Got a Question that might not suit this forum, oh well...

[seeberg]

When a copy of a CD is made in which an image is backed up temporarily on your PC and then written to the disc after you make the image by loading in the original (image copy, single drive), is there any degradation of signal or sound quality?

Is it preferrable to use two drives so backing up an image is unecessary(on the fly copy, two drives, one burner one ROM)?

Don't really know what camp to ally with, except to never, ever compress the music I'm copying as MP3. I like my copies as direct as possible.

Any take on this issue?

~Run to the hills,
Run for your liiiife!~

 

[Thump]

I always create an image versus copying on the fly. Unless you have a SCSI based burning system, copying on the fly is going to introduce errors or create coasters.

Properly extracted, the image should be bit perfect.

 

[Mr.PD]

Hey seeberg, go here there was a lot of discussion on the quality of copied CDs, and how to get the best copy.

 

[seeberg]

I prefer image copies and the link that mr. PD (props to an Oregon resident!!)provided backs up that sentiment. It seems that every CD besides ones with additional goodies, i.e. CD Extra and Enhanced CD, are perfect 1:1 copies, regardless of the brand of disc I use, but more dependant on the quality of burner. I have an older brother with an IDE 24x12x24 burner previously limited to 8x due to PC errors. Mine is a MediaStor IDE 52x32x52 limited to 40x due to the disc's burn speed limits. My burns are far faster and cleaner than his, probably helped by 256mb ram to keep things in check. In fact, I was able to extract good copies(images) of discs from scratched ones, but not ones physically cracked. Even these extracted copies play perfectly on my PC, my iRiver imp350, and my PS2 (noted for it's great fiber optic output). Discs copied from his burner were crap at best. They were nervous about what player they are compatible with, and sometimes the table of contents wouldn't even be burned in properly, making the final copy unplayable!

Speaking of which, some of you guys might not believe me, but it seems like a clean table of contents is REQUIRED to make 1.4mbps cd's play as they should, otherwise discs simply don't play like they're supposed to. My iRiver has the ability to play by the physical order of the disc, going in the so called straight line, and it actually saves an hour of rechargeable battery life. My conclusion is that it bypasses any content allocation, and plays by the physical recording order, and yes, the order is different more than 90% of the time with mp3 CDs. I like that function quite a bit, considering it was free as a firmware upgrade for my player.

~Listen to Electric Eel Shock, because Rock & Roll can Save the World!~