Replication (Plant Manufacturing)

Replicated CDs are molded (using a glass master) and stamped at dedicated manufacturing plants. Replication has been the standard for making CDs for a couple of decades.

PLAYABILITY:

The replicated CD is guaranteed to play 100% of the time. If it doesn’t, the run is usually replaced! Of course in both these situations, people do have CD players that are starting to break down so that can be a factor. If there is a playability problem, the plant will investigate their quality control and report back to us as to what the problem might be, if any.

DISC FACE:

Replicated discs use a process called Silk-Screening. For an extra charge, you can get Off-Set printing at some plants. It is usually more clear and vibrant but the majority of CDs in your collection from the major labels are silk-screened.

QUANTITY:

Orders for replicated discs start at 300 (for certain types of packages) and up. 1,000 is a better price as there is a lot of set-up work and time that goes into making a replicated disc.

COST:

Duplicating 300 and replicating 300 units are very close in price but the price of the replicated product drops considerably by the time they make 1,000.

TURN TIME:

From the time that both the art work and final master are submitted and approved at the plant, the standard turn time is approximately 7-10 business days.

PACKAGING:

Manufactured discs come in jewel boxes and various types of cardboard products and are fairly standardized throughout the industry. In other words, the quality doesn’t vary too much from plant to plant.

Duplication (In House Manufacturing)

PLAYABILITY:

The burned CD-Rs, if duplicated from high quality CD-Rs, work remarkably well, BUT, there are a few older CD players out there that may not play them. This isn’t a good reason not to get them but be aware that you may get a call from someone saying their CD doesn’t work. First thing to do is to tell them to try it on a another player. That will solve the problem 99.9% of the time. Also this will probably happen very, very occasionally and so should not be a big concern but we point it out in case it happens.

DISC FACE:

Burned CD-Rs are either printed with an Ink Jet or Thermal Process. They can both look very good and, in some cases, better than a factory made CD. At Online Mastering CDs, our printers are all top of the line Ink Jet disc publishers.
And no, we haven’t used paper labels in about a decade! The images are printed directly onto the disc face.

PLAYING SURFACE:

Some people don’t like burned CD-Rs because the back of the disc is a greenish or purple-ish tone! We use silver backed (otherwise known as diamond) discs which look very close to a factory pressed disc.

QUANTITY:

Duplicated discs are a short-run product and therefore are only ordered when less than 300 are needed. The average short-run is probably about 150 but you can have as few as you like, although a set-up charge applies if ordering less than 25.

COST:

The cost of duplicating 50 to 300 doesn’t change significantly (an with certain types of packages, doesn’t change at all) because it is a labour intensive, manual process. Replicated discs at the plant are mostly mechanized and therefore the more the plant makes, the more the cost goes down.

DELIVERY TIME:

A major benefit of a duplicated short-run product, is that it can be turned around in 2 to 3 days. This also depends on how many orders we have in progress, nonetheless replicated plant runs take on average 7-10 business days. If you are in a really big hurry, we may be able to provide quicker service for a rush fee.

PACKAGING:

The packaging quality of our duplicated CD-Rs are very comparable to the plant, it is difficult to detect the difference between our in house product and that of a plant run. This in not the case with every place that you might go. As opposed to plant run quality which is generally standard amongst all brokers, in house products do vary greatly. Wherever you decide to purchase from, it is advisable to check out the quality of the in-house product before you order.

QUALITY of DISC:

We only use high quality blank CD-Rs burned with mastering quality Plextor burners. Watch out for places that use cheap CD-Rs as can have lots of playability problems!