I will echo and amplify the opinions of others here. Ripping CDs on computers can result in a better "read" than even a high-end audio drive. The difference is that the high-end audio drive only gets one chance, the computer can go back and re-read, often spinning the disc at various speeds until it gets a correct read. Another advantage of ripping on the computer is that one can easily employ more than one drive. Discs/tracks that have errors in one drive often do better (or sometimes worse) in another drive. I have a few stubborn discs where one or more tracks were ripped on a different drive than the rest of the tracks.
The choice of CDROM drive *does* make a quite a difference in the error rate. Plextor drives are generally favored. My main ripping drive is a Plextor PX-230A, one of the lowliest Plextors, but it does a fairly good job. My alternate drive is a Teac DV-516GA, which is also good. Before this I had a rather old Sony CDROM, which was much worse. Bad, from a ripping standpoint, means that it has to re-read the data more times to get a correct read, or it never gets a correct read and flags an error. Another thing that makes a big difference is the ripping program. Audio CD's were designed to be read continuously, so the program has to do overlapped reads and match up the data to get a continuous file. But a good program, like EAC, can be every bit as good, even better, than the best audio drive at extracting the audio data. Computer ripping, both drives and software, has come a LONG way in the past ten years. I think most who have investigated ripping agree that it is at the very least a serious contender for the most accurate audio data, if not the winner, in most cases. -- Timothy Stockman ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Timothy Stockman's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=8867 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=36847 _______________________________________________ ripping mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/ripping
