FireWire and USB CD-R Compatibility
Making Custom CDs
Using Mac OS 9.1 or later you can create custom audio CDs that you can play in your car, portable CD player and home stereo system using iTunes. You can also make custom MP3 CDs, standard audio CDs and data CDs directly from the Finder using Disc Burner.
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Using FireWire and USB CD-R external drives
With Mac OS 9.1 or later you can create CDs using many FireWire and USB CD-R external drives. For better performance and reliability, use FireWire CD-R drives.
To see if your CD-R drive is supported, open iTunes then choose Preferences from the Edit menu. Click the Advanced tab. In the CD Burning section of the Preferences window, check to see if your drive is listed. If it is listed then your Macintosh recognizes and works with your CD-R drive and you can use it to burn CDs. For more information about identifying the firmware and mechanisms of your CD-R drive, see technical document 60849:"Mac OS: How to Determine a CD or DVD Drive's Mechanism and Firmware Version".
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FireWire and USB CD-R drives tested with iTunes
Below is a list of drives and their corresponding mechanisms and firmware that support CD burning on Macintosh computers running Mac OS 9. Some CD-R drives do not reliably play music or import songs into MP3 format. You may find that using the built-in CD/DVD drive works better for these tasks. To see a list of drives that are compatible with Mac OS X 10.2, see the storage compatiblity Web site (http://www.apple.com/macosx/upgrade/storage.html).
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Drive compatibility may vary due to manufacturers' use of multiple mechanisms or firmware versions in the same CD-R product. This compatibility list includes only those combinations tested by Apple.
This list assumes that you have the latest Apple CD-R burning software installed. Make sure you have installed Authoring Support Update 1.1.5, or later. It is available from Apple Software Downloads (http://www.apple.com/swupdates/).
| FireWire CD-R Drives |
Mechanism |
Firmware |
|
| Buffalo CD-RW L8432 8x 4x 32x |
Plextor PX-W8432Ti |
1.08 |
|
| Buffalo CD-RW B1210 12x 10x 32x |
Plextor PX-W1210TA |
1.05 |
|
| BUSlink RW-1232 FM |
LiteOn LTR-12101B |
LS3D |
|
| BUSlink RW-1640 FM |
LiteOn LTR-16101B |
TSOL |
|
| CD CyClone CDRevo FireWire 24x10x40 |
Sanyo CRD-BP1500P |
6.34 |
|
| EZQuest Boa 8x 8x 32x |
Teac CD-W58E |
1.0A |
|
| EZQuest Boa 12x 10x 32x |
Teac CD-W512EB |
2.0B |
|
| EZQuest Boa 16x 10x 40x |
Sanyo CRD-BP1400P |
5.3 |
|
| EZQuest Boa 16x 10x 40x |
Teac CD-W516EB |
1.0A |
|
| EZQuest BOA 24x10x40x |
Sanyo CRD-BP1500P |
6.34 |
|
| Fantom FireWire 8x 4x 32x |
Plextor PX-W8432T |
1.05 |
|
| LaCie 4x 4x 24x Pocket FireWire |
Teac CD-W24E |
1.0A |
|
| LaCie 16x 10x 40x |
Yamaha CRW2100E |
1.0G |
|
| LaCie 8x 4x 32x |
MKE CW-7586 |
1.06 |
|
| LaCie 12x 10x 32x FireWire |
Sanyo CDBP-121032A |
1.02 |
|
| LaCie 16x10x40x FireWire |
Sanyo CDBP-161040A |
5.29 |
|
| LaCie PocketDrive 8x |
Sony CRX700E |
1.1k |
|
| LaCie 24x10x40x SE2100 |
Sanyo CRD-BP1500 |
1.44 |
|
| Logitec 12x10x32 LCW-P1210BF |
Plextor PX-W1210TA |
1.05 |
|
| Logitec LCW-R2010DBFU |
Yamaha CRW2200E |
1.0D |
|
| QPS Que! Fire 8x 4x 32x Firewire |
Samsung SW-208B |
BQ01 |
|
| QPS Que! Fire 8x 4x 32x FireWire |
Plextor PX-W8432T |
1.07 |
|
| QPS Que! Fire 12x 10x 32x Firewire |
Plextor PX-W1210A |
1.07 |
|
| QPS Que! Fire 12x 10x 32x Firewire |
Teac CD-W512E |
2.5C |
|
| QPS Que! Fire 16x 10x 40x FireWire |
Teac CD-W516EB |
1.0A |
|
| QPS Que! Fire 16x 10x 40x FireWire |
Plextor PX-W1610A |
1.0 |
|
| QPS Que! Fire 16x 10x 40x FireWire |
Sanyo CRD-BP1500P |
6.34 |
|
| RATOC FR-CW84 FireWire CD-RW |
MKE CDRRW07 |
1.0 |
|
| Sony Spressa CRX-120EX |
Sony CRX-120E |
1.0j |
|
| Sony Spressa CRX-1600L-A2 12x 8x 32x |
Sony CRX-160E |
1.0E |
|
| VST 4x 4x 20x Portable FireWire |
Ricoh RW8040A |
1.13 |
|
| VST SmartDisk Portable FireWire CD-RW 8X |
TEAC CD-W28E-93 |
1.1A |
|
| Yamaha CRW2200IX-VK |
Yamaha CRW2200 |
1.0D |
|
| Yamaha CRW2200FXZK |
Yamaha CRW2200 |
1.0D |
|
| USB CD-R Drives |
Mechanism |
Firmware |
|
| EZQuest Boa 4x 4x 32x |
Teac CD-W24E |
1.0A |
|
| Freecom Portable 8X4X32X |
Philips CDD4801 |
2.0 |
|
| Freecom Traveler 4X4X20X |
Ricoh RW8040 |
1.15 |
|
| Iomega Predator CD-R 4x 4x 6x |
Iomega ZipCD650 USB |
P1.9 |
|
| Iomega CD-RW 4x 4x 6x |
Iomega ZipCD650 USB |
11.1 |
|
| LaCie 4x 4x 24x Pocket USB |
Teac CD-W24E |
1.0A |
|
| LaCie PocketDrive 8x |
Sony CRX700E |
1.1k |
|
| LaCie 8x 4x 32x |
MKE CW-7586 |
1.06 |
|
| LaCie 4x 4x 8x |
Mitsumi CR-4802TE |
2.1D |
|
| Sony CRX-1650L-A2 |
Sony CRX-161l |
TY3 |
|
| Sony Digital Relay |
Sony CRX-10U |
n/a |
|
| Sony Spressa CRX-100EX |
Sony CRX-100E |
1.1j |
|
| Expansion Bay CD-R Drives |
Mechanism |
Firmware |
|
| VST 4x 4x 8x Exp. Bay Module |
Ricoh RW8040A |
1.3 |
|
Playing Music and Importing Songs
Some CD-R drives do not reliably play music or import songs into MP3 format. You may find that using the built-in CD/DVD drive works better for these tasks.
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CD Burning Tips
If you have issues burning CDs, you should use the CD-R and CD-RW media that is available from the Apple Store (
http://www.apple.com/store/).
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Note: If you plan on using other CD burning software along with iTunes or for additional help, see the iTunes Support page (
http://www.info.apple.com/usen/itunes/) or contact your drive vendor.