Hi All.
I have been reading up on audio extraction using a PC. A lot of forums have members that seem to have a preference for some specific CD readers (usually Plextor drives) claiming better results in quality terms. However, I have not been able to determine where that quality might come from.
I have ripped all of my collection with a stock Asus DVD reader/writer and for the more popular CD's (some less popular are not in the database I guess) I get a high confidence number. My CD's are in pristine condition, so 99.9% I get a 100% track quality.
The question is: If the results with my Asus drive (the checksum or a track) is equal to that of the same track extracted with a Plextor drive, how can there be a difference? Or is it just that some Plextor models are better in reading damaged CD's than others? Are they just reading faster? Are we talking about build quality?
Thanks!
Peter
There is no sound difference; if the track extracted correctly, it will sound the same no matter which drive was used. But, old Plextor drives (which are Plextor-made, not rebranded like new drives) usually had better ripping performance with damaged CDs - I had resorted more than a few times to older Plextor CDR drives when trying to extract damaged audio (and data!) CDs when few new DVD-R drives, Pioneer, Liteon, LG, failed.
That is (or was, since they are not in production for a long time now) their only advantage against more common and cheaper drives.
Hi Hlloyge,
I suspected that was the case, but on some forums one can read all kinds of strange claims that, at least for me, do not make sense. Thanks for clearing it up!
Regards,
Peter