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Ritek v. CMC

PostPosted: Sun Nov 02, 2003 10:40 pm
by xeetim
I just bought some Maxell CDRs made by Ritek. Is Ritek better quailty than CMC or viceversa?

PostPosted: Sun Nov 02, 2003 11:05 pm
by vsekh
I would say Ritek is better quality than CMC.

PostPosted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 12:43 am
by dolphinius_rex
I would say that Ritek is just slightly lower quality then Taiyo Yuden... at least 90% of *my* experience points that way

PostPosted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 1:26 am
by burninfool
Mercedes Benz v. Saturn :wink:

I have had good luck with Ritek CD-R,CD-RW and DVD+R.

PostPosted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 1:46 am
by rdgrimes
Ritek makes a range of dyes, Maxel sometimes has used the cheaper versions. If the disc is identified as Ritek TG, you got the good stuff, but some identifier programs don't differentiate the types.

CMC isn't CDR media, it's a stack of coasters for the coffee table. :wink:

PostPosted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 2:14 am
by CDRecorder
Ritek is definitely better than CMC. While I don't quite agree that CMCs are just coasters, they're definitely not nearly as good as Ritek and TY discs.

Personally, I use CMC media for discs that are going to be used a lot (they'll inevitably get scratched and dirty), and I use Ritek and TY media for discs that I want to last for a very long time.

PostPosted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 2:35 am
by David
In my experience Ritek is better than CMC.

The only use I use CMC discs for is short term use.

PostPosted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 3:31 am
by dolphinius_rex
I only use CMC discs for reviews, and for giving to other people :lol:

Sometimes, I through movies onto a CMC disc for a one night use at a friends house (over night party sort of thing) but the disc usually ends up in the garbage by the next day.

Generally I don't even BUY CMC though, unless it's for a review. There are of course extenuating circumstances. For instance, I bought 100pcs of some overprinted CD-Rs for $30.00 (a VERY good deal in Canada, considering we have to pay $21 just for the CD levy on 100 CD-Rs!). The spindle was made up of various Ritek and CMC media, so I feel fine about the purchase. I wouldn't have bought it if it was ONLY CMC though.

PostPosted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 4:16 am
by dodecahedron
rdgrimes wrote:Ritek makes a range of dyes, Maxel sometimes has used the cheaper versions. If the disc is identified as Ritek TG, you got the good stuff, but some identifier programs don't differentiate the types.

can you mention a few that do differentiate on this point?

PostPosted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 5:39 am
by dolphinius_rex
I've seen smartburn mention which dye type is used previously... but the best way is to just look at the serial number :D

PostPosted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 5:54 am
by dodecahedron
dolphinius_rex wrote:I've seen smartburn mention which dye type is used previously... but the best way is to just look at the serial number :D
can you explain?
how do you tell from the serial number whick Ritek are the "good" ones (Ritek TG) ?

PostPosted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 11:01 am
by rdgrimes
Earlier SmatBurn versions show the dye type, current one does not.

PostPosted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 12:22 pm
by dolphinius_rex
grr, it appears I don't have any TG-Dye Ritek discs on hand so I can give you the exact serial identifier....

This is a serial number from a RiData JS Dye Type CD-R: L410JS212080243RF22. Look in the same spot for differences. If you see an R in stead, it is using the Ricoh Dye Type.

I'm not sure if the TG dye type actually has a TG there or not, or if it's a seperate code (that was what I was trying to check), But that is where you would look.

PostPosted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 2:08 pm
by rdgrimes
This is from TDK 52x media, in an earlier version of SmartBurn checker:
This Disc is designed for CD-RW/COMBO Drive Only.
Disc Type, Material = CD-R, Phthalocyanine
ATIP Lead-in = 97m 15s 17f
Norminal Capacity = 702.82MB (79m 59s 70f)
Disc Manufacturer maybe = RiTEK,TG
SMART-BURN Speed Limit = 52X

PostPosted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 3:13 pm
by dolphinius_rex
what was the serial number??

