Enya Amarantine - the one CD that won't RIP!

[aolsson]

I have ripped my entire collection of CD:s to the Squeezebox (in FLAC) and all sounds great. Except one:

The album "Amarantine" by Enya sounds like crap (scratchy distorted sound) no matter which tool I try to rip it with or in which format.

As a matter of fact it sounds equally crappy when I try to listen to it on the computer itself.

Are there some CD:s that are unusable on the computer? Stuff that will not RIP no matter how you try? And in that case - are there markings on the record or print matter so you can avoid them?

[w3wilkes]

I have a CD that refuses to rip on my laptop regardless of the ripping software. Using the same software on my desktop with older Pioneer DVR-106D drive it rips fine. Flim and the BB's - Tricycle. Gives a error something like "read command not found" on the laptop, drive is a Optiarc BD ROM BC-5500S

[steve-g]

You're lucky I had 4 CDs like that - I put it down to less than perfect copies that have degraded faster than average.

They appear to play OK on a CD player but sound crap and refuse to RIP correctly (or take ages) on the computer.

CD players have extra circuitry (software?) that interpolates (guesses) what the values should be for any bits that it can't read correctly from the CD - this is not the case on the computer.

It doesn't mean that these CDs sound right on a CD player though - I'm sure that a good copy would sound sonically superior.

[aolsson]

Could the "less than perfect" binary quality be some intended copy-protection? If regular audio CD players are good at guessing whilst computer dittos never guess it would sort of work if the purpose is to prevent computers to process the CD:s won't it?

The issue I would have with the disk manufacturer though if above is the case is that they should have written something about it on the disk case.

[aolsson]

Update: I used an old laptop to rip the cd and that worked! Peculiar could be a flaw on the record that the old slower player could compensate for.

[Percival Sweetwater]

Could the "less than perfect" binary quality be some intended copy-protection? If regular audio CD players are good at guessing whilst computer dittos never guess it would sort of work if the purpose is to prevent computers to process the CD:s won't it?

The issue I would have with the disk manufacturer though if above is the case is that they should have written something about it on the disk case.

Funny, I have ripped "A Memory of Trees" by Enya, and it sounds scratchy and distorted just like you say. Could be copy protection she uses. I'll have to try it on another CD drive.

[w3wilkes]

I highly doubt that the Flim and the bb's TriCycle album wouldn't rip because of some kind of copy protection. It was the first non-classical album to be released on CD and is one of the first DDD (all digital) recordings.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flim_%26_the_BB's
It was one of the first CD's I got. Christmas 1983 I got this album, Dark Side of the Moon and my first CD player - a Yamaha cd-300 I think, ancient!

[RonM]

I highly doubt that the Flim and the bb's TriCycle album wouldn't rip because of some kind of copy protection. It was the first non-classical album to be released on CD and is one of the first DDD (all digital) recordings.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flim_%26_the_BB's
It was one of the first CD's I got. Christmas 1983 I got this album, Dark Side of the Moon and my first CD player - a Yamaha cd-300 I think, ancient!

Not sure about the detail on who was first. TriCycle was recorded digitally in 1978 and then pressed to vinyl. Ry Cooder's Bop Till You Drop was recorded digitally and released as a CD in 1979, and is generally credited as the first popular CD release. But there is some ambiguity in the sequence as reported in the ultra reliable source, Wikipedia (note sarcasm); the following is from the "Digital Recording" article:

--------------------------
- In 1978, Sound 80 Records of Minneapolis records "Flim and the BB's" (S80-DLR-102) directly to digital before pressing the vinyl LP. The mastering engineer is Bob Berglund. The recording system is a 3M Digital Audio Mastering System.
- In 1979, the first digital Compact Disc prototype was created as a compromise between sound quality and size of the medium.
- In 1979, the first digitally recorded album of popular music Bop 'Til You Drop by guitarist Ry Cooder is released by Warner Bros. Records. The album was recorded in Los Angeles on a 32-track digital machine built by the 3M corporation.
--------------------------

That's actually one of my favorite Cooder recordings, although he has since said he hates the sound of it.

R.

[w3wilkes]

I agree on the Ry Cooder - Bop 'Til You Drop. I have it and think it's very good also!

And yes, I saw that you'd used the "sarcasm" font on the Wiki reference.

[garym]

I agree on the Ry Cooder - Bop 'Til You Drop. I have it and think it's very good also!

And yes, I saw that you'd used the "sarcasm" font on the Wiki reference.

yep, I always thought that Bop Til you drop was the first DDD recording. (I own it and probably most if not all Ry cooder albums)