I didn’t know that Did you guys know that?

MAM-A regular data cd-rs are also very high quality and can be recommended for long life.

The gold archival quality would be audiophile overkill though. If audiophile overkill works for you in general, then get the gold archival MAM-A.

I have generic cheapies that I have left in my truck for over 9 years in Arizona (temperatures often over 100 degrees) as an experiment. They still play just fine.

To me the key is to store them in the dark. Opaque cardboard or plastic boxes you can buy at Bags Unlimited will do the trick. leaving them out where they are exposed to even indoor ambient light will destroy them fairly quickly.

can someone please indicate what better means?

does anyone have the experience of a copy sounding better than the original, when a computer was not used to copy a disk ?

Better means deeper, more clearly defined soundstage, it means cleaner/more distinct overall presentation - more easily heard stereo separation but more solid L/C/R across the soundstage - with greater refinement of top frequencies clear down to the bass. It means improved macrodynamics such that it seems someone turned up the level when it has not been touched. These are the results in every instance. It also gives the sense that you are hearing into the piece more and increases the corporeality of the artist(s).

If you are not seeking those qualities, then you would likely not see it as better; then don't treat your discs and don't make CDR's of them to play in place of Redbook discs.

Al, Tomcy6, Thank you for the advise and CD-R suggestions. Overkill doesn’t work for me. It’s just that my research consisted of a lazy mans Google search - best CD-R.

Douglas, regarding polishing etc., that deserves some comment: Wow! :-)

Phaelon, yup, it is a "wow" experience. Certainly not on the order of new speakers or an entire cable set change, but more than one might expect.

Let us know your impressions after your give it a rip and a polish!