burning flac as an audio cd - same as original audio cd?

Provided your burning software doesn't mess with the data, yes, it will be exactly the same.

Make sure you turn off any options that insert "gaps" between tracks, etc...

That depends on at least three crucial parts:

* That you adjust for offset when ripping

* That you create a full cue sheet when ripping

* That you use this cue sheet when burning

If these steps are taken, then I believe there is a high probability they end up the same.

Hmm.. using EAC that makes the rip bit-perfect in FLAC -> convert to WAVE and burn at lowest speed on a black (less reflection) CD-R to me actually sounds better. I think it's because the record is burned from center to the rim rather than pressed, so it tracks better and thereby reduces the jitter. 

The CD-R information is digital of course, but there's a physical (analog) side to it in my opinion, a good CD-R are also better than a cheap original CD that might be pressed a little of center.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Albedo 

Hmm.. using EAC that makes the rip bit-perfect in FLAC -> convert to WAVE and burn at lowest speed on a black (less reflection) CD-R to me actually sounds better. I think it's because the record is burned from center to the rim rather than pressed, so it tracks better and thereby reduces the jitter. 

 

The CD-R information is digital of course, but there's a physical (analog) side to it in my opinion, a good CD-R are also better than a cheap original CD that might be pressed a little of center.

Point taken, but I think you'd be hard-pressed (no pun intended) to actually demonstrate a difference.

So I'm going to go with what can be demonstrated:

1. The OP's question was along the lines of "is the CD the same as the original CD," not "does it sound the same to my subjective ears as the original when played."

2. Since you can't see the pits/bits on the CD with your naked eye, you'll need a tool to test if the CD is indeed the same.

3. A computer with a CD-ROM drive is probably the most accessible tool the OP has to test this.

4. If the computer says it's the same, we can conclude that it is.

I imagine you could do a diff of image files created from each CD. If done properly they should be the same.
 

I've also read some conflicting notions on the quality and substrate choices of various CD-R's versus original red book pressings.  Then you have Gold Mofi discs but that maybe an issue for archival durability, not sure.

But as to FLAC to wav, which is the gist of your topic, a checksum will verify if all the data is present which should be if something didn't go wrong. 

Data -> Audio, computer says no..

I have one pressing that's so bad that you actually notice it with your eyes (rainbow effect towards the rim in an uneven pattern) and objectively jitter is measurable even if the checksum adds up. To put it another way, why do some disks take much longer time with EAC, corrosion, dust, grease, pressing diverting of center, exposure to sunlight?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Albedo 

Data -> Audio, computer says no..

 

I have one pressing that's so bad that you actually notice it with your eyes (rainbow effect towards the rim in an uneven pattern) and objectively jitter is measurable even if the checksum adds up. To put it another way, why do some disks take much longer time with EAC, corrosion, dust, grease, pressing diverting of center, exposure to sunlight?

Copy protection.  The RIAA hates you

The copy protection works by introducing deliberate errors onto the disc which 'dumb' devices like CD players will skip over and 'smart' devices like CD-ROM drives will have conniptions about.  It takes so long because it has to read the same thing over and over again to try and get it right.

Just mount the image of the disc, then rip from virtual CDROM.

But you agree then..  (reading over and over agein -> right) as in every joke there a grain of truth that's blown out of proportion?

It depends on the exact nature of the DRM used.  On some I think you can get a decent image by doing forcing it to ignore read errors and then ripping the image, but I don't think it works on others.  The sound will be indistinguishable to human ears but it does make it hard, or sometimes impossible, to get a bit perfect copy.

I don't care about a flipped least significant bit, but lots of other people seem to.  This doesn't mean that using a CDP is superior to ripping to your PC either.  The CDP won't be able to figure out that least significant bit either, but it will go about its business without ever telling you there was an error.  This, incidentally is why rips off of a computer are more accurate than output from a CDP.  EAC has all the time in the world to get the bits right, but no plain CDP does.