Network Music Server

[jerry_rig]

There seems to be relatively little discussion on this forum about music servers -- probably because this is about speakers! But technology is moving quickly and I wanted to share my experience with a new NAS (network attached server) that has rocked my world. In concert with my Bryston BDA-1 DAC, it has functionality and flexibility far exceeding some expensive stand-alone models, such as those offered by Olive and others.

What really got me moving in this direction was noting the difference in sound quality between my CD player (sending an S/PDIF to the DAC) and my Mac (sending a USB signal to the DAC). The USB's sound was so far superior that I could not play a CD again. So my mission was to find a server that could a) store my CD collection; b) send songs to the DAC via USB; and c) be managed using my iPhone.

This past week, I wound up purchasing a Synology DS710+, a two-bay network server that sports a very handy operating system specifically geared to music and other media. I loaded the NAS with two Hitachi 2 terabyte drives, for a total of 4 terabytes of storage capacity. (I am also using it as my Time Machine backup for my Mac.)

I spent this past weekend ripping my CDs to uncompressed WAV files and loading them over my network into the NAS drive. (Although the documentation claims it does not support WAV (or AIFF) files in USB mode, that is not correct. All you lose are the tags and artwork.) A free iPhone app, DS Audio, allows me to search through my collection and play -- without any lag whatsoever -- any song on the server. I can also pause, move quickly through the song or change the volume.

As with the Mac, the sound quality is far above CDs, probably because of reduced drive noise and jitter. Even though the Bryston (and some other DACs) do not support resolutions above 44.1K over USB, this is not an issue for CDs. The server can send up 192K/24 files over USB and a USB-to-S/PDIF converter could be used to get these into your DAC.

Here are a few photos:

[kwingylee]

This is very interesting. I have been wanting to do this for awhile. Just confuse over the numerous choices.
Do you use AMARRA or PURE MUSIC software with this? Is the OS part of MAC or Windows?
Which program do you use to RIP your CDs?
Can you also RIP DVDs?

[Rolf]

Hi. I really don't know what you are trying to say. Do you mean that a "box" and iPad, USB + + + sounds better than a hi end CD player connected to a hi end pre amp to a high end power amp(s) with a high quality cables?

That is not correct. The best sound you can get is from CD -> Pre -> Power Amps -> Speaker.

All the shit about that copies from CD - Burned CD sounds better is not true. Test it yourself with the original compared with anything else.

Oh, I forget to ask what equipment you use. THAT can also be an issue. I can hear better sound in my car, and that is crap, than what I hear at some of my friends surround system that cost US$ 200.


There seems to be relatively little discussion on this forum about music servers -- probably because this is about speakers! But technology is moving quickly and I wanted to share my experience with a new NAS (network attached server) that has rocked my world. In concert with my Bryston BDA-1 DAC, it has functionality and flexibility far exceeding some expensive stand-alone models, such as those offered by Olive and others.

What really got me moving in this direction was noting the difference in sound quality between my CD player (sending an S/PDIF to the DAC) and my Mac (sending a USB signal to the DAC). The USB's sound was so far superior that I could not play a CD again. So my mission was to find a server that could a) store my CD collection; b) send songs to the DAC via USB; and c) be managed using my iPhone.

This past week, I wound up purchasing a Synology DS710+, a two-bay network server that sports a very handy operating system specifically geared to music and other media. I loaded the NAS with two Hitachi 2 terabyte drives, for a total of 4 terabytes of storage capacity. (I am also using it as my Time Machine backup for my Mac.)

I spent this past weekend ripping my CDs to uncompressed WAV files and loading them over my network into the NAS drive. (Although the documentation claims it does not support WAV (or AIFF) files in USB mode, that is not correct. All you lose are the tags and artwork.) A free iPhone app, DS Audio, allows me to search through my collection and play -- without any lag whatsoever -- any song on the server. I can also pause, move quickly through the song or change the volume.

