Degraded quality in copied CDs?

[grit]

I'm not sure where else to post this, so I'll try here.

I'm new to "high end" audio, and still at the bottom of it (B&W 700 series + Rotel gear). Surprising what you can hear from nice equipment. Anyway, if I want to compile some of my favorite songs from several CDs onto one CD I burn from my computer (audio format, not MP3), will I lose any sound quality?

And what of MP3s? What bit-rate do you have to use before you won't hear any quality difference between an original CD, and a song ripped from that CD to MP3 and burned back to CD again?

[george_k]

I don't hear a difference when I copy Audio CD's, in fact I always make atleast 1 copy of my originals so that I don't scratch the originals through general use.

[aud19]

Use good quality CD's and you shouldn't have a problem As for Mp3's... just try to avoid them. Some people say they can hear the difference no matter what quality the Mp3, I'd say you should use at least a setting of 192 though, minimum, if you want the highest quality. But going from CD to Mp3 and back to CD WILL lose something

[grit]

So, if I want to make a CD with several songs from other CDs on it, I'll have to copy the music to the hard drive temporarily, then burn it to CD. I don't want to lose anything, so storing it as an MP3 is a bad idea. What format do I use to temporarily store songs until I burn them? WAV?

[David Meek]

If you have access to a 2nd CD drive, you could burn direct from CD to CD. Is that an option for you?

[David Meek]

If you don't go direct CD/CD, I'd strongly recommend you go with a lossless format. That's why they are called "lossy" formats - you lose something in the translation process. Whether that loss is an acceptable audible loss is the big question and that depends on the media, componentry used, your hearing acuity, and tolerance. Why risk it? Go with lossless and don't worry nearly as much about it.

FWIW, WMA has a lossless format available as one of your default choices.

[aud19]

If your just temporarily transferring tracks simply copying them of the disc in their native wav format will work fine, otherwise as David mentioned, having a second drive will allow you to copy direct from CD to CD.

[grit]

If your just temporarily transferring tracks simply copying them of the disc in their native wav format will work fine, otherwise as David mentioned, having a second drive will allow you to copy direct from CD to CD.

I'd love to go CD to CD, but I dont think there are any recording programs that'll let you pause a CD-R while I switch several different CDs as sources. For example, I'd like to take my favorite Diana Krall songs off several CDs and make 1 CD.

I had NO idea WMA was lossless, thought the only one was WAV. That does help.

[Snap]

I'd love to go CD to CD, but I dont think there are any recording programs that'll let you pause a CD-R while I switch several different CDs as sources. For example, I'd like to take my favorite Diana Krall songs off several CDs and make 1 CD.

Yeah if you are using external equipment, then it is no problem at all. For example. My Denon 2910 and my Tascam CDR750. I can do all sorts of stuff with that combination. Also I can use Toslink cables to transfer digital to digital.

Not to sure about using a PC though.

By the way Tascam CDR-750 is a KICK BUTT CDR for under 600 bucks. :yesnod:

[aud19]

I'd love to go CD to CD, but I dont think there are any recording programs that'll let you pause a CD-R while I switch several different CDs as sources. For example, I'd like to take my favorite Diana Krall songs off several CDs and make 1 CD.

I had NO idea WMA was lossless, thought the only one was WAV. That does help.

Actually it pauses while you're making the image on your HD, not while it's burning It will simply ask you to insert the appropriate CD when it needs it based on the tracks you insert. But this is why it probably just easiest to copy the wav files off the CD's you want and do it all at once. You should have no problems temporarily adding 650-700MB of data temporarily to your HD. You can always delete it as soon as the disc is done anyways. Besides if you don't have that much space on your HD, you need a new one!!!

WMA has "losless" as one of it's 3 options when ripping.

[ThomasW]

Rip the cuts to your hard drive using Exact Audio Copy, then burn your disc.

[ironchef]

To answer the original question, I do not believe that there is any signal degradation involved when using CD-Rs versus original pressed discs. Some argue that the consumer lasers do not create as legible a signal, as they are using a different process to pit the medium with, and this produces 'furry' holes, that cause scatter.

I have done extensive comparison A-B, and there is no significant audible difference to my ears.