This has probably been asked and answered numerous times, but is there a recommended speed in Logic (or other DAWs) when bouncing final mixes or an assembled CD in Waveburner? Would it be best to bounce in real time or perhaps limit to 4X? Thanks in advance for the info.

Hi! Well... it's been such a long time since I burnt to CD, I'd forgotten all about the speed option(!) When I used to bounce to CD, I tended to choose x4 as the maximum speed, because I was informed by some within the CD mastering industry that (at that time) burning at faster speeds tended to be more unreliable. I remember some colleagues used to only bounce at x1. Personally, I didn't come across increased error rates with either. Waveburner burns at RedBook standard which is industry standard when going to duplication houses... so for your final master this would be a good idea. Hope that helps :)

Thanks Rounik. I should have been more precise in the wording of my question. When bouncing a project in Logic, there are two basic options of Realtime or Offline. The latter is obviously much faster (probably 20 times or so), which raised my concern about the fidelity of that process. You are correct that Waveburner only has one option for bouncing, which is offline. In this case, I'm a little less concerned because the bounce is only capturing a single stereo track, whereas my bounces in Logic may incorporate dozens of tracks. When burning to CD, you can select the burn rate, from 4X to 32 X. Again, if there is no risk of data errors, I'm wondering why there is a speed option. I'll probably burn my masters at 4X to be on the safe side. Thanks again.

Hi Rexinator, Yes, thats correct that Waveburner burns offline and the speed rates are from 4x to 32x. I would suggest 4x. But with the increase in CD burner speeds and the computer processor performance increase in the last few years there is less risk at data errors. But as a safety measure maybe when the bounce is finished place the CD in a CD player and run through the tracks to make sure there is no data errors. This is a sure way to check the burnt CD.

Thanks Gary. Good suggestion.

Hello there Rex, one thing I would suggest is bouncing in real time, because I have noticed that when bouncing offline Logic tends to mess up sometimes when reading your automation data. Bouncing in real time is slower of course but definitely more reliable.

Hey thanks, Transitioner. That's exactly the information I was looking for.