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Hey all.

I've got a CD-R of a concert that I downloaded from iTunes a year or so ago that has seen better days (thanks to a 3-year old) that I want to transfer to another disc. If I listen to the disc on it's own, it plays fine with no skips. The underside has hairline scratches but they aren't affecting the play for now.

I wanted to take the CD and archive it on a better disc. When I try to extract from the existing disc using EAC, it gives me a read error right off the bat on the first track.

I want to try and make as faithful of a copy of the original disc without compromising the existing sound quality (I know I'm an ass already for downloading something whose source was already compromised). What would be the best way to do this since EAC seems to choke?

If I do a straight CD to CD copy, should I be OK?

Thanks for the help.

I would try using EAC in Burst Mode. Your best bet is to use the "test and copy" function rather than just "copy." If the CRC's match, you're good to go.

Ess Ay Cee Dee wrote:I would try using EAC in Burst Mode. Your best bet is to use the "test and copy" function rather than just "copy." If the CRC's match, you're good to go.

Ok. Did that and only 6 of the 15 tracks CRC's matched. Does that mean the other tracks are pretty much a lost cause then?

Well...how do they sound?

Yeah, that's the key. Just listen to each track and check for glitches. If they're glitch-free, you're safe. I don't care too much about the "errors" that EAC routinely finds. If the track isn't riddled with clicks, I'm happy.

Otherwise, just rip it in secure mode and be prepared for a LONG wait. I think my personal record was about 15 hours to rip a damaged CD in secure mode.

lukpac wrote:Well...how do they sound?

I only listened to one of the tracks and it sounded OK to me, admittedly, this was over the computer speakers. I'll burn the disc and take it with me when I head out here in a little bit and see if I notice anything unusual.

Thanks again for the help.

And if the rip does have clicks, EAC has a 'fix errors' tool for removing them. Sometimes it works very well.

I would try ripping the CDR with different CD drives (if you have several). Sometimes, those songs that produced errors on drive 1 rip fine on drive 2. Maybe you can try on somebody else's PC?

Burst mode never helped me. If secure mode reported errors, then the burst mode most probably introduced skips/glitches. (In my experience).

Extensive cleaning and rubbing may help, although I only do that in the case of almost lost cases.

In these cases,..where there is no obvious scratching -- I've never found cleaning to help. Usually as in Beatlesfan's case it's an old CDR. I don't know what goes 'wrong' with these sometimes, but I have seem them throw lots of errors when attempting to rip them with EAC. I don't know if the errors were there in the first place or developed over time.

Would copying as a disc image help?

krabapple wrote:In these cases,..where there is no obvious scratching -- I've never found cleaning to help. Usually as in Beatlesfan's case it's an old CDR. I don't know what goes 'wrong' with these sometimes, but I have seem them throw lots of errors when attempting to rip them with EAC. I don't know if the errors were there in the first place or developed over time.

Would copying as a disc image help?

If the drive can't read it, it can't read it. So no.

Anyway, if it isn't scratched, the best option is another drive. I've had CD-Rs that won't even show up in some drives, yet play fine in others.

And in the end, there' s also the option of recording the analog or digital out (depending one what inputs your soundcard has) from a player that plays the disc with no problems, onto the hard drive in real time.

krabapple wrote:And if the rip does have clicks, EAC has a 'fix errors' tool for removing them. Sometimes it works very well.

Only listened to about half the disc and so far, no clicks.

Andreas wrote:I would try ripping the CDR with different CD drives (if you have several). Sometimes, those songs that produced errors on drive 1 rip fine on drive 2. Maybe you can try on somebody else's PC?

I have a dual drive setup but for some reason although it appears to be configured correctly, EAC does not like my second drive and I get tons of errors right out of the gate when I try to extract something from it. However, if I extract from it using Audition, it works fine. I thought about using my wife's drive on her laptop, but it's on the verge of being hosed.

I held onto the original disc in case somethings ends up wrong on the copy. But I think it's good for now.

I appreciate all the help with this.