Advice wanted for copying CDs

drummer86

I have a bunch of older and obscure classical albums that you just can't find anymore and I'm looking for the best way to make copies without losing the sound quality. Looking for recommendations on the whole process including software (preferrably free), settings, CD-Rs, and anything I'm not thinking of already. Please specify whether the programs are for Windows or Mac (either is fine). Thanks in advance. If this isn't the best place for this thread let me know and I'll try somewhere else.

EndersShadow

Are you lookin to put them on your computer, or just make physical disc copies?

If your looking to convert it to digital, use dbpoweramp to convert it to FLAC. There are instructions on the proper settings online.

It's fairy simple honestly.

CoolJazz

EndersShadow wrote: »

It's fairy simple honestly.

OK Dan, so fairy's find it simple. But what about us average, simple folk?? :razz:

CJ

drummer86

I'm just looking to make hard copies to avoid the wear and tear on my originals when I loan them out to friends and students.

I'm just wondering if making a simple copy in a generic program would give me the same sound quality as an original disc.

EndersShadow

CoolJazz wrote: »

OK Dan, so fairy's find it simple. But what about us average, simple folk?? :razz:

CJ

Dammm you autocorrect. Meant to say fairly simple

heiney9

He said LP's, not cd's. He wants to make CD's from LP's is how it reads. That is a bit more complicated.

H9

heiney9

drummer86 wrote: »

I have a bunch of older and obscure classical albums that you just can't find anymore and I'm looking for the best way to make copies without losing the sound quality. Looking for recommendations on the whole process including software (preferrably free), settings, CD-Rs, and anything I'm not thinking of already. Please specify whether the programs are for Windows or Mac (either is fine). Thanks in advance. If this isn't the best place for this thread let me know and I'll try somewhere else.

nbrowser wrote: »

Title of thread says "Advice wanted for copying CDs", not LPs and he asked for free software suggestions, when you do LPs, you need to spend money on a analog audio capture device, OP never mentioned that.

Try again, try reading the body not just the thread title.

H9

headrott

Keiko wrote: »

For blank media, I use Taiyo Yuden, A Grade CD-Rs and cook at the slowest possible speed.

http://www.amazon.com/JVC-Taiyo-Yuden-80min-Silver/dp/B003NYSZUW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378702065&sr=8-1&keywords=taiyo+yuden+cd-r

+1 on Taiyo Yuden CD-R's. Great media! I would put Mitsui Gold above them, but since they are not available anymore, Taiyo Yuden is my recommendation as well. Made in Japan, not Taiwan or China! A++++

Also, Mobile Fidelity 24Kt Gold CD-R's are very good as well (although more expensive than Taiyo Yuden)

mhardy6647

Heh, this is useful information!
I'd never heard of the (JVC) Taiyo Yuden CD-R (I guess I don't get out much...).
Any preferred vendors for them?

Thanks & sorry for the partial hijack!

vmaxer

Good info, at some point I want to copy vinyl to CD's. is this any better than just buying the CS's??

sucks2beme

Use EAC, exact audio copy. If you want the copy to be accurate, this is the way to go, and it's free.
Also works well for creating FLAC files from Cd's.

billbillw

I'm pretty sure he meant to copy CDs, not LPs. Many people say Album whether it it CD or Vinyl. Anyway, until the OP chimes in and clarifies which he meant, there is not much use arguing.

If it is CD>CD copy, I highly recommend using a Free Software called "Exact Audio Copy" or EAC for short. Despite what some might have said above, not all software makes a byte for byte copy of the original. Simply extracting the original audio from a CD can introduce errors (jitter, unreadable sections, error correction, etc).

EAC is the best way I have found to rip/copy and give you something that the same as the original.

http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

I believe there are tutorials on the site. It is pretty intuitive through.

If we are talking vinyl rips, it is a whole other ball game. Much more work.

As others have mentioned, Tayio Yuden discs are the most universally accepted quality discs. They playback more reliably and are more consistent than any other brand. Most have not heard of them, because they are usually re-branded with more common names for retail sales.

