Sync Errors on final tracks in EAC

Looking for help from any Exact Audio Copy experts!

I've got EAC configured to rip CD's using Secure Mode with all settings correctly specified for the model of my optical drive. Track quality is normally 100%, but occasionally dips to the high 90's though never below 97%. There are no noticeable artifacts in the tracks I've listened to, although I've observed that with many CD's there is a "Sync Error" which occurs at the end of ripping the final track; this in turn causes the error correction meter to go crazy.

I'd say about half of the CD's I've ripped using Secure Mode EAC have experienced a Sync Error at the end, but never during any other part of the ripping process. I've listened to the rips of the final track from these discs and there doesn't seem to be any auditory glitches.

Just curious if this is a problem, and if so, is there a workaround? I suspect this may have been discussed at the forums before but I can't bring anything up on search.

FWIW the drive is a newer Samsung DVD-R/RW DL external USB drive that EAC reports is capable of retrieving C2 information.

Any guidance is appreciated.

 

You shouldn’t have consistent errors at the end of your CD’s across a lot of discs. If so, I would suspect that this has been caused by bad handling of the discs by something like a multi-disc changer, a car CD player or some type of storage device.

No easy way around it though. Clean the discs first. Try ripping on another drive to see if it handles the errors better. If you can’t hear any problems at these bad locations on normal playback, you could try ripping in burst mode.

 

Thanks Scott, I'll give what you suggest a try.

 

Good advice.

I've been ripping my entire CD/CD-R collection, and I've had this problem as well - but primarily on burned media that's more than several years old. Always the last track or so.

If I have to, I'll switch to burst mode, and then listen carefully to the ripped file for sonic artifacts....sometimes there is, but often there isn't. That's much preferable to watching the drive pound away at the same track for an hour or so, and probably healthier for the drive as well.

 

The strange thing is, the drive doesn't pound away on the final track despite EAC warning that a sync error has occurred. It reads the track at what seems to be the average secure mode extraction speed of 6-8x, then uses C2 information to compensate. It's when the C2 kicks in that the data correction meter goes crazy, but it is after the drive has already finished reading the disc.

 

Uh, no...this happens with brand new discs that have never seen a CD player. It's happened in three disc drives. EAC almost consistently reports errors on the last track on my commercial CDs.

 

Do you have overread into lead-in/lead-out checked? If so, uncheck it and see if that helps.

 

From the Wiki on Slimdevices.com:

NOTE: if you experience trouble with errors on every track, you may want to experiment with the "Fill up offset missing samples with silence" setting.

http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.php/EACInstall

 

I have used EAC for many years but only recently concentrated on getting all of the drive settings correct for both of my Sony internal drives.

The newer drive rips more consistently at 100% quality than the older drive. However, I've also noticed that when I get an occasional near-end-of-CD below 100% track rip, I am fortunate enough to be able to pop the CD into the older drive and will often get 100% on the tracks that got the slight errors. Neither drive consistently rips entire CDs at 100%.

Here's what I believe is going on: Any errors in ripping that are due to slight speed variations in the ripping drive get magnified as one rips tracks closer to the outside (simple geometry, C = 2 * pi * r).. I believe that explains a lot of the "below 100%" rips that are experienced near the end of CDs. I'm not certain why my other drive generally rips those tracks at 100% - just lucky I guess.

 

What you've said here is interesting Grant. This would suggest that the issue isn't with my drive or with EAC, but more due to the fact that I have many CD's in my collection that haven't yet been "broken in."

I didn't realize a CD took on new properties after being played numerous times.

I'll also double-check to ensure that I don't have the over-read into lead-in/lead-out option checked.

 

This is indeed most likely the culprit. I had the exact same issue until I negated the overread function (though I left my drive's correct read/write offsets the same). Hopefully, it won't result in any "offset data" being lost. I haven't done any generational read/write bit comparisons since I nixed it.

 

I recently had this problem ONLY with all the discs in the last Robyn Hitchcock box set. Every single one of those discs had sync errors. They were brand new, right out of the box. I just ripped one of the new Dylan remasters that I bought yesterday, and it ripped fine.

I'll try lead-in/lead-out and see what happens.

 

I'll just add that this was only applicable when the sync error was at the *very end* of the *last* track.

 

I'm not Grant's press secretary but I assume he meant that those errors can EVEN occur with brand-new CDs, i.e. those sync errors don't always stem from the bad shape of the CD.

Happened to me too by the way. I've had EAC report errors on brand new CDs a couple of times also.

 

Thanks for clearing that up Vader. I suspect it's the lead-in/out overread setting as everyone here suggests. I'll uncheck the box and try out some rips as soon as I get the chance.

 

How can a cd be out of sync?

 

The CD isn't out-of-sync, per se. Rather, it's a term that relates to the read function (i.e. the ripping) of a disc. In a secure rip, it occurs because it wasn't able to read the data exactly the same way...twice.

In the original poster's case, his problem *may* be occurring because his drive possibly doesn't support overreading into the lead-in/lead-out area. This was my culprit indeed. I was always getting suspicious positions right at the end of the last track.

 

Thanks fellas, that's exactly what it was. I unchecked the "overread into lead in/lead out" checkbox and the sync errors went away.