Skipping in this case has a lot to do with the "burn" of a home made CD, whatever the media (CDR or CDRW).
The laser creates distortion on the metal layer that is sandwiched inside the plastic of the CD. This is what a laser will scan when you play it. If the metal is altered with a deeper, more "crisp" burn (sort of like pressing down more firmly with your pencil when you write), a laser can more easily read it (ie. in your car). If not, the laser may have difficulty picking up the data without having to re-read a section a number of times (this is the scan rate, which is used to correct for errors such as movement of the disc vs. the reading laser, distortion in the surface coating, or things like fingerprints or dust - it's refered to as "oversampling". Ever see the front of a CD player and it'll say something like "8X oversampling"? That describes how many times it'll try to scan a particular segment to obtain complete data retrieval if necessary...obviously, more is better.). If the player has enough time, it'll continue scanning a particular spot as many times as it can before it has to move on to a new section to keep data streaming steadily, thereby playing music without skipping.
A factory CD is created with an optimal "burn", using hi-end replicators that create perfect data tracks that any player can read. Your burner, however, will create an optimal burn only at its slowest speed, where the laser has time to more effectively imprint data. The faster your record speed, the less time the laser has to dwell on creating the track, and it's not as "deep" a burn...a reading CD player may have to read and re-read segments in order to get a complete data stream, and if they run out of time obtaining data (music) from a particular spot, they skip it and move on....your music skips. Better burners have more powerful lasers that can imprint effectively at high recording speeds. But they're also more expensive. Worth it? It's your choice.
CDRW's are created to be used over and over, by using a medium that can be ...well, un-burned and made to take new data over the old. To do this, however, there is a trade-off: they cannot accept as "deep" a burn, and, therefore, they are usually very difficult for a non-CDRW laser (a much more powerful laser than in a typical CD player) to read... older CD ROM drives and home CD players can't read them at all, and many new ones can only read disks that were created on the same drive. CDRW is not a good choice for use as a music CD.
CDR's are one-time disks - once you burn them, that's it. You may add data to them if there is still space on them, but data already there cannot be altered. Therefore, they can accept a deep burn more readily than CDRW, and are good for music. A good quality disk can make both a burner's and a reader's (player's) jobs easier. Cheap CDRs may have distortion in the plastic coating that makes data placement and retrieval less accurate, and the metal medium itself can be of higher or lower quality, and affect how well a "burn" can be done.
Finally, a player can buffer, to some extent, the data it's retrieving from the disk. ie. it reads ahead of the music you're hearing, and has it waiting and ready for play when it's time for that particular portion. This is good, since the player can use this "stored" data to play music for a short period (a few seconds, typically) while the laser tries to read stubborn portions of the disk. If the buffer is depleted before the laser can provide more data, your music stops. Once the data is streaming again, music starts up again. Good players have larger buffers (the one in my car is 10 seconds - pretty damned big), but typical is around 3 - 4 seconds.
So, a long winded piece there for those of you who don't understand this stuff (I had to explain it to my wife recently, so it's fresh in my mind). The advice is this:
1. Don't use CDRW's for music disks...especially when you're using a mobile player (portable CD or car stereo).
2. Use a lower burn speed on your burner to get a "better" burn. And don't forget to CLOSE a disk...don't leave it open to add files later - many players can't read disks that aren't closed.
3. Make sure your player is one capable of reading CDR and CDRW disks...it's a big selling point of present day players, so it'll be very obvious when you're shopping for one. Many older players simply can't read these disks either consistently or at all.
4. Use better quality CDRs. As mentioned, cheap ones often suffer from distortion in the optical qualities. A good player, however, can usually overcome these problems with more powerful lasers or bigger buffers.
5. If you can afford it, spend the money on a better player! The more expensive ones have higher oversampling rates, bigger read buffers, as well as shock resistant chassis and more powerful lasers.
6. And, most certainly if you can, get one that reads .mp3 disks. They never skip since they play the music file after it's loaded into the player's memory from the disk. It doesn't read from the disk during a song, just between them. Also, an .mp3 disk can hold well over 100 tracks rather than only 15-20 on a regular audio disk.
I'll shut up now. Any more would be getting too technical to be helpful.
I'm going to go make a new CD for the car. Me'n'the mrs are going to tear over to Las Vegas over the holidays and see what's going on.
Laters!
'rider
:}