As with the Mac, the sound quality is far above CDs, probably because of reduced drive noise and jitter. Even though the Bryston (and some other DACs) do not support resolutions above 44.1K over USB, this is not an issue for CDs. The server can send up 192K/24 files over USB and a USB-to-S/PDIF converter could be used to get these into your DAC.

Here are a few photos:

[hjames]

Hi. I really don't know what you are trying to say. Do you mean that a "box" and iPad, USB + + + sounds better than a hi end CD player connected to a hi end pre amp to a high end power amp(s) with a high quality cables?

That is not correct. The best sound you can get is from CD -> Pre -> Power Amps -> Speaker.

All the shit about that copies from CD - Burned CD sounds better is not true. Test it yourself with the original compared with anything else.

Oh, I forget to ask what equipment you use. THAT can also be an issue. I can hear better sound in my car, and that is crap, than what I hear at some of my friends surround system that cost US$ 200.


No, he's not using an iPad/iPod and MP3s, he is talking about using the files from the CD in full size ("ripping CDs to uncompressed WAV files"). Its like having all your files in their original high quality audio format but all in the same pile, thousands of them, so you don't have to shuffle shiny plastic discs in and out of a player, just sort the raw audio files and play them directly.

Its the same quality files as there are on the CD ... an exact copy, with no loss.

Its a very cool way to manage all your music - as long as you keep good backups (grin).

[Rolf]

I disagree. A copy of the original is maybe 80 to 90% of the original ... In quality. I have tested this myself, and there is no doubt about this. Maybe I have "Golden Ears"?:confused:


No, he's not using an iPad/iPod and MP3s, he is talking about using the files from the CD in full size ("ripping CDs to uncompressed WAV files"). Its like having all your files in their original high quality audio format but all in the same pile, thousands of them, so you don't have to shuffle shiny plastic discs in and out of a player, just sort the raw audio files and play them directly.

Its the same quality files as there are on the CD ... an exact copy, with no loss.

Its a very cool way to manage all your music - as long as you keep good backups (grin).

[hjames]

I disagree. A copy of the original is maybe 80 to 90% of the original ... In quality. I have tested this myself, and there is no doubt about this. Maybe I have "Golden Ears"?:confused:

or maybe your copy program isn't good enough??


If you can't hear the difference, for a listener's purposes, there is no difference.
Let those who can hear the difference, spend the extra money.:D

[rusty jefferson]

Good Thread. I'm interested in what others are doing with respect to files.

I have been working with a couple of friends, each of us ripping our redbook cds onto 2 tb external hard drives, using Media Monkey, in FLAC format. We hope we have eliminated the back-up issue by each of us having a copy of all the cds, as this ripping/tagging artwork is very time consuming.

Our biggest concern was obviously, quality loss. It took me a while to find a transport/dac that I was happy with in general, but that also had an extra digital input for the computer files. We did some pretty extensive listening tests/blind comparisons, and weren't able to hear any difference between our 16/44 cds or FLAC files. I think it's important to use the same dac when making comparisons, or it's no longer 'apples to apples'. Comparing a quality stand alone cd player, to computer files via dac '?', or worse, a computer sound card, I'm sure a significant difference could be heard.

[4313B]

There seems to be relatively little discussion on this forum about music servers -- probably because this is about speakers!Thanks for the post! The whole loudspeaker thing is covered now so getting rid of the records and cd's is next on the list.

[jerry_rig]

Rolf,

I think you may misunderstand what digital music is. Your CDs are nothing more than data storage devices. A CD player converts these to analogue (when connected directly to a pre amp) or digital (when streaming to an outboard DAC). It is well known that there are issues with retrieving data off of a CD in real time. Ask yourself why high-end CD players put so much emphasis on massive drives.

When I ripp a CD to a WAV file -- actually I just used iTunes and I check "use error correction" -- I am getting as good a copy of the music file as possible. No high end player will retrieve more information from the disk. Once stored on my server, I can deliver it to my DAC over a number of connections. From there, it is the quality of the DAC that determines what you hear.