PostPosted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 3:29 pm
by rdgrimes
dolphinius_rex wrote:what was the serial number??

Beats me...it's buried in stacks of used CDR's.
Any of the TDK 48x or 52x in typical Ritek packaging will be RitekTG, don't have any around right now.

I did find a Maxell 48x, and checking with smartBurn v2.0:
This Disc is designed for CD-RW/COMBO Drive Only.
Disc Type, Material = CD-R, Phthalocyanine
ATIP Lead-in = 97m 15s 17f
Norminal Capacity = 702.82MB (79m 59s 70f)
Disc Manufacturer maybe = RiTEK,TG
SMART-BURN Speed Limit = 52X

# on the disc is:
E408JS305144018E21

PostPosted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 6:34 pm
by dolphinius_rex
weird, maybe I was wrong on the serial number part then! But I know that in other cases they have always used that section to define the Dye type before.... :-?

PostPosted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 7:10 pm
by dodecahedron
rdgrimes wrote:Earlier SmatBurn versions show the dye type, current one does not.

can you say which version? how much earlier?
is it still available for download on Lite-On's website?

PostPosted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 7:27 pm
by CDRecorder
dodecahedron wrote:
rdgrimes wrote:Earlier SmatBurn versions show the dye type, current one does not.

can you say which version? how much earlier?
is it still available for download on Lite-On's website?


I'm using 3.1.5 (which is available from the Lite-On web site), and it appears to show the dye type. Here is an example:

Drive Type = CD-RW
Disc Type = CDR
Material = Phthalocyanine
Lead In = 97:26:66
Lead Out = 79:59:74
Nominal Capacity = 702.83MB
Manufacturer Maybe = CMC(99min)
Smart-Burn Speed Limit = 32X(Write)

And here is the informaiton for the same disc read with 3.1.4:

Drive Type = CD-RW
Disc Type = CDR (A-)
Material = Phthalocyanine
Lead In = 97:26:66
Lead Out = 79:59:74
Nominal Capacity = 702.83MB (79m 59s 74f/LBA:359849)
Manufacturer Maybe = CMC Magnetics Corporation
Smart-Burn Speed Limit = Wrt(32X),Rd(48X)

PostPosted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 7:44 pm
by wicked1
I bought some of the Maxell disks from Staples this week and they were identified as Ritek but no TG. They are supposed to be 48X compatible but out of all my burners only the liteon burns the fastest at 32X.Everything else is 16X.I dont like these disks.

PostPosted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 9:03 pm
by dolphinius_rex
SmartBurn version 2.0 and Version 2.1 will tell you what particular type of Ritek dye us used, SmartBurn 3 and later will only say Phthalocyanine or Cyanine/Azo.

I've NEVER had a problem with Maxell discs not burning at 48x.... even the old 24xwould burn at LEAST at 40x! if not 48x.

PostPosted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 9:53 pm
by wicked1
I'm guessing they were just a bad batch or maybe just old because they are 650 mb disks but still.I went against my no rebate thing again and stocked up on TY's again at CompUSA.Glad I have friends willing to submit the rebates for me :) bought 270 disks total.

PostPosted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 10:17 pm
by TheWizard
When I saw this topic, I knew right away it would be a long, drawn out thread. :P While I generally like Ritek more than CMC, I have absolutely no problems with CMC. Actually, I'm not sure why I like Ritek more than CMC. Of all the Ritek and CMC spindles I have bought, all the CMC spindles were filled with good discs, and all but one of the Ritek spindles were filled with good discs. So, in summation, I have received zero bad batches of CMC and one bad batch of Ritek. Yet I rank Ritek higher than CMC...puzzling indeed!

PostPosted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 10:17 pm
by CDRecorder
I agree; the Maxell discs are probably just old. Too bad that they won't write at a higher speed, though.

PostPosted: Mon Nov 03, 2003 10:25 pm
by CDRecorder
TheWizard wrote:Actually, I'm not sure why I like Ritek more than CMC.


Maybe because the Ritek discs have lower error rates? That's why I like them better.