Bit perfect copies

I used to think that digital meant perfect copies too, but after playing a few data CD-Rs made from audio CDs on a PC, I would occasionally hear a small click . "Rewinding" and playing the passage again usually reproduced the click in the same spot. Playing the same passage from the original CD didn't produce the click. Using a file comparison program on my PC, I found that the CD-R copy was NOT exactly the same as the original audio CD.

Since I used very cheap CD-R blanks that were meant for computer data (free after rebate - from an office supply store), I speculate that the shortcomings with my copies were caused by the disks themselves and a few of the burned bits not "sticking."

My suggestion is to pay as much attention to the media as to the recorder, as even perfect copies may quickly deteriorate if poor media are encountered. This may not be as much of problem with the audio blanks.

The freeware I used was called Test Path, if you wanted to check with your PC how any old copies are holding up.

Previous poster - chances are that your computer had a program running in the background that taxed the pc's memory. Try burning discs with all other applications shut down and there should be no pops or clicks. Data CD-Rs just don't pay royalties to the RIAA but their quality varies as much as CD-Rs for "audio" use.

I use to burn cd-r's directly from the source and I heard clicks and other occasional distortions. I now extract the music from the source and save it onto the computer. I then burn it a 1X (the original speed) and they sound excellent. Also some brands of cd-r's cause problems with auto and high end cd players. I find Sony CD-R's to be the best and most reliable for audio. Memorex is not very good, TDK are blue in color and some audio cd players won't recognize them.

I too have had problems with cheap CDR's. The blue ones that I bought in bulk would skip terribly especially on my car and portable machines. I switched to SONY (silver in slim cases) and have had much better luck ( still only around $.75 each)

There are several audio CD-R units on the market that sell for about $350. There was an ad in the Sunday paper from either Good Guys or Circuit City for a Phillips unit, and Sony has recently brought out the RCD-W1. (The RCD-W1 also has a special offer thru July 31st for a free 20-pack of audio CD-R disks.) I recently bought the RCD-W1 so I can transfer a lot of my vinyl collection onto CD, but have not had the chance to play with it yet. As others have commented above, all of the units do a perfectly adequate job of copying -- but don't expect them to be great playback decks.