[jerry_rig]

This is very interesting. I have been wanting to do this for awhile. Just confuse over the numerous choices.
Do you use AMARRA or PURE MUSIC software with this? Is the OS part of MAC or Windows?
Which program do you use to RIP your CDs?
Can you also RIP DVDs?

The NAS server has its own operating system and is compatible with both Windows and Mac OS. (Google "Synology DS710+" and "audiophile" for a great review.) Amarra or Pure Music would not add anything right now because I'm simply sending 44.1K WAV files to my DAC. Those programs are useful if a) you are playing higher res files and b) you have a high end sound card. I'm ripping with iTunes. if I were to start encoding or buying high res files, they might come in handy.

[Ducatista47]

My personal concern for my system would be the DAC, mostly the analogue stage. My CDP has a really nice tube unit and I fear the cost of something as good or better.

Over at HeadFi they are DAC crazy (wire and soundstage crazy too) and it is a real minefield. I can't believe anyone about what is good. Opinions abound, but sound is too subjective to quantify it.

Issue # next is the sheer quantity of music I have, much of it vinyl. Sorry, but ripped vinyl data does not sound like vinyl. There is something to all analogue. At this point I am into High Fidelity and I don't feel like compromising. It is like digital cinema projection. Our local high end cinema has nice Christie projectors. The first thing I noticed is that the image looks...digital.

At this point I think digital recording well done is superior to analogue, but there is the legacy issue to deal with. I trust Rudy Van Gelder to do it right, but I have heard so much badly converted analogue I am wary of just about anyone else. RVG was the engineer on the original sessions, and that just doesn't happen much.

Clark

[yggdrasil]

I have been running a similar setup the last year or so. This is so convenient.

I am really surprised to see you have such great experience with the USB interface. I read one DAC designer stating he got 20dB more noise on USB compared to S/PDIF on either Toslink or cable. What I can't remember is if he stated anything about the USB source, because if it is on a windows machine you could expect anything but a steady bit-stream.

Storing music digitally on a server will give you identical bit-stream every time, compared to reading CD's which will give occational errors.

The challenge with this approach is that you get more boxes; i.e. more things that could go wrong.

First of all you'll need a media player. Normally they pre-fetch some music, so the incoming bit-stream is error free. The outgoing bit-stream is depending on the quality of the media player clock, and might be a serious issue for the quality of the outgoing bit-stream.

Second you will have to decide whether to use the internal DAC of the media player or if you want to use an external DAC. I chose the external DAC, and with the external DAC you have to decide on interface; i.e. USB, S/PDIF cable, Toslink. Choosing the right interface will greatly depend on the media player's different interface qualities, the DAC's interface qualities and most likely the distance between the boxes.

Regarding the DAC you'll have lots to choose between. Some swear to non over sampling DAC running at 16/44, while other prefer the oversampling 24/192. Also there are choices regarding the output stages on the DAC; some prefer opamp output stages, while other prefer discrete output stages using JFET's, BJT's, MOSFET's or tubes.

Regarding backup of ripped music; I use mozy.com backup over internet. Other sites offer similar services. It takes quite a lot of time to upload new data, but the server does it for me during the night....

[SEAWOLF97]

I have read that some CD/DVD copy protection schemes take advantage of the differences between a PC drive and a stand alone normal player ...they design IN certain errors onto the disc...the PC drive cannot cope with the errs , where the normal player ignores them, thus "non-copyable"

Is your servers drive.... a PC type one ?

I do a similar server thing with a wireless laptop (but dont have the dedicated RC) that has 320GB storage and I can move the TB external drive in via USB at a moments notice...the laptop has mini-toslink output and I just run that to the DAC...it is VERY smooth and detailed..mostly runs Pandora streams , but lots of HQ digi files there on demand, too. The laptop does have a remote, tho I didnt get it. It also reads SACD and burns DVD

IMHO ..with the price of laptops and DACs , this may be a more cost effective method of approximating a dedicated music server.

