Do CD-R's sound the same as originals

I have mastered over 2000 hours of live music in either the analog domain or digital. Since 1989, I have been exclusively recording digitally to DAT. Of course I would have rather used analog equipment, however, because all of my recordings are done on location I have to use the best possible portable gear, which has included very expensive mics, Neuman, B&K, Schoeps and AKG. I have also used the following DATs, Panasonic SV250 and 255, Sony D10 pro II and PCM 2600. I always use an outboard mic pre-amp, Aerco MP2, Lunatec, Byer, Schoeps ect. Also, I have used many A/D's, Sony's SBM, Apogee's AD 500 and 1000, ect. Why I am stating this is that I believe I have a good idea how the mastered DAT sounds. For archival purposes I have DAT back ups and recently CDR's. I can detect generational loss from DAT's. It comes across as a thinning of the sound, ect. On CDR, which I use a Marantz CDR 630, I haven't noticed a significant loss, at least not large enough to become dogmatic in my views. In summary, if you have the original, hey, play it and enjoy it. It should sound as good as it is. If you are making a copy for back up, well, that is why you are copying it, for back up. Buy original when possible and support the artists. However, at times a copy is all we have to listen to.

Hi there, The theory is simple - in bit-for-bit perfect copy there is no loss of information. Period. However, if there is an error during the copy process, the CDR or CDRW can still play and the error correction software in the player can mask it - hence the degradation in performance. Even a click or a skip in extreme cases - this is a due to a big error not corrected by the player. On the other hand, a copy can sound BETTER than the original. Simple explanation - the amount of jitter introduced during recording can be LESS than the amount of jitter on the original. The huge buffers in computer CDR burners can help exactly with this. They buffer the signal from the original CD, and use the computer own clock as a sync signal when writing to the copy. The clocks in computers run at 10-100 times higher rate of the synch signal of the clocks in ordinary players and DACs. Consumer players/recorders combos often don't have these big buffers, run at 10 to 50 Mhz (as opposed to up to a GHz or more in computers) and can introduce more jitter. Especially at high speeds. Hope you know how jitter translates into signal degradation during payback... To summarize: given the following: - bit-per-bit perfect copy - no errors during copying - the same or smaller amount of jitter in the copy - AND - your player can read wihout a hickup (e.g. reads 100% of all bits recorded) there is simply no way the copy can sound worse than the original. If anyone hears a degradation the reasons could be: - introduced more jitter in the copy - there are errors during the copy process or it is otherwise not bit-per-bit perfect copy - player can't read all bits properly so it has to "guess" and interpolate the signal - OR one's just hearing things... Hope this helps a bit. Please, visit http://www.digido.com/jitteressay.html for more info. I'm in no way affiliated with the folks there - I'm just an EE and signal processing major with a mid-fi system that supports the theory - in most cases there is no difference to my ears... Regards, Kocho

Well...the pro CDR guys here have given me the artillery to go back and take another look at the CDR's. I had quit altogether because of the degradation problems that I encountered. It would be fantastic if I could make copy rocordings.

I agree with KTHOMAS. I use a Sony DVP-7700 for a transport and a Monarchy A-22 for the DAC, great sound. When I record I use the same set up and record with a Pioneer PDR-509. By using a AudioQuest digital Pro coaxial cable From the digital out of the Monarchy to the digital in to the PDR-509, I get a perfect bit for bit copy of the original CD. I cannot tell the difference. If there is any degradation in sound, I do not think it is audible. Just my opinion. Mike

Thank you Kocho, I find your explanation satisfying, as opposed to other responses... Otherwise it should be impossible to reproduce computer software in CD ROMs, since even minute errors would easily render the software useless.