8x TYs From Meritline materially changed

[slacker]

I have been buying Taiyo Yuden Made In Japan 8x Printable +Rs from Meritline and Supermediastore for several years. I have always been impressed with the interesting patterned irregular edging and "heft" of the blanks, and have always had great results, i.e. not one burned disc has gone bad in 3 years.

In this latest shipment from Meritline, I have noticed that they are much lighter in my hand than I am used to, and the once patterned irregular edging is now "smooth" like other blanks I have purchased at retail outlets, i.e. TDK, Sony, etc.

Is there anything to this? Have they changed their manufacturing process, or have I inadvertantly been sold some value line or similar discs rather than the tried and true Made In Japan originals.

Mark

[Gen-An]

As long as you see the TG00xxxx stamper code on they dye side of the discs, in the dye-colored ring around the clear plastic hub, there's nothing to worry about.

[samijubal]

Look at feedback on Supermediastore's website, lots of other people have said the same thing. There's also a fair amount of people having burn problems with the new TYs that never had problems with them in the past. Maybe it's the discs or maybe they just haven't updated their firmware.

[slacker]

And what should the stamper code be for DVD+R47SPYSB8? I personally don't believe that code can tell you whether these are the top of the line Made In Japan TYs. There is only one silver 8x printable +R made by TY, and DVD+R47SPYSB8 is it. They may be farming out production on these now.

Supermediastore doesn't make the 'Made In Japan' claim anymore with these blanks. Meritline DOES. This is what I question.

Although I haven't seen any bad reviews YET on these blanks, there is a real difference in physical quality. Whether these burn as well and last as long as my others I won't know for a very long time.

[Gen-An]

Taiyo Yuden doesn't manufacture its disks anywhere else but in Japan, at the Fukushima factory. If you see the TGxxxxxx code, that's TY's 8x DVD+R stamper code, end of story.

Example: http://hhg.sakura.ne.jp/cd-dvd/px712a/taiyou/yuden000-t02-000_kokuin_ura1.png

[OneSickPup]

This pic may be a little better:

http://club.cdfreaks.com/1404248-post2.html

Keep in mind that is a -R code but the location and format is the same.

Here is a link to the TY FAQ over at CDFreaks:

http://club.cdfreaks.com/f33/taiyo-yuden-faq-178622/