[brutal]

Add a Squeezebox Touch for wireless access to all your media, internet radio, etc. and you're set. If you want to spend more and need better multi-room support, go for a Sonos system.

[Mr. Widget]

I disagree. A copy of the original is maybe 80 to 90% of the original ... In quality. I have tested this myself, and there is no doubt about this. Maybe I have "Golden Ears"?:confused:Hi Rolf,

In the analog world you were absolutely correct, however in the digital universe a bit for bit copy, and even a lossless copy is absolutely everything that the original was. Generation 1000 copy is identical to the original.

As for a server and outboard DAC sounding better than a CD player, it is absolutely possible. In my system my Bryston DAC being fed lossless files sounds better than every CD player I have tried except for the $15K Mark Levinson No. 512.



I am really surprised to see you have such great experience with the USB interface. I read one DAC designer stating he got 20dB more noise on USB compared to S/PDIF on either Toslink or cable. What I can't remember is if he stated anything about the USB source, because if it is on a windows machine you could expect anything but a steady bit-stream.I have read a few similar findings... I haven't tested it myself yet though. In my system I did find the coaxial input sounded vastly superior to the optical Toslink.

Widget

[Rolf]

Anybody with normal hearing (mine is not so good) should be able to hear the difference.

I don't copy CD's or DVD's. I buy them. Why? Because if everybody just uses copies there will not be produced more music or movies. This is what the people who make them does for a living.

Rolf


or maybe your copy program isn't good enough??


If you can't hear the difference, for a listener's purposes, there is no difference.
Let those who can hear the difference, spend the extra money.:D

[hjames]

Anybody with normal hearing (mine is not so good) should be able to hear the difference.

I don't copy CD's or DVD's. I buy them. Why? Because if everybody just uses copies there will not be produced more music or movies. This is what the people who make them does for a living.

Rolf
All we are talking about is how to play music from hard drives, anything else is an assumption ...

Some people get the concept just fine, no fuss if you don't, but you seem to have a lot of misunderstandings associated with the idea.

No one said anything about stealing the music or cheating anyone,
so please don't assume the worst.

If I buy a CD and copy my CD to a digital server, I keep the CD as a backup ...
why wouldn't I - I did pay for it. Anything less would be a cheat.

The artist got paid, the company got paid, everyone is happy -
the only difference is that when I play the song it gets
loaded faster from my hard drive.

[jerry_rig]

Trust me, in the not too distant future you won't even have CDs. People will buy their music online. iTunes is doing this today, but unfortunately, they only sell low res mp3 versions of songs. Hopefully, someone -- maybe Amazon -- will offer full uncompressed audio files over the internet. HDTracks is a start, but their prices aren't great and their selection is weak, at least for my tastes in music.

[JeffW]

And don't forget that your CD player has a DAC on its output, and it might be great or it might be a $.69 chip with a $1.29 clock. So thinking that somehow the CD player is superior to a digital file running thru a high quality outboard DAC (or even the same CD player running thru a high quality outboard DAC) is likely not the best solution. Getting the digital files onto a good server is still no good if you use a crappy computer soundcard for the analog output...it might not have any better DAC or clock than the CD player. A good soundcard like a Lynx will run you several hundred bucks, or just get a good DAC like Jerry did and go to town with the digital output of your CD player or computer or music server.

Saying that digital copies of files are inferior to those on a CD is just uninformed. There's a LOT of processing gear in between that makes the bigger difference, as well as file compression algorithms (like FLAC vs WAV vs AAC or whatever).

ETA: I've bought every single bit of music in my whole system through legitimate channels, that some of it comes off a hard drive rather than a spinning piece of plastic has no bearing on the discussion.

[Rolf]

Hi all in this thread.

