do burnt CD copys sound as good as originals?

Grateful, while I greatly disagree with your results in burning copies, even of bigger labels, I agree that once there are good dacs to convert music put on hard drives, it will negate what benefits there are in burning copies. I sent Vince Sanders of VRS a copy of a disk where he had the original. He heard a distinct improvement when played through his transport but none when both were put on the hard-drive. Until that time I will not play uncopied originals.

Jsouth72, long ago I use EAC to recopy some of my scratched cds. I did the job quite well largely hiding the scratches. I then reburned two on my separate burner and got a substantial improvement. There were several otherrs in the room that day. Also I must disagree with the implications of your post that cdrs do not matter. This is not the case with anyone that I know.

While at CES I heard the HP music server with music downloaded off the internet in lossless format. I had to leave the room because of the music. In particular the young demonstrators said that the Beachboys recordings were old and that what I heard was an exact copy of a bad recording. I heard a bad copy of a decent recording and could not take it. I think many are buying into the notion that an exact copy is an exact copy. In a bit by bit sense it may be true. In a played version, it is not.

While my results have been overall disappointing thus far. I must firmly agree that equipment and brand makes a big difference. I notice a 100% improvement in sound quality when I use a gold archive CDR or a black CDR as compared to standard CDRs. In fact, some standard CDRs were not even readable in my BAT supertube CD player - though the same CDR was readable in the car and other players. The CD burner makes a big difference also -- I have used several different models from Sanyo, Sony, HiVal, & Pioneer which produced poor results -- my best results have been with a old (1999 I think) TDK Velodyn burner -- but I hear great things about Yamaha burners (no longer produced) and I hear Plextor burners do a great job -- (though I have not personally heard any CDRs produced from a Plextor or a Yamaha). Additionally, I believe the PSU of many computers are pretty poor & noisy. A good PSU, such as PC Power & Cooling are less corruptive. Anyway - you can drive yourself crazy upgrading & experimenting with computer parts (cables, CD burners, hard drives, cases, shielding, etc.). I do believe there is a good combination out there somewhere

I have to say, in response to Grateful, that the differences I've heard among different blank media (including Mitsui gold) have been a whole heck of a lot smaller than the "100% improvement" variety...

Grateful, I have never had a copy that would not read, but I entirely agree that experimenting with cdrs and burners can drive you crazy. I would add also cd and cdr cleaners. I have quite experimenting.

I have Marantz Professional Cd Recorder/Player. The cd's I have made sound pretty darn great. As for computer burning, don't do it but have had some made via that way and they sound fine.