Advice: CD's to Hard Drive and Back Again

"I've found that CD's are neither indestructable nor unscratchable"

This can not be! In 1982 when Phillips and Sony introduced the Compact disc they promised it would bring you perfect sound forever!

No offense intended I assure you. I was just curious.
As for ripping off artists, I too always purchase music legally, have never downloaded any music. It's just that ripping cds to a hard drive is a pain. I know because I am swapping cds in and out of my Mac Mini as I type this. Still though if I wanted a second copy of Sting's Nothing Like The Sun, the cd I that just popped out, I'd go to Amazon and buy it used for $3 including shipping.
Now to your question. After months of researching computer audio, how to get the best bang for the $$, this is my solution. I store my files on a Western Digital hard drive ripped through the Mac Mini. The files are AIFF ripped via itunes with error correction on. My understanding is these are perfect bit for bit copies. I use an ipod touch for remote control of itunes and play them back via a toslink cable to a PS Audio Digital LinkIII dac. As for quality, I hear no difference between the original and the digital copy although I haven't really compared critically yet. Good luck whichever way you decide.

Timrhu,

just for fun, take a couple of the discs folders of AIFF files and convert them to flac. Then compare them to the Accurip database. I don't know if there is a program for the Mac that will do this. There are a number of free programs such as CUETools that will do this on a PC. Flac is a lossless archive so if the rip is accurate it will match.

Timrhu - Itunes doesn't rip bit perfect even with error correction on. Some of my CDs have bad scratches and MAX with "do not allow to skip" option refuses to rip them (rip gets stuck and never ends) while Itunes have no problem with it.

All CD players apply error correction (up to 3500 bits = 2.4mm along the track). The problem is when loss of data is beyond correction. When it happens CDP has to interpolate to avoid pops and clicks (part of Cross Interleaved Reed Solomon error correction code) because it operates in real time (most of CDP) and cannot go back to read faulty sector again (Interpolates up to 12000 bits = 8.5mm along the track). I assume that scratches longer than 8.5mm along the track will result in pops.

This will make computer copy perhaps better than original since computer drive under control of program like MAX or EAC will keep going back to the same sector until it gets proper checksum (the way computer would read data CD). In MAX you can even set number of iterations allowed.

I store files in ALAC on my server since it is Apple native but perhaps more common is FLAC. Either way it is lossless and saves on average 50% of disk space.

I don't hear any difference between original and copy either - no matter how extracted. It is possible that my ears are less than perfect (most likely!) but also amount of missing (interpolated) data might be either small or concealed really well. I just use bit perfect (MAX) method to do things by the book (best I can). Knowing that I stored perfect Master of recording and not the copy is important otherwise copy of the copy will follow.

All this is basically about two different ways of reading CD - as a music CD or as a computer data CD. Data CD has to be read bit perfect or computer programs would not work.

Timrhu - Itunes doesn't rip bit perfect even with error correction on. Some of my CDs have bad scratches and MAX with "do not allow to skip" option refuses to rip them (rip gets stuck and never ends) while Itunes have no problem with it.

I have experienced this with two of the cds I was importing. I had to power fail the Mac to stop the loop.

I don't hear any difference between original and copy either - no matter how extracted. It is possible that my ears are less than perfect (most likely!) but also amount of missing (interpolated) data might be either small or concealed really well.

I'm in the same boat with the hearing. Don't hear a difference but then again I don't care to sit and compare. Not my thang.

I just use bit perfect (MAX) method to do things by the book (best I can). Knowing that I stored perfect Master of recording and not the copy is important otherwise copy of the copy will follow.

Of course you know you're making this more complicated. I will look into your method and if I can figure it out, give it a try. My intention with the pc audio was to find a simple, hassle-free method to listen to music. No more hunting through the shelves of cds to find something to listen to; maybe just select "shuffle" and see what pops up, I like this on my ipod.