I totally agree if you buy a CD, and the copies it into the computer. (Server). That is totally OK.:)

The reason I wrote what I did is that I can hear that the sound of a track copied to the computer, or copied from original CD to a burned one have a differnce in quality. Sometimes I do this myself, to have the copy in my car, and the original safe at home.:D

If I make a compare at home I can hear that the copy does not sounds as good as the original. That is why I never play burned Cd's on my hi-fi system at home.:)


All we are talking about is how to play music from hard drives, anything else is an assumption ...

Some people get the concept just fine, no fuss if you don't, but you seem to have a lot of misunderstandings associated with the idea.

No one said anything about stealing the music or cheating anyone,
so please don't assume the worst.

If I buy a CD and copy my CD to a digital server, I keep the CD as a backup ...
why wouldn't I - I did pay for it. Anything less would be a cheat.

The artist got paid, the company got paid, everyone is happy -
the only difference is that when I play the song it gets
loaded faster from my hard drive.

[Mr. Widget]

If I make a compare at home I can hear that the copy does not sounds as good as the original. That is why I never play burned Cd's on my hi-fi system at home.:)If this is the case there is something wrong somewhere. A copied CD should sound EXACTLY like the original. A copy stored on a hard drive should also sound the same, though there is the possibility that different amounts of jitter may have an audible effect though this will vary depending on associated gear.

Back on the topic of this thread, a few weeks ago I brought home an Olive... it is actually pretty good and is about the same price as a Bryston DAC and NAS drive... and with an iPad it is a pretty nifty all in one easy to use system... it sounds quite good, but not quite as good as other sources through the Bryston DAC. I just brought home a Sonos system with their new wireless iPod dock. I plan on comparing it to the Wadia dock over the next week to see how it compares sonically. I will be using the Sonos system through my Bryston DAC. I love their easy to use interface, if the sound quality is high enough I may leave it in the system as it very flexible and expandable as well as relatively inexpensive, especially if you already have an iPad/iPhone/iPod touch.


Widget

[SEAWOLF97]

Trust me, in the not too distant future you won't even have CDs. People will buy their music online. iTunes is doing this today, but unfortunately, they only sell low res mp3 versions of songs. Hopefully, someone -- maybe Amazon -- will offer full uncompressed audio files over the internet. HDTracks is a start, but their prices aren't great and their selection is weak, at least for my tastes in music.

I've got a problem wif that ...pods are either flash memory or hard drive based...servers and PC's and macs are hard drive based....pick up a hard drive and look at its printed specs....somewhere down around the voltages and rpm's...is MTBF (usually 50000 hours)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mean_time_between_failures

Mean time between failures ...


it is NOT predicting "will my hard drive fail OR not" ??? It is estimating WHEN it will fail :(

Most every HD ever built WILL fail at some point. When that happens , guess where your newly downloaded music goes ??

Flash memory has its problems too ...seems to corrupt after lots of adding / deleting /compacting

unless you store your CD's on the car dashboard or on the oven in your kitchen or handle with scratchy gloves , the CD will outlast whatever pod you have.

I spent my productive life in DP ...multi generational digi copies are essential for data integrity. redundancy , redundancy , redundancy (unless you want to keep purchasing your music over & over)

Ie: backup your purchased library .... to another HD based system , then burn to DVD for safe keeping.


A copy stored on a hard drive should also sound the same, though there is the possibility that different amounts of jitter may have an audible effect though this will vary depending on associated gear.
Widget

the caveat when copying to a computer (non dedicated system) hard drive is that the computer is many times multi-tasking...checking email , running anti-virus , etc....those tasks will suck CPU cycles away from your ripping sessions....can pick up audio artifacts ......shut down all non-essential progs before starting.

