[wolfen68]

I have cd that has enough scratches on it that it will lock up any computer it's inserted to within seconds. It's not copy protected...just damaged.

When played on a normal cd player...it plays and sounds just fine. Since I couldn't rip the disc to convert to mp3, I just did an analog line-out from a cd player to the line-in on my audigy2. Using the Musicmatch line-in record function, I recorded the disc to mp3.

It worked OK, and is better than nothing...but the copy is obviously inferior to a normal digital rip/convert. What would be the best way to match the quality on a normal digital extraction/rip? I'm of course assuming I would need to do all of this in real time.

What combination of digital or optical in/out devices would be recommended to make this perfect copy? Any suggestions or descriptions of past proven methods/equipment would be appreciated.

All I got now is:

- Set top Cd /dvd player with standard optical out
- Archos recorder with digital in (limited to 160 kbps VBR....not good)
- OEM Audigy 2 card

 

[greenhorn]

Can you manage to get a deck CD recorder?

 

[wolfen68]

Quote:

Originally Posted by greenhorn Can you manage to get a deck CD recorder?

I don't know anyone who has one....and I would be reluctant to put money into one as I am leaning mostly towards PC based solutions, and I'm skeptical a device such as that would provide me a lot of value for any other uses.

Interesting suggestion however....

I wonder how the optical out of my existing cd/dvd recorder would sound going into the optical jack of an ihp-120/140 (do those have optical in and out?).

 

[Mr.Radar]

Can you try a different CD-ROM (or other optical drive) with the CD?

 

[wolfen68]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr.Radar Can you try a different CD-ROM (or other optical drive) with the CD?

Four PC based optical drives=failure. Car stereo CD, set top cd player fine, bose wave radio/cd fine.

I think it's damaged in a way where a PC based drive can't get itself past the bad data set. Regular (non-pc) drives just skip it and keep playing.

It seems as good as any killer copy protection....but the disc is several years old...before those types of things were ever even considered by record companies.

 

[geek42]

If you're running windows you can keep the computer from locking up by holding down the shift key when you insert the disc. As so ripping, a lot depends on the CD-ROM drive you've got. Different CD-ROM drives are better/worse at reading damaged discs. I've had good luck with Lite-On's, but a lot of people swear by Plextor (which comes with a very good set of ripping tools). If you have a Plextor, use the bundled PlexTools.

Otherwise, you should probably try ripping with Exact Audio Copy. It's a pain to set up, but this guide makes it easier - http://cd-rw.org/articles/archive/mydeneaclame.cfm . Failing that, try using CDEx with cdparanoia turned on - this used the drives error detection, where EAC uses software routines. EAC can literally take hours on a scratched disc, but you will get the best possible rip from your drive.

BTW - check out www.hydrogenaudio.org for people that are as obsessed with digital music as we are with headphones.

 

[wolfen68]

I've tried the Shift trick and no luck (I have autoplay disabled on my PC anyways). I'm using Windows XP.

The optical drives I've tried are 2 TDK's, a newer Plextor Premium 52x, and a Pioneer 105s DVD-Rom. EAC doesn't help because once the disc is in, it will not allow you any time to activate any software or anything else. The offending scratch must be somewhere were the PC is trying to pull up the identification tag for the disc.

 

[Budley007]

I'd like to add that there are some very good scratch removers on the market that could make the disk atleast playable in a computer CDT. Have you tried anything like that? I managed to save a DVD a few months back that looked hopeless. Provided that the media is still intact and just the clear plastic is damaged, this may be an option to explore. It takes some work, but worth the money IMHO.

 

[greenhorn]

What CD is that?

 

[wolfen68]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Budley007 I'd like to add that there are some very good scratch removers on the market that could make the disk atleast playable in a computer CDT. Have you tried anything like that? I managed to save a DVD a few months back that looked hopeless. Provided that the media is still intact and just the clear plastic is damaged, this may be an option to explore. It takes some work, but worth the money IMHO.

A great suggestion. Which scratch remover/cleaners are recommended?

Regardless, I'm still curious if a good real-time recording method works.

 

[CSMR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wolfen68 A great suggestion. Which scratch remover/cleaners are recommended? Regardless, I'm still curious if a good real-time recording method works.

Did the plextor premium really not work? Even if you set plextools to ignore errors after a certain number?
I'd also be interested in some scratch removers for my badly damaged discs.

 

[commando]

The only programs I know that you could try would be EAC and CDex. EAC would probably take a long time to read it, but it probably would eventually.

 

[Mr.Radar]

He says the main problem here is that the computer locks up after he inserts the disc, before he can even start ripping. My advice in this case is if you have access to two CD-ROM drives to get a bootable Linux distro and use cdparanoia under Linux to rip the disc. Linux shouldn't lock up right after you insert the disc because it handles inserting media differently than Windows. I'd reccomend using the Plextor Premium as the drive for ripping.

 

[Budley007]

The original post didn't mention any attempt to clean the DVD. That's why I brought it up. I had a DVD that had a scratch running diagonially across several signal tracks that caused my DVD player to lock up. I purchased a DVD Repair kit which uses a wet-sanding wheel that removes a small amount of plastic from the disk to remove scratches. It worked after about 5 passes. Provided that the scratches aren't of the "gouge" variety and the media is still intact, it might be worth a try. I got mine from a local music store for about $40.00. You can find it cheaper online if you don't mind the shipping time.

 

[NPoet]

Honestly first thing to do before you get a scratch remover... hand soap and water... really I found that if you just soap the bottom well, wash it off and dry with a soft towel it will make the cd readable the vast majority of the time...

odd, but hey... it works