duplication question....

[shuy 0]

if i copy an audio cd, wat factors would affect the quality of the copying? is it possible to achieve near 100% quality duplication? wat kind of quality loss, if any, is it? thanks!

 

tokkin abt redbook audio here...

[RawHit 0]

to some extent it will depend on your cd drive capabilities and also whether the cd has lots of scratches or not.

Exact Audio Copy (EAC) is a very good cd ripper and can give almost perfect rips.

[adhoc 0]

1. the condition of your original cd [more scratches, more errors]

 

2. the method of extracting audio [whether you use a program that a.recognises errors in audio & b.allows for blocks of bits with error to be read and re-read till no errors are reported - EAC is an excellent choice. the best actually.]

 

3. the method of burning audio

 

 

there are a few camps with different views on #3, here are the 2 major ones:

 

A. a bit is a bit, wherever it is.

 

these ppl believe that if you directly copy a cd, assuming that there is no problem reading the original cd (like few/no scratches), there is NO difference between the copied cd and the original one. to them if the copy has gone correctly, the bits of info on both discs should be the same, and hence the sound will always be the same. this camp proposes that assuming the original cd was correctly read, your copy cd should be a 100% same copy.

 

 

B. the media & method of burning affects the sound.

 

these people believe that the media you use, (eg cdr or cdrw, and amongst the cdrs the different coloured dye types) will affect your sound. they believe that there are various brands of cdrs that sound better than other cdrs, and that amongst the varius cdrs, the black dye versions sound the best. and even amongst the black dye versions, certain brands sound better than other brands. in fact, some say that black dye copied cdrs in general apparently sound better than the original cds! to this camp, also the various methods of burning matters. they say that burning at a low speed helps as it ensures that the dye is 'totally' burnt in and they eschew internal burners as they feel that internal burners are affected by the always-present vibrations inside the computer casing which contribute to jitter errors. so this camp proposes that you can get a <100% copy if you 1.burn in an internal burner at 2.high speed and 3.use any non-black cdr, to a >100% copy of your media, assuming that you 1.burn in an external plextor burner at 2.a low speed and 3.use black cdrs.

 

 

EDIT: OooOooh!! this is my 'satanic' 666th post!

Edited August 9, 2003 by adhoc

[snowparang 0]

I can't remember the source but I read before when the cd writing speed had just crossed the 48X mark that writing above 4X will give some error (0.01 % or something like that)

 

But I guess the diff in quality is almost unnoticeable, unless you have ultra sensitive ears and have a very transparent setup.

[shuy 0]

hmm... so wats the argument against buying pirated audio cds? poor QC? i dont buy them, but im just curious hehe.

 

thanks for the comprehensive answer adhoc!

[adhoc 0]

shuy, no problems.

 

the pirated copies are of 2 sorts - badly pressed and badly burned:

 

a. pressed badly, which renders them skip prone or they have a short life or sometimes they are plain unreadable.

 

or

 

b. badly burned, onto very very cheap media, which may not be playable on older cdps, even those those which can support cdr. the media is also very likely to spoil very quickly.

 

sometimes they are even converted cdda from mp3!

[Firefox 0]

I can't remember the source but I read before when the cd writing speed had just crossed the 48X mark that writing above 4X will give some error (0.01 % or something like that)

 

But I guess the diff in quality is almost unnoticeable, unless you have ultra sensitive ears and have a very transparent setup.

It's just that burning at high speeds causes the pits in the CD's to be more of a trapezoid shape than rectangular. So it can cause jitter errors in some players. But there are also other unexplainable causes.

From my own tests, the Black CDR's aren't that good. They're under the Mitsui, Ricoh & Mitsubishi Metal Azo CDR's.

[lekguan 0]

Yeah, I think Mitsubishi's Blue platinium rox. Use Azo technology as well.

However, very hard to find in the market already.

[Firefox 0]

I don't like their Blue Platinum or Diamond media for audio. Only their dark blue Metal Azo (not super AZO!) from the past. Their Phono-R's are just about the only decent sounding of the Super-AZO's.