I like to download music and transfer it to CD-Rs via a computer CD burner on my Mac Pro-Book. I like the sound better when it plays back on my system via my 2006 era Marantz CD/SACD/DVD player. I recently have been having a hell of a time with the new RIVERSIDE album, "ID.Entity." I've purchased and downloaded it from Qobuz and a couple other sources. Multiple downloads from three different sources and most (but not all) of CDs burned from the files exhibit a ticking sound about midway through the fifth track that initially sounds like LP surface noise. It gets louder and then the CD-R starts skipping until it becomes unplayable on my mainstay Marantz as well as another CD player in the house. I've downloaded it 24 and 16 bit as AIFF, WAV and FLAC (converted to WAV). I tried with a brand new CD burner today - same problem. Bit rate is 1.411, sample size is 16 bit and sample rate is 44,100 kHz. This is driving me nuts. I love the album but I havent been able to listen to it all the way through. Any ideas? Thank you.
Is it new? It’s very possible the download sites were provided a defective file from the label. It doesn’t seem like it should happen but it wouldn’t be the first time. I’d reach out to Qobuz support, describe the problem, and ask them if they are aware of any issues.
No. I can stream it fine from Qobuz or play the files on iMusic. It's the copied download that plays funky.
Must be close to 80 minutes, right, and you haven't had any problems burning that length before? Could be table of contents is getting corrupted. You could try only burning 9 songs.
I agree with @Davey try burning fewer songs perhaps try just burning the first 5 tracks since track 5 is giving you problems.
I wonder if it might be a burning software setting? Doublecheck your EAC / Error Correction settings, and also if it has a setting for "Read samples offset correction value" for your specific burner (it usually auto-selects). [macOS: I usually use XLD and/or Toast for most simple CD Rips/Burns]
If "not all" of the burned CDs are problematic, then what exactly is the problem? Is there a good burn at all? I'm reading this as some of the D/Ls also have the Track 5 issue. In any case, I would suspect something in the source data isn't cooperating with your MBP.
There's many things that could cause this, almost too many to list. MacBook Pro? As in an underpowered laptop of some generation? Laptops will want to reduce their power usage when left alone, especially on battery, turning off the screen, suspending the hard drive. Any kind of performance issues and you may be getting buffer under-runs, something that for most computers is an issue 25 years gone. Drives will often have an optimal speed to burn at, and no, it isn't the slowest in most cases. I would choose a middle of the road speed such as 24X to balance system data demands with the optimization of the laser for high speeds. Are these erasable discs? Fully erased them? Not only do some players have problems with CD-RW media, as well as certain dyes on normal discs, discs can just go bad prematurely and not burn successfully, especially if scratched from handling. I won't go as far as suggesting that audio files have been altered to aggravate burners by causing "weak sectors", a copy protection mechanism forcing a DC offset in the underlying CIRC algorithm of poor burners that can be exploited. Try out other previous discs with the same media on your player again, fast forward to that time area of the disc. You may just have a player on the way out. Play the flaky audio disc on your computer's CD player.
What happens if you load the CD-R and skip to track 6, 7, 8 or 9? Do they play or do they crackle or refuse to play? When you say that you've listened to the downloaded files, did you listen to the converted .WAV file for track 5? Have you played other CD-Rs on your CD player without issue? Ticking sounds during playback could be the player itself. Have you tried playing the CD-r in the PC you burned it on to see if it exhibits the same problem? Have you tried ripping track 5 from the CD-R to see if the ripper program detects a problem? Have you tried burning the tracks out of order? Put Track 5 first and see if it plays in that location.
Not sure if you've solved the issue yet. I saw where you tried converting the FLAC files to WAV and that didn't work. I would try converting all of the file formats that you bought to 16/44.1 WAV and see if one of those works. Even try converting the 16/44.1 WAV to 16/44.1 WAV. Could also be a bad batch of CD-Rs (which I doubt). Or an issue with the original downloaded files that gets amplified in the burning to CD-R process.
I just saw that track 5 is 13+ minutes. If it was me, I would focus on track 5. You can try opening it up in Audacity and resaving it to a new file. This is turning into a lot of work.
I would start by checking the problem areas in a digital audio editor. Sound Studio by Felt Tip or ocenaudio are good options for this software on Mac. What Mac OS version? What burning software and version? Could try burning with the free open-source Burn app for Mac: Burn - Home
So... why not buying the originals? Computer_/ CD burners are not good. I never made a GOOD COPY, simply becsuse it's impossibile. They Re Too Cheap, and Good Tecnology has its costs. For me... a new world was opened for me, after my Tascam SS-CDR250N purchase. Don't believe it? Well... then TRY it... My new toy: Tascam SS-CDR250N .. .. .. owners, here?
This is too general of a statement. I have made hundreds of perfect CD-Rs using my PC burner and the EZ CD Creator program.
Same here. I've blind tested originals vs CD-Rs burned on my computer and have never heard a difference.
Burned CDs are cheaper and provide immediate gratification. If I wanted the new Riverside on CD I’d have to send to Poland for it. I’ve already done so for the vinyl LP which is my habit if I like the download enough. In the meantime I’m still trying to solve this mystery. So many suggestions, thank you! It's hard to know where to begin. The CD-Rs play badly in two different machines.
Have you tried burning just the fifth track? Or everything except the fifth track? Just as a way of isolating the issue... I might try bringing all the tracks into a DAW (Reaper is great and has a free version) and burning as one long track and seeing how that plays.
I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that the language difference is giving this a more serious tone than you mean... I have been burning CDs since 1995 and I can assure you that they burn very nicely in every one of the PCs I've owned since then. I believe that EZ CD Creator is the best tool to extract the auidio and it does make for error-free burns.
When I first bought a computer it was mainly for the ability to burn CD's off Napster. It was a long time ago but I want to rip and burn physical CD's again. I've seen many software recommendations here but these are my chief considerations. 1. I value sound quality. 2. I value simplicity. 3. Speed of burn rate isn't a concern. So based on that, which of the following might best suit me? Exact Audio Copy EZ CD Creator J. River DB Poweramp Windows Media Player Nero
