One way: I run my CAL Icon Mk2 CD player through a TDS Harmonic Recovery System before the preamp. In burning a CD, I can choose digital direct cable connection (CD player to burner) or analogue cable connection (CD player to HRS to preamp to burner). For a CD that is not particularly well recorded or produced, the sound of the CD-R burned through the analogue stream does actually sound better when played on other (non-HRS) systems than the original. A great sounding original disc does not seem to benefit noticeably from this method. And...not that anyone asked, but, burning a CD-R from LP via my VPI turntable usually produces CD sound superior to the standard (non-audiophile) CD. Although, to be fair, my comparisons have been primarily with 1980's CDs, before the new wave of remastering that the record labels have finally admitted was needed.
Burned CDs can sound better than the original?
I recently heard a rumor that some CD burners can actually produce a CD copy that sounds slighlty better than the original. As an Electrical Enginner, I was very skeptical about this claim, so I called some of my reviewer friends, along with some other "well informed" audiophiles, to verify this crazy claim. Guess what, they all said : "With some particilar burners, the copies do sound slightly better!" I did some investigation to why, after all, how can the copy sound better than the original? So far I've heard everything from "burned CD's are easier to read", to "the jitter is reduced during the buring process". Has anyone else experienced this unbeleivable situation? I'm also interested in other possible explanations to how this slight sonic improvement could be happening.