available
CMC 1X	0.712	0.688	0.676		No time between some tracks - (procedural, not media)

Following tests done on on 7/4/1998
	RF output at optics, Volts peak-to-peak
Disc	Track 1	Track 29	Track 53	Comments	Second Reviewer Comments (tested in Sony 209ES, current RAZ, improved RAZ)
EIAJ-1	1.048	1.028	1.040		test of standard CD to establish baseline sensitivity of CD player. Found within 1.5% of above measuremen

	RF output at optics, Volts peak-to-peak
Disc	Track 1	Track 29	Track 53	Comments	Second Reviewer Comments (tested in Sony 209ES, current RAZ, improved RAZ)
Imation 1X	0.768	0.788	0.768	using 4X12 recorded 5/16/98	Did not test/not available
Imation 2X	0.764	0.788	0.804	using 4X12 recorded 5/16/98
Imation 4X	0.700	0.716	0.752	using 4X12 recorded 5/16/98
Maxell 2X	0.788	0.808	0.788	using 4X12 recorded 5/17/98 EZCD copy
Ricoh 1X	0.680	0,684	0.688	using 4X12 recorded 5/16/98
Ricoh 2X	0.784	0.792	0.804	using 4x12 recorded 5/16/98, Clicks and snaps between track 2 and 3 (procedureal, not media)
Ricoh 4X	0.768	0.772	0.780	using 4X12 recorded 5/16/98
PRINCO 1X	0.688	0.728	0.732	using 4X12 recorded 6/16/98
PRINCO 2X	0.724	0.776	0.772	using 4X12 recorded 6/16/98
PRINCO 4X	0.764	0.824	0.820	using 4X12 recorded 6/16/98
PRINCO 1X	0.624	0.664	0.648	using Mitsumi 2x8, Really thin metalization at Inside Diameter (track 0)
PRINCO 2X	0.736	0.772	0.768	using Mitsumi 2x8