Frustrated that your entire music CD collection is now useless due to new vehicles shipping without a CD player?
Send us your CD Collection and we can scan and convert them to digital!
How does CD Conversion work?
You ship us your CD Collection.
We use automated robotics to scan your CD Collection and convert to digital.
We export your music onto a USB Drive and return it with your music collection.
Pump Up the Jams in your new car with Digital Conversion of Your Music!
Journey back in time to the first time you listened to your favorite album with your favorite people.
Why Digitize Your audio CDs Now
Future Proof your Music Collection!
Take back ownership of your tunes!
Forget about data limits!
Listen anywhere!
Is CD Conversion a Real Business?
We know, we know…believe me, we know! It’s a weird business. We all used to make our own mixtapes and custom CD’s all the time.
Heck we might have even made some of those albums you listened to. We remember when computers and your brand new car all had CD players and we actually owned our music too!
Unfortunately most modern vehicles and computers no longer ship with CD players and drives. That means people can’t easily rip their old collections.
We had enough customers and car dealers asking for CD conversion service that we decided to provide it.
If that’s you we’d love to hear from you. Call us at 952-944-0083 or contact us and we can discuss converting your CD collection to digital so you can enjoy those tunes and get back to rocking!
If you stick to the basics and follow these simple tips below you’ll be on your way to professional disc mastering created with as few hiccups and snags as possible.
1. Communication is Key
Smooth Operator…Coast to Coast LA to Chicago…
Nothing and I mean nothing can replace speaking directly with your studio or the production company regarding your master. Email can work but sometimes picking up the telephone is the simplest way to get from point A to B.
Bluray Mastering is required for 1080p Resolution
2. Content Delivery – The Correct Way
Check with your Disc Mastering Production Partner for vendor specific protocols for delivering content. Many will prefer delivery on physical media (DVD, USB, HDD) but will be open to delivery digitally. Remember to speak with your publisher regarding file size, runtime and filenames to make sure you are on the same page.
3. Provide a Manifest
Make sure to list your files and exact file names and run-times in the order you want them to play. You can use md5 or sha hashes for digital continuity testing or you can use run times both can work.
Laying out your files on a manifest, wire-frame or outline will help make sure your project is completed correctly on the first revision.
4. Determine total run time and output
Standard DVD using the most common resolution and frame rates typically will yield around 90 minutes of runtime. Dual Layer DVDs and Blu-ray are available which can extend your run-times per disc but come with added costs. Think about your audience and your content when determining whether a multiple disc solution vs a dual layer solution might be the right fit. In some cases we may be able to stretch the run time by adjusting frame rates and/or resolution but this is always at the cost of quality.
It can be a tough decision to make and sometimes paying a little extra for a physical master to review at home can be worth the cost.
5. Menu Considerations
Do you want to provide a menu for your audience to navigate or is the project better suited with an autorun where the disc starts playing through upon insertion. POS videos of product demonstration videos may benefit from looping. If you do want a menu – it is imperative that you provide a high resolution digital file in the proper aspect t ratio to use as your background.
DVD resolution is 480p so for legibility make sure that your use large bold san serif fonts and keep them away from the edges.
Blu-ray Logo
6. Resolution Considerations
This is one of the tougher questions for duplicators to answer. DVD is a more widely available format than Blu-ray. But any footage shot within the last ten years is likely 1080p or even 4K. If you want to maximize your resolution Blu-ray is the solution you are looking for. If you want to maximize your compatibility DVD may be your answer. Smart customers are purchasing bundles which include a mix or ratio of each.
Video Format Map
7. Format Considerations
Audiences in the US will need video content formatted in the NTSC format. Most audiences outside of the US (OUS) will require video content formatted in PAL. Think about where you intend to distribute your content when determining the proper formatting. **each format may be considered an additional title and charged according.
8. Future Proofing Considerations
Now is the time to think about having your duplicator output a high resolution digital file for future distribution. Putting your content in the highest resolution on a large capacity USB Drive or cloud service provider so that you can distribute it digitally if necessary is a wise choice. Ask your publisher about any additional fees, they may only add nominal cost.
9. GIGO
GIGO Is a common acronym that stands for Garbage-In-Garbage-Out. Really it is just a crass way to say that disc producers aren’t magicians. They can’t add resolution to your footage. The output quality will depend on the quality of the video content you provide us. We can do some minor corrections but we can’t fix bad audio or make low resolution or low frame rate footage look HD.
For the best possible output provide us with your highest quality footage.
10. Measure Twice Cut Once
Make sure to review your content multiple times prior to submission to make sure there aren’t any glitches, stutters or audio problems. It is imperative that the content you provide is ultimately free of defects.