Here is a good place to get them:
http://www.meritline.com/cdr-80min-700mb-media---c-7558.aspx?MID=13&PCID=7558&PriceInt=0&SID=3&FSID=0

In the old days, you could spot the Taiyo Yuden discs by looking for "made in Japan" on the retail labeling (Maxell, Verbatim, etc.), but now most of the retail brands are using cheaper OEMs from India or China. It is hard to find Made in Japan CDRs in stores. These days, Meritline is the easiest place to get them.

SCompRacer

drummer86 wrote: »

I'm just looking to make hard copies to avoid the wear and tear on my originals when I loan them out to friends and students.

Good move on copying CD's because things can happen when you loan them out and some folks just don't treat the media with respect.

tonyb

If you ask me, I'd say don't loan out the albums, loan out the ripped cd's. Let them abuse the cd's all they want, easily replaceable. The albums.....not so much.

drummer86

To clarify, I'm looking to just make a CD>CD copy. Sorry for any confusion with my use of the word "album." Would have definitely specified "vinyl" if that's what I was looking to do.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll look into EAC and some of the CD-Rs that were mentioned.

I guess my follow up question would be, how do I know if my CD drives are of decent quality? I have several computers laying around. Hopefully one of them has something acceptable.

drummer86

nbrowser wrote: »

best to use the same drive for the source read as it'll rip the original disc to the hard drive, meaning the HD can spew data to the burner faster, easier.

Ok, this I understand.

nbrowser wrote: »

just make sure its got a strong buffer built in and resist going from drive to drive

This, I don't. Is this a spec listed in the product information? What should I look for here? Thanks again.

sucks2beme

Modern software seems to handle copying well. I haven't coastered a cd in a long while.

billbillw

nbrowser wrote: »

drummer, the buffer is built in memory in the drive, some elcheapo's only contain like 2 megabytes...you want at minimum 16-32Mb, it's RAM betwen the SATA interface and the burning laser, more buffer = better buffer underrun protection and even less of a chance of burning the all too known, coaster.

16-32mb buffer? Where have you seen one of those? I haven't seen anything with more than 2MB cache in years. Since SATA and faster burning, there is no need for bigger buffers.

Honestly, I have had perfect success with just about any burner that I've used since 2005-ish. The early burners sometimes had trouble ripping cleanly, and could easily burn coasters if the media didn't match up or the burn speed was too high. However, there came a point where they seemed to figure it out and since then, the burners have all been pretty good. Think about it, burning a dual layer DVD at 8x is much harder than burning a single layer CD.

Drummer, EAC will let you know if your hardware is not up to snuff. It compares the rip vs 1x read for errors. It also validates the burn. My guess is it will do just fine.

RamZet

Using Windows Media Player, go to burn settings and uncheck the auto volume box. set the copying to lossless. but more importantly uncheck that auto volume box!!!!

Burn as a audio CD not DATA. also you will get better luck with non RW disc and CD+ disc. a lot of players wont play CD- or RW disc.

I like WMP as a CD burner/ripper. its free, works well, and simple to use.


uncheck the auto volume box in burn settings.

wayne3burk

drummer86 wrote: »

To clarify, I'm looking to just make a CD>CD copy. Sorry for any confusion with my use of the word "album." Would have definitely specified "vinyl" if that's what I was looking to do.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll look into EAC and some of the CD-Rs that were mentioned.

I guess my follow up question would be, how do I know if my CD drives are of decent quality? I have several computers laying around. Hopefully one of them has something acceptable.

Yeah I was waffling back and froth on whether or not you meant vinyl or CD copies when I read your posts. If you can swing it, you could invest in a CD-Recorder, the Music CD media costs about 30 cents per CD, and you could end up dropping a couple of hundred bucks on a good used CD-Recorder for you Music System, but you get to bypass all the software BS and do an exact copy from music disc to music disc, plain and simple.

Marantz and Harman Kardon both made good respectable CD-Recorders for the home music system back in the late 80s and early 90s. You should be able to get one off of the tick-bay for less than $250.

I bought a used Phillips CDR 765 at a garage sale in annapolis for $15 bucks a couple of years ago.

My .02 worth
Wayne