Why does the copy sound better than the original

Jim, try CD-R's made by Taiyo Yuden (now part of JVC). Also, if you haven't, burn them at a much slower rate than the burn speed they are rated for.

Hi Al,

Yuup that's what I used..... Branded name at the time by Sony, Maxell, ect, made in Japan. (I still have a couple hundred or so of the old blank Maxell factory fresh, made in Japan by Taiyo Yuden, CD-R audio CDs.)

Equipment.
Bought new Sony W222ES as well as a Pioneer PDR 609 Recorder. Speed, real time recording (1 X.

Tried burning CDs on PC computers with Exact copy, liked them even less.....

I suggest you try making a copy of a well recorded CD with a female vocal and or piano music material.
Focus your listening on the female vocal and piano.... Tune out all others..... Post back your results.
Jim

Thanks, Jim. Will do, probably tomorrow.

Best regards,
-- Al

I'm saying that the CD copy sounds better than the original simply because it is a copy. noit because of any technical problem with the original CD or the original player. I'm saying that you can throw out all the explanations regarding pits, bits, nicks and blips. A copy of a cassette will also sound better than the original. By "better" I mean nmore open, more relaxed yet more dynamic, less distorted, more musical and more natural. By no coincidence the reason why copies sound better than the originals is actually closely related to, dare I say it, the photos in the freezer tweak. An interesting experiment would be to see if this phenomenon carried across various media, say LP to cassette or CD to cassette. Would the cassette copy sound better than the CD original? That would be pretty disturbing, right? Hahahah

Jim (Jea48), I've done my comparison. Consistent with your suggestions as to what kinds of material should be used I've duplicated the following CD's, and compared the particular selections on them that are indicated below:

1)Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 3, Hyperion Knight, Pianist; on "Music of Chopin," Wilson Audio WCD-9129.

This is the best sounding CD of solo piano music I have ever heard.

2)"O Mio Babbino Caro," from the opera "Gianni Schicchi," Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Lyric Soprano; on "Puccini's Greatest Hits," RCA MLK 45809.

3)"All The Things You Are," Joan Morris, Mezzo Soprano with William Bolcom, Piano; on "Silver Linings: Songs by Jerome Kern," Arabesque Z6515.

From a musical standpoint, this is IMO the best rendition I have ever heard of this widely recorded old standard. Sonics are excellent, as well.

4)Songs by Rebecca Pidgeon, Sara K., and Ana Caram on "The Ultimate Demonstration Disc," Chesky UD95.

The CD's were duplicated on a home-built Windows-based desktop computer using Asus DRW-2014L1T internal DVD/CD drives, and Nero Burning ROM 7 software. The drives are about 3 years old, and have been used moderately. A verification cycle was performed by the software after burning, and its "ignore read errors" option was deselected. I used Taiyo Yuden CD-R's rated for 52x speed. The drives are rated for 48x speed. Burning was done at 8x speed, which was the slowest available option.

I performed the comparison using both my Daedalus Ulysses speakers, with VAC amplification, and my Stax electrostatic headphones. The CDP is a Bryston BCD-1, and the preamp a Classe CP-60. A lot of the circuitry in the preamp is not in the signal path during headphone listening, because the Stax headphone amp connects to its tape outputs.

I went back and forth between the original and the copy multiple times, to confirm my perceptions. Here's what I heard:

The differences were extremely small, and were perceivable just on certain notes, from time to time. In all cases, however, the original was clearly better than the copy, notwithstanding the subjective nature of "better" Mr. T referred to earlier.

The copies at times added a slight harshness to sibilants. There was also a slight loss of definition in the treble region on piano notes, resulting in a slightly more "tinkly" character. On the Joan Morris recording, her voice sounded very slightly more nasal on the copy.

I did not sense any thinness or loss of body at any time, which you described hearing on copies produced with your equipment.

The bottom line, as I see it: Differences can be expected, and as I said earlier:

I would expect the magnitude and character of the differences to be highly dependent on the design of the particular player that is being used (and probably also on the particular media, burner, and burn speed that are used).

And per the quotes and links I provided earlier, the existence of those differences is technically plausible, and explainable based on concepts that are well recognized in electronic design.

Best regards,
-- Al

Thanks Almarg for the reasoned approach. Also thanks for doing those comparisons. Rpg sorry about my way out there response. But every once and awhile I want to be the alien police when certain ones here make some of their comments. So the reason for mine. Anyway through Almarg and some others you will find they provide reason and logic to our discussions which are priceless in a wacky world.