Problem playing burnt CDs and I'm beat

In my experience, which includes 12 years in Hi-Fi retail taking in CD players with reading errors, all your comments are spot on. Of course we could both be wrong, but all of your posts regarding ripping CDs that I have read, contain great advice coupled with sound facts.

The forum will be poorer place without your contribution, and I saw nothing controversial in your comments whatsoever.

 

I've done bit of research and it seems if I'm going to lubricate the rails lithium oil is the way to go. Whilst I have used a lens cleaner getting in there will allow me to see how sparkling the lens actually is, sounds like a fun weekend.

You people are amazing, where else would you find someone to empathise with such an obsession

 

Music isn't an obsession.

Good luck, you may get the lens cleaner still! Those rails can cause all sorts of issues, hope that is the cause of your problems.

 

In that entire response you didn't tell me why does one need this software if others don't. It should be easy to answer. Just tell me the basics. If that can't be done then there is something seriously wrong with Windows systems if additional software has to be added to the process chain just to do the basic function of burning CDR's.

TELL ME WHY I'VE NEVER HEARD OR HAVE NEEDED EAC BURNING OVER 50 CDR's!

 

That is not a fact because there is no evidence to support it's doing anything other than giving peace of mind based on fear mongering of technology. It's often the case when something doesn't work with something as basic as burning a CDR the user goes chasing ghosts.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DON'T USE EAC TO BURN CDR'S?

 

You’ve already established that you’re clueless about EAC and it’s utility in this situation. I’m just curious what you’re hoping to achieve by interrogating us with your caps-lock key activated?

 

Because with caps not locked it's clear no one still has answered my questions. The more you not answer my questions the more you are the clueless ones about the very software you mindlessly stand behind.

You're also adding another variable to this troubleshooting routine with software that the OP has proven doesn't work flawlessly ALL THE TIME!

PROOF:

 

I've suggested the EAC and dBPoweramp websites as useful resources, so you could educate yourself by following that suggestion. It is difficult to summon up the enthusiasm to help someone who is so rude and abrasive. Suggesting that we are clueless when both myself and @MrRom92 are long standing users and are both pretty knowledgeable to boot isn't really going to help anyone. However, one last attempt before I add you to my ignore list:

EAC is a CD ripping program primarily, not a burning program, though it can do this as well. If you have burned 50 CDRs that are all working, congratulations, you have no use for EAC. Don't lose any more sleep over it, have a long and productive life etc.

The original poster, however, is having problems playing CDRs, and the error detection features of EAC and other similar ripping programs may, as I have described, help him establish whether or not there are any errors on his CDRs. If the detailed log from EAC (as per my last post) reveals that the CDR is 100% error free (and if you read up on the basics of secure ripping and AccurateRip you will see that a securely ripped disc is 100% error free) then that suggests the problem lies with the CD player. I thought that was reasonably clear from my previous post.

Here, let me Google something for you:

Spoon's Audio Guide: CD Ripping

General Questions » Exact Audio Copy

 

What happens when you, Sevoflurane, don't use EAC? Can you answer that question? It shouldn't take more than a few words to describe, right?

The OP close to the beginning of this thread (evident in my PROOF quote) points to a hardware problem IF we assume EAC is doing its job. But in all computer processing supply chains that were once working fine and now all of sudden aren't, one needs to go back to the beginning, a stripped down supply chain and one by one add back to find the culprit.

Hardware issues could be sourced from a number different devices, conditions and causes. Any hardware with moving parts such as a hard drive outside of solid state HD's adds another layer of complexity and is suspect.

Can the OP burn the music files from a a solid state source device like a jump drive, SD card or SS HD? Can the OP burn a CDR using a different burner which also has moving parts? We still haven't addressed RAM as the culprit.

That's a lot of troubleshooting to sort out so why introduce another layer of complexity to the processing supply chain with the use of EAC?

 

EAC reduces complexity by eliminating CDR errors as a cause of the issue.

If I don’t use either EAC or dBPoweramp to rip CDs then I don’t know whether my rips are 100% accurate, which introduces a variable into the whole process that I don’t want.

 

Based upon this information, I would think that your burner is the most likely culprit here. FYI - Burners are known to have especially short lifespans when they start to do much burning.

 

Thank you for answering my question.

In the OP's situation EAC found no errors. It said the CDR was OK. Thus EAC can't be used to verify hardware problems.

 

Don’t recall ever saying EAC could verify hardware problems. As I have said, repeatedly, it verifies the CD.

