At Diskbank, we offer two types of production services: ‘Short run’ and ‘Long run’. Short run orders are processed in-house at our Jolimont office, while long run orders are processed by a trustworthy offshore supplier. The biggest difference between these two services is in the process, duplication or replication. Our short run jobs are all duplicated, while our long run jobs are all replicated.
Duplication
Duplication is a more standard method of CD & DVD burning. It involves using a blank CDR, DVDR, DVD9 or BLU RAY disc and burning the contents onto the disc to create a master copy. This master copy is then used to duplicate multiple others of its kind. At the DiskBank office in Jolimont, we have several pieces of equipment called ‘burning towers’ that we use to duplicate masters. After the burning has been completed on each tower, we check for burn lines on each disc and then pack them into the relevant packaging type for their job. As we offer custom full colour disc face printing, we print the discs, let them all dry, and then begin the duplication process. Duplication is more common for smaller runs of orders, and for those on tight schedules, as we can complete the job in-house at DiskBank.
Replication
Replication is the method we use in our long run process, in quantities of 500 and above. This is done overseas with our offshore supplier. They create a glass master copy, which is made from scratch and pressed with the required contents the moment it’s created. The copies are then pressed from the master copy in larger quantities and sent back to us.
Some Pros and Cons of each
Duplication
- Duplication is great in a situation where you have the CD or DVD master, but the original files are missing. This way we can use the CD master copy to duplicate another master which we can then burn the rest of the job with. At DiskBank we have experiences this with the older orders that clients would like to do a reprint of.
- Duplication is great for short runs, as the burning process is fairly quick and we always have plenty of stock for this production process at our Jolimont location, with a speedy 3-5 day turnaround time.
Replication
- Replication looks great and has a very sturdy professional finish. It will end up looking exactly like a disc you get from any music or electronic store.
- Replication masters are better quality, and can take a little more of a beating, which means you might get away with a few minor scratches but you also might not.
Summary
It is important to understand the benefits of both the duplication and replication production processes, in order to make the right decision for your order.
The staff at DiskBank hope this blog will help you understand some of the finer details of each. If any more information is required at all feel free to get in contact with our staff today! We look forward to talking to you.