Burning audio CD's - Popping sounds..

[DN]

I just burnt an audio CD at 24x, CD to CD, using Nero 5.x.. I used a Pioneer 16x/40x CD/DVD as my source drive and a Lite On 24x/10x/40x CDRW as my target drive -- both are on the same IDE channel.. I then played the new CD in my Pioneer, hooked up with the digital connector to my Audigy sound card.. There were no skips, hops or pops, it sounded just like the original.. However, when I gave this new CD to someone else, you could hear constant pops -- it also happened on another PC as well.. I'm assuming that I should have burnt it at a slower write speed, I haven't tested this theory out YET, but can anyone give me some input as to what they do or don't do when burning audio CD's, to avoid such a problem..

Just so you know, I've burnt data CD's the same exact way and there were no issues -- the new CD worked fine everywhere, so I doubt it's a question of having both drives on the same IDE channel -- that will be the last thing I resort to changing, including changing to something other than Nero.. Again, my assumption is that either I should burn at a slower speed or I should go from CD to HD to CD (ie. not on the fly)..

Thanks.

 

[Workin']

Was the person you gave the CD to playing it on a PC or car or home stereo?

If it played fine on your PC, I would say there is no problem with the CD - the problem is with the other person's player.

You could try burning at a slower speed, but that's no fun.

 

[cloudchief]

If you want to copy audio cd's Exact Audio Copy is your friend. Tics and pops are a symptom of less than optimal DAE. EAC resolves this.

 

[DN]

<< Was the person you gave the CD to playing it on a PC or car or home stereo?

If it played fine on your PC, I would say there is no problem with the CD - the problem is with the other person's player.

You could try burning at a slower speed, but that's no fun. >>



I tried it on 2 other difference PC's -- lower end sound cards for sure compared to my Audigy.. I wonder if that had anything to do with it -- maybe because of my digital speakers and/or my Pioneer being hooked up digitally to my sound card..?

 

[DN]

<< If you want to copy audio cd's Exact Audio Copy is your friend. Tics and pops are a symptom of less than optimal DAE. EAC resolves this. >>



I hate solving an issue by adding software to the mix.. Would there be any alternative solution to, as you say, optimize DAE..?

 

[FrustratedUser]

If you are using W98 there is a an easy way.
Get another version of Cdfs.vxd and put it in the \Windows\System\IOSubSys folder and reboot.
Now you can see the music as .wav files in explorer.

Can't be easier to copy music. Just drag and drop.

I have been looking for a similar way for W2K but not found it. Anyone knows?

 

[DN]

I'm using WinXP.. Thing is, I'm not looking for an "easier" way to copy music.. I'm looking for something that'll work properly.. In any case, I'm just going to do what I initially mentioned which was to burn at a slower speed and see what happens..

 

[Workin']

<< lower end sound cards for sure compared to my Audigy.. I wonder if that had anything to do with it >>

The sound card has nothing to do with it, unless the drivers for the sound card are screwed up and they are what's making the noises. Whether you are using your digital output or not should not be an issue - the data still comes off the disc the same way.

Usually clicks and stuff like you describe are the result of either errors extracting data from the original disc or errors while reading data from the copy.

<< I hate solving an issue by adding software to the mix.. Would there be any alternative solution to, as you say, optimize DAE..? >>

The only way to optimize DAE is to use the proper software - EAC is freeware, and is very good at what it does - which is extract digital audio without errors. It's a single executable file, it doesn't change anything in your system, you really should give it a try!

 

[DN]

Well, if the problem was the extraction then why does it work PERFECTLY on MY machine..? Simply because it was my machine that did the extraction..? Uhm, there has to be more to it than that..

 

[Workin']

Well, maybe your drive has slightly better error-correction performance than the others. The error correction capabilities for the audio CD format is substantially weaker than for data discs.

You only have 2 variables - the player and the disc. So you either have to make better discs or your friends have to get better players. It's easier to make better discs. And EAC will create discs with fewer errors. Burning at a slower speed may (or may not) create fewer errors. Ripping to the HD first may create fewer errors.

 

[smp]

Man! Don't be stubborn.
Pops and clicks on burnt audio CD's are one thing.... bad DAE.
When you copy from CD to CD (you've probably got both devices on the same ATA cable, and even if you don't) you aren't even doing DAE (afaik).
Pops, clicks and hisses will happen because the audio isn't being ripped properly and it can't be ripped properly unless you use a program that uses the ASPI layer.
I use EAC and only EAC. I extract the audio to my hd and then I burn it.
The reason that you don't hear pops and clicks on your machine off of that CD is because that drive must have error correction or something.. or your skull is too thick