CD-copying - is this possible?

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CD-copying - is this possible?

2006-01-15 22:45:12

I did the following things and was surprised about the result and dont know how to interpret it:

1. I've copied an Audio-CD with "Nero Burning Rom"
2. I extracted one track of the original with EAC (action -> test & copy selected track -> uncompressed)
3. I made a .sfv-file (checksum) of the resulting .wav-file
4. I extracted the same track from the copy I made with Nero (see step #1)
5. I made a .sfv-file of the resulting .wav-file
6. I compared the two checksums and noticed they are the same!

Does that mean that i can make perfect 1:1-copies with Nero? I thought Nero doesnt make such good copies... Does anyone have experience on this?

CD-copying - is this possible?

Reply #1 – 2006-01-15 23:12:12

If you don't have your drive offsets configured in EAC or you are doing test/copy in burst mode then you are basically doing the same thing in EAC as in Nero.

It depends how you have the two programs set-up.
We would need a little more info to fully answer your question.
JXL

CD-copying - is this possible?

Reply #2 – 2006-01-15 23:13:54

I think nobody here ever stated that Nero or any other such application, even Windows Media Player, makes bad rips in ideal conditions. The fact is, anyway, that EAC has a far greater degree of finesse in dealing with problematic CDs, the ones that are not in very good "physical shape".

You can get more information abouth this matter in the HA Knowledge Base (a.k.a. "The wiki")

BTW, to compare WAVs to see if their content is bit by bit identical you can use EAC's "Compare WAVs" tool.

Cheers!

Sergio

CD-copying - is this possible?

Reply #3 – 2006-01-16 06:35:17

I'm not talking about physically damaged CDs - so is for Audio-CDs Nero a good copying-tool?

CD-copying - is this possible?

Reply #4 – 2006-01-16 07:57:34

The problem with most rippers, including Nero, is that they are not able to guarantee a flawless extraction. The more scratches there are on the CD you are copying, the more chance that Nero's copy will not be perfect. Note that even on a brand new CD there are lots of scratches/imperfections, though most of the resulting errors will be adequately corrected by your drive, very often resulting in a perfect Nero copy. Note that 'very often' is not the same as 'always'. To 'always' get a perfect copy, you'll have to use EAC.

Regarding your testing method: it's a perfectly valid method.

CD-copying - is this possible?

Reply #5 – 2006-01-16 08:48:23

Scratches and dirt are not the only things that matter. Even on the best CDs there will be many read errors because of difficulties with the data. That is why there are several levels of error correction.

Some errors can be easily corrected unconditionally, some are far less certain. EAC will do a more through job than most, if not all, other DAE programs with uncertainties by re-reading the data as necessary, and comparing the multiple reads to get the best fit. CD players, and most other programs, will come to a standard decision after one read. Usually it will sound ok but it isn't necessarily what what supposed to come off the CD.

CD-copying - is this possible?

Reply #6 – 2006-01-17 22:36:18

Does MY method (with the CRC-comparing etc.) mean that in my case i made a perfect copy with NERO?

CD-copying - is this possible?

Reply #7 – 2006-01-17 22:49:06

Quote

Does MY method (with the CRC-comparing etc.) mean that in my case i made a perfect copy with NERO?
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Yes!

Your method says that the two files are identical, even in their metadata.

BTW, the method I suggested (EAC's Compare WAVs tool) just compares the PCM (audio) part of the WAVs files and in case of differences tries to highlight what they are (missing samples, different samples, etc...)

Sergio

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