Safest way to backup media?
 

I am using Nero 7 Ultra Edition to burn my music files onto dvd+rs as data discs. Am I losing any quality in the process?

So long as the process isn't encoding them to a lower bitrate (and why it would, who knows?) then no, it'll be the same as if they were on your hard drive. Think of a DVD-R as a one-time-use 4.7 GB hard drive.

If your burning them as data files rather than encoding and burning them to CD/DVD they will not lose any quality.

For archival purposes, I recommend you burn at a lower speed (I use 4x) and use good quality branded media. Don't use cheap no-name DVDRs

Lol my Dvd writing can only go 2x :/
All my media is either Sony or Memorex...

the safest way to backup media is to either partition your hard drive, or buy a cheap 20 or 40 gig drive just to put your important stuff on. CD-R and DVD-R can, and will go bad in a few years, I have experinced this myself... so don't rely on them.

Ditch the Memorex, their DVDs blow. Even then, you can't guarantee long-term survival of a DVD-R. I treat mine with loving care, and still occasionally one will die after about 2 years.

Soluzar: How regularly do you use these DVDs?
I ask because I have been backing-up a lot of my data onto DVD-Rs, and I stash them away for future use, but not using them too regularly. Should I be concerned about data loss?
So far, I have never had any problems though.

It depends on the dye of the discs you're burning. When buying blank media, make sure you know the Media ID which identifies who manufactured the discs. Taido Yuden is considered to be the best quality media available, followed by Mitsubishi Chemicals and TDK. DVD+R (plus) media is superior to DVD-R (minus) media, and for archival purposes you should burn at a slow speed and enable data verification. (Or check the files' CRC32 against the official CRC32; if it matches then create SFV files.) Here is a list of good quality media, their MediaIDs, and where to buy them.

Look after the discs by storing them away from heat, humidity and sunlight. I don't tend to use archived discs, but I'm not sure whether that affects the lifespan of a disc; to be on the safe side, I think it's best not to use them. (They are, after all, archived.)

Archiving on hard disks are expensive; you get a much better £/$ per GB buying blank media (even the expensive Taido Yuden discs) than buying HDDs. If you were to archive on hard disks, you should transfer the data on and disconnect it from the PC and storing it safely. (You might as well as buy blank media then!) Hard drives will die faster than blank media if it is constantly being used/spinning in an environment that isn't particularly clean.