[David Ketley]

It seems that the more electromechanical interfaces one can eliminate from the signal path the better the sound. Using a solid state hard drive or a flash drive further enhances the clarity over the normal hard drive. Just what’s happening here I’m not sure but a simple solid state device outputting to a top quality DAC will produce exceptional results. Don’t use FLAC though there seems to be some compression, rip files as high as a quality as possible you can hear the difference on top equipment.
Dave

[Titanium Dome]

Back on the topic of this thread, a few weeks ago I brought home an Olive... it is actually pretty good and is about the same price as a Bryston DAC and NAS drive... and with an iPad it is a pretty nifty all in one easy to use system... it sounds quite good, but not quite as good as other sources through the Bryston DAC. I just brought home a Sonos system with their new wireless iPod dock. I plan on comparing it to the Wadia dock over the next week to see how it compares sonically. I will be using the Sonos system through my Bryston DAC. I love their easy to use interface, if the sound quality is high enough I may leave it in the system as it very flexible and expandable as well as relatively inexpensive, especially if you already have an iPad/iPhone/iPod touch.


Widget

I look forward to your comparisons. Be sure to follow up with a post.

Thanks. :)

[brutal]

I have read a few similar findings... I haven't tested it myself yet though. In my system I did find the coaxial input sounded vastly superior to the optical Toslink.

Widget

Not surprising. Coax has always been considered superior to Toslink. I don't know the technicalities, but suspect there's one less layer in coax. ;)

[brutal]

I've got a problem wif that ...pods are either flash memory or hard drive based...servers and PC's and macs are hard drive based....pick up a hard drive and look at its printed specs....somewhere down around the voltages and rpm's...is MTBF (usually 50000 hours)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mean_time_between_failures

Mean time between failures ...


it is NOT predicting "will my hard drive fail OR not" ??? It is estimating WHEN it will fail :(

Most every HD ever built WILL fail at some point. When that happens , guess where your newly downloaded music goes ??

Flash memory has its problems too ...seems to corrupt after lots of adding / deleting /compacting

unless you store your CD's on the car dashboard or on the oven in your kitchen or handle with scratchy gloves , the CD will outlast whatever pod you have.

I spent my productive life in DP ...multi generational digi copies are essential for data integrity. redundancy , redundancy , redundancy (unless you want to keep purchasing your music over & over)

Ie: backup your purchased library .... to another HD based system , then burn to DVD for safe keeping.


<snipped>

I run mirrored drives on my server and backup it and every other system regularly for catastrophic or other potential errors. ;) Drives are cheap. USB external disks are cheap. No reason not to have a backup.

[yggdrasil]

I run mirrored drives on my server and backup it and every other system regularly for catastrophic or other potential errors. ;) Drives are cheap. USB external disks are cheap. No reason not to have a backup.
And for added security it is very good to have copies stored outside the house, either with a friend or an online backup service.

I had a disk crash 6-7 years ago where I almost lost data... Ever since I have been running mirrored server disks, (almost) mirrored servers and backup to an online service. For a while I stored DVD-backups with a friend of mine, but the backups grew so much that it was no longer practical.

[Rolf]

Just a little reminder regarding this. Remember an original CD or DVD in printed, not burned as the copy is. I believe that can explain the differed sound quality. This is mostly audible in the 10 to 15000 Hz.

[Ducatista47]

If this is the case there is something wrong somewhere. A copied CD should sound EXACTLY like the original. A copy stored on a hard drive should also sound the same, though there is the possibility that different amounts of jitter may have an audible effect though this will vary depending on associated gear.



Just a little reminder regarding this. Remember an original CD or DVD in printed, not burned as the copy is. I believe that can explain the differed sound quality. This is mostly audible in the 10 to 15000 Hz.
I am with Rolf on this one. Even a carefully burned copy of an XRCD24 is indeed missing that little extra something. JVC uses a painstaking process to manufacture the physical CDs. YMMV on less well made discs.

A bit is a bit, but sloppy burning leads to more errors in reading as well as writing.

RE: carefully burning. Burn at as slow a speed as possible, don't multitask the computer as Seawolf said, use data verification (better than error correction) and try to use the best blank CDs. Verbatum Data Life Plus is probably as good as it gets, and should last a century or more.

