CD duplication and printing

Hi guys.

How do you get these done?

by commercial duplication people, or purchase a machine?

Buying a automated machine costs about the same around here (in NZ) for 16000 discs.

Looking at Rimage thermal printing (not inkjet printing, thermal gives u a durable commerical pro look to the cds using colour wax ribbons - full color), and primera thermal printers.

hm... thinking about leasing too.. coz my friend says the cost/worry of maintainence and thermal ribbon (the ink) is a concern. so.. yeah any expertise? thnx.

If you need more then 50 I would have them done and get real CDs made, not CDR. If you do a lot of projects that are just a few CDs then you would need to have your own process to do that. I use an Epson R300 printer and inkjet CDR blanks and it works very well. The same printer can also print my liner notes.

As for lightscribe it takes a special drive, special blanks, and you don't even get color. Not worth it for me.

I agree with Frank although I question the quantity at which a make vs. buy decision should be considered.

I've done CDR quantities up to 200 pieces here in my studio using Neato labeling supplies and my trusty inkjet printer. There is a point where you reach parity though in terms of CDR vs. glass master (the professional shrink-wrapped CD). Around here you can get a thousand CD's pressed with full-color inserts, bar code, shrink wrap, etc. for around a thousand dollars which comes out to about a buck a disc. Maybe less if you shop around. The minimum quantity is usually a thousand pieces for glass master. So I guess you need to weigh the advantages and disadvantages and decide for yourself. What are your long terms goals - to go into the duplication business or simply print CD's to sell at shows?

My clients usually go for some form of short-run CDR duplication first - mainly because they're not sure how many CD's they can sell.

And you're right ink is expensive - no matter which direction you go. What a racket huh?