From TNPC issue #4.10...

Burning Your Own CDs

by Al Gordon
May 17, 2001

When last we visited the world of CD burning software, we came away with two favorites: Easy CD Creator from Adaptec and Nero Burning Rom.

Easy CD Creator from Adaptec (which has now spun off the software unit as Roxio) which was, ahem, easiest to use but suffered from coasteritis, that is the tendency to hiccup during the creation process turning the CD into a disc only suitable as a coaster on the coffee table.

Nero Burning ROM from Germany's Ahead software, which was nearly Bulletproof when it came to burning CDs, but had a very difficult interface making it very hard to use.

Now both products are back with new versions and both are, I'm happy to say, REAL upgrades addressing many of shortcomings found in the previous versions.

Easy CD Creator 5 Platinum $80 ($60 after a $20 rebate for upgraders):
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/410/tr.cgi?al1

Easy CD retains its plethora of features, and now is much more reliable than previous versions. Not the least of the key features is better support for BURN-Proof, the Sanyo-developed technology that allows high-speed CD burners to resume recording after a temporary interruption in the flow of data from your PC. This is the fix for the dreaded "buffer underrun" (the buffer being a cache of data on your PC that is headed for the burner). Normally, buffer underrun makes for a guaranteed coaster.

The problem with Easy CD 4 was that it was released when 4x burners were dominant and before BURN-Proof had been introduced. And while Adaptec/Roxio released numerous patches, the product never seemed to catch up. Now, Easy CD 5 checks for potential buffer problems and slows down the burn rate to avoid creating a useless coaster instead of a working CD.

Also in the package is DirectCD packet writing software that allows you to use CD-RWs as super-floppies. I am not a huge fan of this, as it means running one more background application on your PC, but I bow to the inevitable: packet writing will be built into Windows XP.

If you are a Windows 2000 user, be sure to download the 5.01 and 5.01s patches to Easy CD, which deal with a number of bugs in the initial release related to Windows 2000 installations.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/410/tr.cgi?al4

Nero Burning ROM 5.5:
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/410/tr.cgi?al2

Nero's pricing is more complicated: $66 for a CD in a package (which includes CD labels and an applicator) and $50 for the download-only version. But MP3 encoding (included with the Easy CD product) is sold separately and costs $15 extra to download, or $30 to get it on a floppy disk.

On the other hand, upgrades from Nero 5.0 are free and there are reduced prices for those upgrading from version 4.0. Get the download-only version here:
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/410/tr.cgi?al3

Nero has added a wizard interface that allows you to quickly set up plain vanilla burns about as easily as with Easy CD. The more complex options are now available by shutting off the wizard. It, too, has packet writing ("In-CD") and it has much improved its CD labeling software.

In fact, the essence of the 5.5 package is the addition of most of the "extras" such as audio editing software and video CD support that long have been part of Roxio's Easy CD product.

The bottom line of this year's products: Easy CD is still easier and Nero is still virtually coaster-free, but the gap between the two is down to nearly zero. Casual burners probably will want Easy CD while power users will like Nero, and intermediate users would be happy either way. It really is now a matter of personal taste and quirks. Here is what I mean.

When you make an audio compilation CD (a/k/a a "greatest hits" collection), both products present you with essentially two Windows Explorer-like windows--one for your system and one for the CD to be burned. Easy CD will access the Internet to get the track names for your music CD and thus you have the song titles available to assist in making your compilation. Nero, on the other hand, simply lists "track 1" "track 2" etc. and doesn't get the Internet information until after you drag to the compilation Window.

BUT, the music CD information must be converted to .wav format before it can be burned and Nero does this when you set up the compilation. Easy CD does it only when you start to burn. This means that you have to go back and reinsert all the CDs you used for the compilation whereas with Nero you only do that once.

Hey, it's not much of a difference. But it is a difference.

You can reach Al Gordon at:
mailto:al@TheNakedPC.com

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