Many older burners have less powerful writing lasers for pinpoint accuracy and slower burning speeds. Commercial pressure by the main consumers of the hardware, impatient kids, drove the power race for faster burning speeds. Low and slow was originally used because it gave a better physical image on the disc. The smaller a physical bit marker has to be, the slower the burning needs to be. I am sure you have all noticed that the same burner has lower max burning speeds for BluRay than DVD and lower rates for DVD than CD.

A good burn software, I wouldn't use iTunes on a bet, will detect how slowly as well as how quickly a particular drive can write a particular disc. The lasers are so powerful on today's drives that 12X is the minimum for most blank CDs. They will burn too deeply at slower settings. Get as close to the printed precision of good commercial disks as you can. I have an old Ricoh MP7120A CD-R drive that will write down to 1X. I keep it going by putting in new drive bands and cleaning it when necessary. It dates from August 2000.

[Rolf]

So, what burning program is recommended?


I am with Rolf on this one. Even a carefully burned copy of an XRCD24 is indeed missing that little extra something. JVC uses a painstaking process to manufacture the physical CDs. YMMV on less well made discs.

A bit is a bit, but sloppy burning leads to more errors in reading as well as writing.

RE: carefully burning. Burn at as slow a speed as possible, don't multitask the computer as Seawolf said, use data verification (better than error correction) and try to use the best blank CDs. Verbatum Data Life Plus is probably as good as it gets, and should last a century or more.

Many older burners have less powerful writing lasers for pinpoint accuracy and slower burning speeds. Commercial pressure by the main consumers of the hardware, impatient kids, drove the power race for faster burning speeds. Low and slow was originally used because it gave a better physical image on the disc. The smaller a physical bit marker has to be, the slower the burning needs to be. I am sure you have all noticed that the same burner has lower max burning speeds for BluRay than DVD and lower rates for DVD than CD.

A good burn software, I wouldn't use iTunes on a bet, will detect how slowly as well as how quickly a particular drive can write a particular disc. The lasers are so powerful on today's drives that 12X is the minimum for most blank CDs. They will burn too deeply at slower settings. Get as close to the printed precision of good commercial disks as you can. I have an old Ricoh MP7120A CD-R drive that will write down to 1X. I keep it going by putting in new drive bands and cleaning it when necessary. It dates from August 2000.

[Ducatista47]

So, what burning program is recommended?
When my expensive version of Nero, which was way too big & complex a program for what I need anyway, would not work when I upgraded to Windows 7, I searched for free CD burning utilities on CNET.com, downloads. I just don't need cover creation or editing software. I want a simple burning program.

I very much like Cdrtfe. Not well known with only 1990 downloads, it is simple and a great piece of software. I also like Hanso Burner (4036 downloads). If you need help with any of this, post or private message me. By comparison, some of the programs listed in this category on CNET have over eighteen MILLION downloads.

Off topic and already mentioned by me elsewhere, Calibre E-book management software is another great example of something much better than the commercial programs and absolutely free. The software from Kindle, Barnes & Noble, etc. is about selling books more than managing them.

You can almost always find a free, compact stand alone tool that does a better, simpler more intuitive job than big, bloated commercial programs. One exception might be Google Chrome, if speed is your thing. That browser must load in a second or two! It is bloat free for sure.

[Ducatista47]

I realize that I might have undersold the capabilities of Cdrtfe. (I think it stands for Compact disc writer tools frontend. Frontends, for this use, are very compact interfaces that are also very functional. I have used frontends that had a file size under 200 kb. I handle FLAC files with FLAC frontend. It starts life as a zip file under 30kb.)

I had not realized to what extent I dive into the settings of Cdrtfe to tailor the burn to what I want. It is a pretty professional tool with a lot of control. You cannot do absolutely everything, like Nero can for instance, but what you can do can be done with complete control. It is open source.

http://cdrtfe.sourceforge.net/cdrtfe/index_en.html