Do CD-R's sound the same as originals

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.

I have burned close to 100 CDR's on my Dell computer with an HP burner. I copy all files to hard drive, then burn CD at 1X. I have not been able to hear any significant degradation in sound quality. I will not say the copies sound better or maybe even as good, but they do not sound bad. I have a superbly resolving stereo worth almost $15000. There might be a slight change in some characteristics, but I have not been able to pinpoint it. I do a lot of listening through headphones, and even then, I detect very minor differences. Could just be psychological. It is certainly orders of magnitude improvement over ANY home tape system, and I've owned three different RTR's and a pretty good cassette deck. Never satisfied with any form of tape (including 7-1/2 IPS on Revox), but CDR is almost as good as original. Most people would never detect any difference. If you detect drastic degradation, you're doing something wrong or your equipment is defective.

Kocho, is the dye material used at all a significant factor (from cynine to phthalocyanine sp?, etc.). I've heard that the better CD-R's take the laser info more cleanly since it is a "physcial" process, regardless of the accuracy of the machines at hand. A hypothetical analogy would be if we had some cutting tool, but the materials we are cutting are different (the different dyes), then the resulting cuts on each piece could be different. I.e. a conventional power saw running through wood will cut much differently than if we tried to cut glass with it, even though the saw factors are all same. I don't mean to make an unscientific analogy that holds no worth to it, like the infamous "running through a forest" one and loudspeaker cables. Personnaly, I've had no problems with my CD-R's and think they sound quite fine.