DVD-RB or DVD media issue?

[captain_video]

I've been making backups of several TV series' from DVD-9 discs to DVD-5 using DVD Decryptor, DVD Blanker (to get rid of the extras), and DVD-Rebuilder to fit it on a DVD-5 disc. Lately I've run into an issue where the resulting DVD-R disc won't play on my Marantz DV-9500 player. I'm using Ritek 4X DVD-R discs and I've had excellent results using them in the past.

I've tried numerous test burns on DVD-RW discs (cheap Princos) and they play fine most of the time. For movies I've been using DVD Fab to split out the unwanted extras and split it into two discs without transcoding. I use the same Princo DVD-RW discs for this and so far haven't had any problems with playback on the Marantz.

I've used the same Ritek media for straight DVD-5 compilations (no transcoding or additional compression) and they seem to play fine. The only odd factor seems to be the use of DVD-RB and DVD Blanker. I can't see where DVD Blanker would affect the final disc since all it does it replace unwanted VOBs with blank files.

I don't know if the problem is that the Marantz is finnicky about recordable media or if it doesn't like what DVD-RB is doing to the discs. I've tried Princo DVD-R didscs with mixed results. I've ordered some Taiyo Yuden DVD-R blanks to see if I have any better luck.

[jptheripper]

do the disks that dont play in marantz play okay in a software dvd player (powerdvd, etc..)

[captain_video]

I believe they do. I have tried so many different combinations of hardware and software players that I've forgotten what works and what doesn't. I thought I had been burning a bunch of coasters when the discs didn't play in the Marantz but it turns out they play fine in my old Sony DVP-NS715P player.

I can't recall if I tried the actual DVDs in my PC with either PowerDVD or WinDVD. I did try the fileset contained in the VIDEO_TS folder residing on my PC and I seem to recall it played fine in all cases. I've found that playback on a PC and playback in a set top player are not always the same thing so just because it plays fine on the PC doesn't necessarily mean it will play fine in a standalone DVD player.

The problems I'm experiencing are freezeups in the image and glitches that cause the DVD player to lock up. The only way I can resume any sort of playback is to eject the disc and start over. The problem is consistent at the same point within a specific disc so it's easy to reconstruct the fault. I've burned the discs at slower speeds to see if that helps and in some cases it has to some extent but not completely.

The Marantz is a high-end player ($2100 list) by any standard. If there's one thing I've learned about high-end gear is that, although they may provide state of the art playback, they also tend to be a bit quirky. I'm sure that's the case here but I posted to see if anyone had a rationale explanation as to what might be going on.