Do CD-R's sound the same as originals

The reason different equipment sounds different is because there are differences in the reading and decoding (including prinbcipally turning into the analog domain) the information on a CD. As explained by others above, there is absolutely no degradation in the CD copying process (if properly done through a computer). Therefore the only explanation for sonic differences between CDs and exact-replica CD-Rs would have to come from differences in the player's ability to read one or the other, even if they both have the same information. Those who think CD-Rs sound worse would have to argue that there are more errors in processing the information from the CD-R, even if it is identical to that of the CD. I have not seen such argument made in a coherent manner above by any of the proponents of the "CD-R is worse" theory. Again, there are no errors in the duplication process, that is unquestionable. Those who ythink otherwise simply do not understand the nature of digital vs. analog sound.

I gotcha KThomas....I understand. But...to be clear...I could not care less if the charted copies "look" identical. I only care how it sounds. If CDR's introduce jitter...or if the laser has a difficult time reading the colored surface I do not know....but thus far....I'll keep buying from the cd store. BUT....you all have provided enterainment for me...and for that....thank you. I gotta go...Best Buy is calling my name.

Mfgrep - I can't stay away from the music section at Best Buy either - I find that I buy 7-8 CDs at a time because that's how many I can hold in one hand. In any case, just to plant a thought - if you prove to yourself that the digital copy is identical to the original and still sounds different to you on playback due to jitter, laser difficulties or whatever, you have to ask yourself why that is, since the same cheap plastic CD player in your computer can read that CDR and make as many more perfect copies as you care to make - ie, no generational loss. If it can do it (and it can), why can't CD players / transports? At some point inside a CD player / transport, you just have digital information, regardless of where it came from. If we can demonstrate that a cheap CD drive in a computer can reliably read that digital information and present it wherever it needs to go, then we, as consumers, should demand that makers of CD players / transports provide the same performance, and it shouldn't cost many thousands of dollars.

Ramstl, I could tell by the way you worded your question, that you "didn't really care anyway", so again, I find it strange that you were looking for a friendly exchange of aything from me....since you admit you could care less. It's possible that we agree on the CD-R issue, and I'm sure that by the time I'm your age, I'll have done many millions of recordings also. I'm considering buying some new mics, myself. I only use a "one-point" stereo condensor one right now, record on a portable DAT, and don't do many music performances, and certainly nothing "big time", yet. You did not hurt my feelings the least bit, so don't agonize over that.

Kthomas...I think I follow you. BUT....in the realm of cd's...we have only had the pleasure of READING them. Now we are introducing the ability to write on them. Alongside our new found freedom to write on this digital medium we may introduce all kinds of crap (ie: jitter or dither). I mean c'mon...we all have done some crazy stuff to rid our systems of vibrations, dirty AC, and other invisible contaminates. Why would you find it hard to believe that my crappy homade computer with two cooling fans all running on the same skimpy power supply would be able to write bit for bit copies without introducing something that degrades the sound quality??? Don't get me wrong...I am VERY hopeful that the believers on this thread are correct! Based upon my innitial findings, however, I have heard differences that would force me to cough up $15 per disc as opposed to a lesser quality for $.80. For the car, the boat, the discman, for mix tapes for friends, for data backup YES. I have yet to find that the quality rivals the store bought. I want to know why this is. AND....yes I did purchase a CDburner today at Best Buy (and a handful of discs) and even more CDR blanks (bye the way...my bro says that the sony blanks sound hands down better than the others....go figure...he too notices a difference on a rather revealing system) So I will be giving it a try over the next many days. In addition...my brother (who lives halfway accross the country) purchased a Phillips Audio CD Burner (an actual audio component as opposed to a computer accessory) and we are going to do some "independent research". I'll call 'em as I see 'em when I hear it.