Do CD-R's sound the same as originals

Madisonears - I'll find the exact steps and software I use at home and then post them here. The software is all free, at least in trial version, and by doing so we can be sure we're comparing apples to apples. A general process I've been through several times is extracting song files to the hard drive, which can then be mixed and matched and written back to CDR's. I can extract the same file, say, 10 times using the same software and different software, and then run a compare program against any two of the resulting extracted files. The compare program doesn't know the source of the files, it just dutifully does a bit-wise comparison of the contents. I have never had any problem with getting all N copies to compare identically. Now, I admit to extrapolating from my experiments to my day-to-day copying - I don't compare the files each time I make a copy. In any case, since I typically copy whole CD's to put in a "jukebox" and since nobody but Sony utilizes the CD Text capability of CDs, I do a song-by-song extraction / copy so that I can insert title and song info. Alternatively, you can just make a straight copy of the CD in a single pass - I have never attempted to extract the whole CD image to the hard drive multiple times using different software and comparing the image, but I have little doubt that it would work as well. Another experiment worth trying (so maybe I will :-) ) would be to do the same thing using a CDR itself as the original - there has been speculation that there is something about the physical nature of a CDR vs. a CD that makes it more prone to sounding different. I can't formulate a hypothesis on why that would be, but I'd want to try it for myself first. -Kirk

For the record the gear I use to burn CDRs is outboard gear, ie not done with a computer. I notice that most guys who are dissatisfied with the sound of the CDR are using computers to make copies. Garfish uses outboard gear and he gets excellent results as well. Sterophile did a review of the Pioneer Elite CD recorder a couple of years back and they stated that the copy sounded sounded as-or better that-his digital original. The better the source player, cable, vibration free stand etc... the better the sound of the copy.

That's true Ejlif, I use a Pioneer W739 "dubbing" CDR recorder at 1X speed. It sits on vibrapods, and the signal bypasses the sample rate converter when it's 44.1. I've used Maxell, TDK, and Memorex blanks, all with excellent results. As I've noted before, sometimes I think the copies actually sound better (different, ie crisper) than the originals, but I've backed off that position and now just say they sound as good. In a blind test I'm sure I couldn't tell the difference between copy and original. Cheers. Craig.

Joe_Coherent, I certainly will not retract those, and instead demand a more suitable apology from you. And you don't want to mess with me either, I can benchpress 320 pounds.

Hey Jerko, (C-eber), fighting and benchpressing have nothing to do with each other. I see your ideas on that topic are as incoherent as those on CD-Rs and regular CDs. I'm thinking I may want to do an A-B comparison with you on both.