Bowie Au20 "Hunky Dory"

[lukpac]

If the putatively different CDs in question are in reality digital twins, and you are comparing an entire track, you may not have to 'find the correct starting point'. The two tracks may already *have* the correct starting point. (I'm saying 'may' to allow for the possibility of inequality at the start of track one.)

In my experience, that rarely happens, especially if we're talking about a re-pressing of some sort (MCA vs. Polydor, UD vs. UDII, etc). Actually, that almost NEVER happens. Even if the index points are exactly the same (which is rare), the offsets are almost always off.

[krabapple]

Hmm. I recall it happening for at least some comparisons I've done (bit-comparisons, not null tests). But perhaps I'm thinking of CDRs vs originals.
Still, once you ahev the files on hard disc, it takes seconds to try, so why not try it first, in any such investigation? If it tells you you're only a few samples off, that itself is informative.

[lukpac]

Well, keep in mind that EAC *should* be able to detect small offsets (ie, you don't always have to line things up).