Just what is involved in making Pro-Cds? What equipment would be necessary to do it yourself? Or what companies would be able to produce a fairly limited quantity for a decent price?

To do it yourself, you'd need tens of thousands of dollars worth of industrial equipment. There's hundreds of CD pressing plants in the world, just google it and you'll find one easily. There's 2 different processes though. If you're looking for proper professional results, you'll want "replication", which is generally economical over 500 copies. Less than that, you'll want "duplication", which is basically a glorified CDR.

This seems to be what I'm looking for, thanks. Seems pretty cheap, and it's good that you can order any number.


I obviously tried google first, but everything I found was too big for the limited runs an unsigned metal band would want for an extremely small run. Most had you order 500 or more.

Extremely professional company. A lot of labels use this place to do professional releases. Everything comes out nicely. If you've ever bought an NTR release, that's where it came frome.

To me this looks like a duplication facility. I looked in their faqs, but didn't see.

Not bad.

I used Nationwide Disc ( http://www.nationwidedisc.com ) for replication. They will do as few as 200 replicated discs. Most places will only do 500 as the minimum order.

I've also used CD Baby ( http://duplication.cdbaby.com ) for short run duplication. Fast turn around.

Is pro-cdr. The best quality pro-cdr I've come across, but still a cdr.

In regards to the OP, if you are wanting to put out a pro (silver) cd, you're looking for cd replication. It will be much cheaper to find a pressing plant to do the work rather than buying the necessary machines to cut the glass master and press the copies.

The nationwidedisc suggestion seems hard to beat for the price, though I can not comment on the quality of the print.