will HDCD copy when cloned?

Yes, as long as you are using a bit-for-bit or lossless format to copy it you should get an exact copy that does play as the original.

Marco

Jax2,
What software is the best in your experience for bit-to-bit copy? How is EAC? Thanks!

alcohol 120% or clone cd software works fine...

I've heard good things about EAC Tgrisham, but I use a Mac so it is not an option for me. I rippeed all my files in either .WAV or Apple Lossless. I honestly cannot tell any difference. Apple Lossless is a compressed format but renders the file bit-for-bit according to both Apple and Wavelength who did a test of that format. It takes longer to rip files in AL (about 2-3 times as long as a WAV file), but it ends up taking up about half the space on your hard drive as an uncompressed file like WAV. I don't know if EAC uses compression, nor how file size is in comparision. Perhaps someone else could chime in. The only downside to Apple Lossless is that is an proprietary format to iTunes and is not a cross-platform format. There are software solutions for converting AL files to other formats, but that, of course, comes at the expense of time, and I do not know that the conversion is bit-for-bit.

Hope that helps.

Marco