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iTunes Ripping - Strange Digital Artifacts

I've tried a few variations on archive searches and wasn't able to find an answer to this: In ripping some of my CD's into iTunes (either Apple Lossless or WAV) I've been getting some very odd, brief digital artifacts at the end of each songs on a CD. This sounds like two or three seconds of an audio tape on fast forward. It only seems to happen on new releases (I cannot think of any older CD's it's occurred on). I just got a copy of Mary Gauthier's new album (great CD by the way) and it happened on that one. I tried ripping it multiple times in Apple Lossless, and WAV (always in iTunes) and each and every time it created files where this strange artifact existed at the end of every song. I play the CD I ripped the files from and the artifact is not there. Is this some kind of anti-piracy technology...or do I simply have some setting off in my itunes preferences (Error-Correction is on, WAV or Apple Lossless is always set to Automatic, have experimented with importing to startup disk and external disk-same results). The artifacts seem to always sound the same too...they never vary, except that they sound different from song-to-song, but the same if say, the first cut is played over again.

Anyone have any clues what this might be?

Marco
jax2

Showing 4 responses by nycjdc

nycjdc
10 posts
 
Just checked my one-week old MacBook w/ Leopard...at the end of a large # of tracks I have a disturbing artifact, too. In fact, it is is very electronic sound, a few little beeps, moving from channel to channel.

No idea what it is.

how do i get rid of it? Fortunately, I've only ripped a dozen discs in apple lossless format to an eternal firewire drive. No other activity on the computer. Dedicated system just for music storage.
nycjdc
10 posts
 
Update...The electronic beeps, starting right channel and moving to left channel, don't exist on my IBM Thinkpad in apple lossless format, but they do on my Macbook.

I just ripped a four tracks that had the electronic beeps on my Macbook on my Thinkpad and on the Windows XP machine, the beeps aren't there.
nycjdc
10 posts
 
I'm using iTunes and ripping in Apple Lossless mode with error correction.

I used the same setting on my Macbook as I did on my Thinkpad. The only difference (other than OS) is that I ripped to my internal drive on the Thinkpad, while on the Macbook I ripped to my eternal/external firewire drive ;*|

marco, were you able to make it to the genius bar?
nycjdc
10 posts
 
I turned off error correction and the little beeps remain. So I turned it back on and re-ripped the discs. Interestingly, and somewhat disconcertingly, the little beeps have moved tracks. Don't have any idea what it is...and odd it doesn't happen on a PC (Thinkpad).
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