Edit; Tbe OP didn’t post a detailed log from EAC. As I implied in a previous post, how much work / ripping EAC has to do in order to achieve a perfect rip is of relevance. Though being clueless, what do I know?

 

Yep. As I stated, the likelihood that it's the CDP at fault is extremely low in light of the fact a 2nd CDP displays the same issues on those discs. A defective batch of discs, a defective burner, or some strange reaction from Nero.

I'm unsure why the OP is resisting performing simple troubleshooting steps but all the info is right there in case he changes his mind.

 

Do both of your CD players play Red Book CDs without problems?

 

Whilst you're at it, perhaps you could lubricate this thread before it goes off the rails....

 

My first admission was that I'm pretty clueless about a lot of this so I can't even understand what I'm reluctant to do, I purchased a new DVD drive, tried different burning programmes, ordered new discs and I've been using Nero DiscSpeed to check burned discs for errors. All of these were not simple things for me to do, as I'd never had cause to before to have concerns about failed writes or replay problems.

I'm actually feeling quite proud about all the new things I've explored and followed through so I'm at a loss concerning what I'm reluctant about, my avoided option was opening my CDP unless it's come down to it's probably the culprit.

 

No, you don't want to open a CD player without good reason.

I may have misinterpreted your problem, does your CD players play Red Book (standard CDs) without any problems? If so, do they play any CD-R without audible distress?

 

I'll not say much at the moment apart from, I'm now confident my Meridian CDP is at fault and I need to open it up, off to buy some lithium oil now.

I'll give a proper report later, hopefully it'll end with

 

Do you know the difference between Burst Mode and Secure Mode? iTunes can only do Burst Mode, which means any errors on the disc are copied to the resulting rip files. A program that can use Secure Mode to catch disc errors and possibly correct them IMO is essential unless your source discs are all mint. EAC isn't the only program that has Secure Mode ripping--several have been mentioned earlier in the thread for both Mac and Windows--but it does an excellent job and it's free.

 

In my infancy I began with iTunes to rip (I didn't even know what copying a CD was called) and encountered such errors advised to try EAC and even in burst Mode I've never experienced the iTunes problem, in over 10 years.

Oh and an update first, found out my Meridian uses torx screws so until my friends is able to get round I'm stuck, although I have purchased lithium grease.

 

And you can actually see all this burst mode and secure mode ripping with your own eyes? Or do you let software tell you everything and just take it as truth? The only way to know is if you don't use this software and then all of sudden the CDR craps out and that's your evidence. That's not a scientific way of acquiring evidence BTW. It' still empirical data allowing only visual examination.

If you are so sure of your knowledge on this subject, please explain why I've never had a problem burning and playing over 50 CDR's on CD players as old as my 1992 Technics SL-PG340. They all play right now as I write this response.

And yes, that is empirical data as well. The only difference is I'm honest enough with myself to admit it. Love to discuss tin foil hat software.

But my main point that gets repeatedly overlooked going by the responses from others as yourself concerning troubleshooting hardware/software issues is I like to remove the tin foil hat software first in order to rule out any possible variables within the process chain that rely ONLY on visual inspection (software telling me a happy story) or empirical evidence that does not employ rigorous use of the scientific method.

We also don't know what Windows updates to the OP's system have been installed automatically without his knowledge. We don't know a thing about his system.

 

Did you check all devices that hand off 1's & 0's to your software/hardware driven CDR burner? For instance hard drive check.

Can you perform a Checksum on the source music data you're burning from? Start out with a known clean data source like a copied aiff/WAV file off a commercial (stamped at the factory:NO CDR's) CD that is KNOWN to play on all your CD players.

It's a garbage in/garbage out check on the source data very similar to what EAC does for CDR's.

Poster named Random suggests something similar...

 

I refer you to my original post, I have close to no knowledge. when I did my degree a laptop on my table would have been SC-FI and I've never done a course or had any training about computers. I was being serious when I said "Computing For Dummies", not that I lack intelligence, I'm just a dinosaur (with a larger brain).

 

If you actually bothered to follow some of the links I posted and educate yourself you’d see that the principles of secure ripping are rigorous, scientific and reproducible (and I am from a science background). Instead you shout “tin foil hat software” from a position of almost wilful ignorance. I can’t be bothered with engaging with you any more. I am, however, interested in whether the OP solves his problem.

Now, about that ignore option. That should enable me to follow the thread minus your contributions.