I'm not dreaming - these are great CD copies


I have an out of town friend who's given me some CD-Rs that he's made by simply copying music off of red book CDs. The music quality is extremely good - better than I'm used to hearing from my red book CDs. He's not an audiophile and has no idea what format is being utilized e.g. Lossless, etc.
Question - Can you really improve the quality of music from a red book CD by simply copying to some other format? If so, I'm boxing up all 300 of my CDs and asking my friend to copy make copies for me.
rockyboy
When ripping on a PC, the disk can be read as many times as necessary to get a parity match. If the disc surface has been abused, this could result in a more accurate file.

I've heard disks burned on the mastering converter, CD test pressings and the commercial release. All sound different. People on the other side of the planet noticed identical differences on home as opposed to reference quality equipment.

IMO, label paint is unscientifically applied and contributes to errors.

Some CDP benefit from a Discus or other damping atop the disc. Shock absorbtion is always a good idea for the player.

Computer burned discs may or may not match the ripped file depending on the quality of the writer. Almost assuredly, the burned disc will have a shorter life.

Ripped and burned discs sound 'different'. Better is in the ear of the beholder.
“IMO, label paint is unscientifically applied and contributes to errors.”

The colors of the label paint can influence the sound. Definitely. The paint might even contain ferrous materials though I’ve certainly never checked. It’s just a hunch. Why else would demagnetizing a CD influence the sound? Now, that I have checked.
This is very interesting indeed
I always wondered why a number of my burned discs sounded "better" than the originals?
But I do have to say not all, and now I think on, that could even be down to the blank used.
I did have a stack of Fuji and a stack of Maxwell that I used without paying any attention to which for what if you get my drift, were just blanks to me! 
Some of these have been burned a LONG time ago and are still playing strong.
Course hardly play any nowadays what with Tidal and my Vault containing all of my cds ripped to WAV files.......
In your face and musical are just words. They certainly don’t mean the same thing to everyone. I like things to be in your face if that’s how they’re supposed to sound. I don’t like laid back sound if it’s supposed to be more present and dynamic.

Read again, I didn’t say laid back sound, I said "musical" and not in your face (meaning hard/harsh to me).

Fact is the odds are going negative, more you burn the more errors there will be, as the laser has difficulty reading the not so clean pit/lands of a burnt CD no matter what blank is used, even though some are better than others.
Nothing is as clean as the original stamped/moulded retail cd, as the pics below show.

Left moulded/stamped retail CD, pits are clean to read hopefully to be error free

Middle and right burnt CD-R pits one gold one normal silver, not clean and can cause errors.

https://www.iasa-web.org/sites/default/files/tc05-fig20.jpg


Cheers George
PS: the cd retail stamped vs copy burn pics above comes from Jean-Marc Fontaine just one of digital’s foremost authorities.

Here is just a video conference of his which discusses the drive mechs and storage of digital
https://vimeo.com/16104280

Cheers George