Burnin CDs? Sound loss/degration question

My friends and I don't hear a difference between the original CDs and CDR copies made with either my Pioneer PDR-609 or a friend's Pro Marantz unit. Another friend's newer Phillips recorder seems to make very slightly rougher copies, but one would need to have the original CD to detect the difference.

I bought the Yamaha CRW-F1 CD recorder. I don't recall where I bought it--it was online somewhere and was not terribly expensive (under $300 I believe). Of course you can get a recorder for much less, but this one suited my needs and has performed remarkably well.

I can recommend the Marantz CDR500 Pro too. I can't tell the difference between the originals and copies when made at either 1X or 2X, and it's very easy to use too; MSRP $850. and street price about $675. I've used mainly Maxell or Sony CDR blanks. Cheers. Craig

There was just an article in "The audiophile voice" where several brands of blanks were compared and the results noted. The main advice was, copy to the hard drive first and then to the blank. Why would this be better? I've made copies on my computer that no one can tell the difference. And they were not copied to the hard drive first. The main thing that I have learned is, use a name brand blank, and copy no faster than 4X

I get Mitsuis online at Terrapin Tapes. www.ttapes.com. They are definitely the best!