If your looking for more details about Blu-ray Production and the shift that's on from BDR as a content delivery vehicle to that of an artist support model head on over to our sister blog and read all about it - The shift in Blu-ray Production.
We’d love to work with you on your next Disc Mastering Project
Please call us at 952-944-0083 and we can discuss any questions you may have
We are very happy to announce that late last summer CMC Magnetics purchased the technology and manufacturing license for Taiyo Yuden optical media products like CD-R, DVD-R, DVD+R, and BD-25 disc media.
This past June, JVC/Taiyo Yuden made the announcement that they will be stopping production of all optical disc media products at the end of 2015 and making a complete withdrawal from the market. JVC/TY’s withdrawal left a huge void in the professional media market and CMC quickly seized the opportunity to purchase the technology and fill that void. CMC Magnetics has committed to produce all current JVC SKUs and maintain the unmatched quality and consistency the professional market demands. With the help of the Taiyo Yuden engineers, CMC has built specialized, dedicated production lines using the exact same processes, raw materials and strict quality control measures to ensure the TY CD and DVD media quality is maintained.
Techware Distribution will be distributing the full line of new CMC made products. In an effort to make the conversion to the CMC products as seamless as possible, Techware has purchased a significant amount of the current JVC product (made in Japan) to ensure product is available well into 2016. We understand that there will be some skepticism in the market as to whether or not TY’s quality can be reproduced. Based on our testing and frequent updates from CMC Magnetics, we are extremely confident that the new media will perform to TY’s high standards.
The CMC made products will be branded as “CMC Pro” and all cartons will be labeled “Powered by TY Technology”. Part numbers for the CMC Pro products will be very similar to the existing JVC part numbers. All current JVC part numbers start with “J” and the new SKUs will be exactly the same except they will start with “T”.
Example: JVC SKU: JCDR-ZZ-SB CMC Pro SKU: TCDR-ZZ-SB
This should make the transition much easier than a complete new part number strategy. Product labels will use the same format that is currently being used.
Packaging will also be very similar. CMC will use the same stretch-wrap as the current JVC products, however the cakeboxes used will be slightly different. Cartons will be double-walled corrugated cardboard and will be even more durable than the current JVC cartons.
We recently received the following email communication:
Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd., a Japanese leading optical disc manufacturer, will license CMC Magnetics Corporation their technology knowhow, patents, Media IDs, and trademarks related with their high value-added products of CD-R, DVD-R, and DVD+R. On September 21st, 2015, the companies have signed the license agreement on this project for high-quality optical discs.
Taiyo Yuden , known as an inventor of CD-R ,is an advanced manufacturer focusing on the professional market with their high-quality and high-reliability products throughout the optical disc market.
CMC will enhance the technologies of their high-quality optical discs for professional use with Taiyo Yuden’s media IDs and the specialized technologies such as their manufacturing process and quality control knowhow, and improve the CMC’s high-quality disc products across the board featuring stable high-speed recording, high reliability, high compatibilities with optical recording drives and variety of high-quility printability . And CMC will seek the top status of the high-quality disc products with the aim of supplying high-performance and high-reliability products and the strategy in pursuit of high qualities instead of volumes.
This agreement, CMC comments, will help the company become a market leader. The CMC’s current plan is to launch the new product lines at the end of 2015. And will the strategy for the high value-added products, CMC intends to occupy the most advantageous position by further expanding the distances ahead of its competitors and winning the frontier markets.
Our understandings of the process so far:
CMC will be upgrading their production lines to TY specs
Discs will be Azo Dye and slightly thicker to accommodate TY specs
Production should not be affected
Distribution channels should not change.
Part Numbers may change
Product UID should stay the same
JVC branding is gone
Branding may include some sort of “powered by TY” type of slogan
This is great news to customers that expect the very best in optical media. Taiyo Yuden’s extensive knowledge of manufacturing high quality discs will be passed on to CMC in Taiwan. Customer should experience only slight administrative pains dealing with changes in part numbers but production should be unaffected.
As always if you have any questions regarding optical media or need production help, don’t hesitate to contact us.
JVC / Taiyo Yuden announced back in June of this year that they would halt all CD and DVD disc manufacturing by the end of 2015. This was a shock to many users, but not a huge surprise to industry insiders.
Fast forward 3 months and what do we know? Not much other than JVC is set to deliver massive amounts of discs to North American warehouses with the intent of support existing customers well into 2016.
But what is going on behind the scenes?? We can only speculate on industry rumors. Here are some guesses:
Is a competitor negotiating for the rights, patents, IP, formulas for the recoding layers and print surfaces? Could make sense for a manufacturer like CMC, Ritek, Verbatim or MBI.
Does Microboards, largest stocking distributor in the world for JVC discs, have something up their sleeve that will keep the product line going past 2016?
