What's Duplication? Replication?

There can be a lot of confusion with the terms duplication and replication. The terms are often used interchangeably. Here is a brief description of the differences:

Duplication

Duplication means your content will be copied onto a blank recording media like an audio or video cassette or a blank recordable CD-R or DVD-R. We have a warehouse full of blank media from which we pull out enough to do your job. Music and video demos, short-run or quick-turn products, and software products that can change weekly or monthly are often duplicated to save the higher setup fees involved in replication. Duplicated products are usually produced in less than a week - even same-day.

Here is a gallery of some of the CD-Rs and DVD-Rs we carry:

We offer rush printing by inkjet and thermal printing. We can also offer silkscreen and offset printing but it adds 3 to 5 days to the process.

These discs are also available to purchase without duplication in our online store or by telephone at 1-800-777-1927

Replication or Pressing

Replication is a term that applies to optical disc manufacturing. With replication, your music or data is recorded onto a glass master. From the glass master we make nickel stampers. The stampers are placed onto injection molding machines where raw plastic (polycarbonate) is injected and molded into the shape of a CD or DVD. The discs are molded replicas of the original glass master. We have a complete description of the process here. Practically everything you would buy in a store - like major label music products, DVD movies, and software - is replicated. You generally have to allow for 1 to 3 weeks manufacturing time for replicated products, although rush service is available at extra cost.

Replicated products are not always higher quality, but they do tend to work better on older players simply because they reflect more of the laser light back to the pickup reader. An old player will have problems reading CD-Rs and DVD-Rs before it has a problem reading replicated discs.

At Amtech we offer the best quality duplication and replication. For duplication we use professional Falcon and Taiyo Yuden blank media which are acknowledged as the best in the world. For replication we follow strict QC standards to ensure the product exceeds industry standards and will work flawlessly.

Contact us by phone at 1-800-777-1927 for a customized quote or create a user account on our login page. We also have online calculators so you can start estimating your project now.