Hello all,
Yes, before I start I am a newbie to the area so please try and keep it relatively simple
Ok well here is my question or shall I say dilemma. I am planning on copying my original audio cd's to use in the car or anywhere else where it doesn’t matter if something gets damaged or has to sit in the heat all day. My point is, I want the put the originals in storage and use the cops for everyday use. Before I commence I do however have a few questions to be answered which it has been rather difficult to find straight forward answers.
1. What software is necessary for the copy to be a 100% copy of the original pressed cd? Can this be even done?
2. How is this done? Currently i rip my albums in eac and sometimes dbpoweramp for use on my phone, ipod etc. Is it better to rip in a lossless format like wav or flac, and then burn to a cd?
In previous audio cd copies made over the years I have noted the there can be the occasional click or pop within the audio. I want my copies to be free of these errors if possible.
Thank you in advance
1. Yes, for all intense and purposes, you can get a 100% copy of an original pressed CD. It can be argued that somethings will be lost but these do not affect the audio quality at all.
2. The only guarantee of getting that perfect copy is to use a secure ripping method. I recommend using a correctly configured EAC or dBpoweramp with accuraterip to ensure your rips are as secure as they can get. If you're going to archive these copies it would be better to go directly to FLAC, these can be stored for use at a later date. Otherwise, it doesn't matter either way.
This is where you should start reading: EAC Guides (http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Category:EAC_Guides)
Perhaps someone can post an equivilant guide for dBpoweramp?
Have look at imgburn - it's free software for cd copying/burning. You don't need to rip CD in this case. You need to copy it as a whole. Imgburn can do this just fine.
Imgburn is a great tool for copying data CDs and DVDs and general burning. But I'm not aware of it's secure audio extraction features.
Thanks for the advice guys. Yes well I’ve just had a look at imgburn. Looks quite good but how can I ensure that it will be an accurate copy. Is there something that uses “accuraterip” to make a copy of an audio cd? I have also heard that EAC can burn a cds too? Is this even true? I’ve experimented around with it but can’t find out how to successfully do it.
I think the best approach is to use both software, like this:
- Rip the CD to single WAV + CUESheet using EAC. EAC will look up the AccurateRip database and tell you if the CD has been ripped accurately.
- Burn multiple copies of the ripped image with Imgburn using the CUESheet.
Hi maxwellman5000.
If you want to set up EAC quickly, here's a guide that I wrote:
How To Rip 1:1 Copies of Audio CDs Using Exact Audio Copy (http://www.soniconthenet.org/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=2656&sid=1c18cd5dec7e439ab414f22891bf57f1)
If you intend to burn identical copies, EAC is capable of doing this but you'll have to make a few minor adjustments. I haven't written anything for burning CDs with EAC yet but I can still help out if you need.
I see a lot of people suggesting Imgburn, which to my knowledge cannot compensate for your burner's write offset if it is non-zero. Unless you rip with a combined offset or apply offset to the data prior to burning to compensate for your burner's write offset, you will not get an identical copy.