Will a large investor take over operations at the plant in Japan? How about the plant moved to more labor friendly country like China or Taiwan?
Will enough of the last production run make it to the US to satisfy customers?
Your guess is as good as ours. Stay tuned as there will be some clarity soon.
One of the most exciting drives that we’ve brought to market has to be the custom promotional shotgun shell USB.
Tons of folks turn to DIY sites such as Etsy or Instructables for tips on building these. We’ve removed the mess and increased the scalability with our custom molded USB shells. Utilizing injection molding to add your logo in raised lettering we give your brand more Bang!
Lead time on these drives is around 10 business days so it’s a good idea to get the process started early. If you’d like a free digital proof or pricing on these neat little custom USB sticks please call us today.
It was great while it lasted, but the end of LightScribe disc technology is very near. The writing was on the wall starting over a year ago when tower duplicator manufacturers like Microboards stopped offering units with Lightscribe drives. Now Microboards is dropping their DVD version of the LightScribe product within the next 30 days. If you have a product requirement then now is the time to purchase a bunch before they are all sold out. We’re looking into other product options, but we wanted to let you know that this technology is close to being dead.
This is the note from Microboards –
“Microboards Branded LightScribe DVD-/+R blank media – We’ve come to the end of our supply of DVD-R & DVD+R LightScribe media. We currently have about a 30-day supply left and will discontinue both skus once we have sold out (P/N’s LS-DVD-R-50Y & LS-DVD+R-50Y)”
From Wikipedia –
“Companies such as HP, Samsung, LaCie and LiteOn have discontinued or are phasing out LightScribe drives as of June 2013[5] with only LG still manufacturing drives.
As of the beginning of January 2014, LightScribe.com HP’s official LightScribe website has been removed. This has been replaced with the following message:
“Thank you for your interest in the LightScribe disc labeling technology. This website is no longer active. LightScribe software and disc utilities may be found on a number of public websites.”
Let us know if you have any questions or need to look into a buying a new CD printer.
Take a look at the picture a CD recovered from a Rimage Everest printer this past week. This is a prime example of what can and will happen when two or more discs stick together. Discs stick together typically if the manufacturing process is rushed or the correct precautions are not taken in the packaging and/or shipping process. These manufacturing short cuts are seen frequently in CD-r and DVD-r products made in Taiwan, China and India.
When the discs stick together, multiple discs are picked up by the Rimage picking mechanism. The sticky discs end up jamming up the printer itself and sometimes end up behind the closed printer tray or even below the tray. Damage occurs in this scenario, and typically expensive damage to the printhead ($1800+), inner cables and connectors, and sometimes even the printer tray has to be replaced ($900+).
The best way to avoid this is to use high quality CD and DVD media manufactured in Japan. Japanese manufacturers boast much higher quality controls than their counterparts in China and Taiwan. Discs made in Japan cost more than Chinese CDs/DVDs, but the long term value typically proves itself over time with lowered repair costs, labor costs, down time and shipping costs.
Brands like Taiyo Yuden and JVC work the best. Rimage also has its own brand also manufactured by JVC.
Sony Corporation (‘Sony’) and Panasonic Corporation (‘Panasonic’) today announced that they have signed a basic agreement with the objective of jointly developing a next-generation standard for professional-use optical discs, with the objective of expanding their archive business for long-term digital data storage.
This is good news for early adopters of 4K televisions as well as the medical imaging community and data centers alike. As data continues to grow the demand for a cheap long term storage alternative to magnetic storage is still robust.
With metered data from major ISPs and the cost of data pipes increasing day by day (looked at your cable/internet bill lately?) this is welcome news.
One must ponder if this sets up Sony/Panasonics solution for a HDD vs Bluray type battle with the optical disk currently being developed at General Electric? Clearly GE has a captivated audience in their healthcare imaging sector with the gigantic files associated with modern day MRI/PET and CT scans.
Still the question remains- is the market big enough for two major players/formats?
Time will tell, for more updates about the current state of optical media and long term archival options such as CD/DVD, UDO and Magnetic Media please stop back often.
With todays ever increasing reliance on medical technology and imaging to diagnose and treat patients, reducing exposure to radiation is a key goal. On February 26th we came across an article in Aunt Minnie (a respected industry publication) that caught our eye. In the article titled “Reporting external exams reduces repeat imaging” Cynthia Keen discussed the study conducted by Dr. Michael Lu at UCSF that determined the findings reported in the headline.
This data strongly affirms the value and use of DICOM CD-R in the medical imaging community. Not only do the discs allow easy transfer of vital patient information but they now have been shown to actually reduce patient risk and exposure.
JVC / Taiyo Yuden announced back in June of this year that they would halt all CD and DVD disc manufacturing by the end of 2015. This was a shock to many users, but not a huge surprise to industry insiders.
