i have several (good sound quality) original audio cd's which most of them copy protected.

hardware: i have plextor writer (px w 4012a) and LG dvd rom player.
software: clone cd, nero, others etc...
media: blank audio CD-R (and normal data CD-R)

to have the best quality audio cd duplicate (by also avoiding copy protection):
what can you advise me to use as software (clonecd ?) and what will be the best quality settings (read-write speed - etc...) ?

as write media: i think i should be using (audio CD-r) to have a better sound quality & compatibility in cd-players, what do you think ?

will highly appreciate advises and comments

Since you have a Plextor recorder, the best way would be to use Plextools's DAE functions (includes a very good reading engine) and burn at 4X with branded media (with any utility or again with Plextools).

(in reply to balina34)

tks fr the reply John.
but what abt the copy protection, do you think i can get over with Plextools DAE functions

quote:

---

Originally posted by john

Since you have a Plextor recorder, the best way would be to use Plextools's DAE functions (includes a very good reading engine) and burn at 4X with branded media (with any utility or again with Plextools).

---

(in reply to balina34)

Yeap

(in reply to balina34)

i had some problems with plextools. i made the image but it did not overburn the image (although i checked the overburn options). i did not have any chance to try the copy protected cd's yet.

so i had to revert to our old friend clonecd. (reading and writing at 4X speed) burning to audio cd-r.

the results were not bad but i should say slightly above average - mainly as the sound lost it's brightness.

John, what do you think, exactcopy can be better than clonecd ?

any other friends that have comments-experiences ?

(in reply to balina34)

I personally think that EAC has better sound quality than CloneCD when making audio CD's. I have heard that Plex-Tools is better, however I have Yamaha Drives.

(in reply to balina34)

I've just begun using Plextools with my Plextor 8/8/24U and was wondering...

Does the software extract audio bit for bit in DAE and Copy cd? May seem like a dumb question..so call me DUMMY[:o)]

(in reply to balina34)

Actually, your PlexTools does a better copy than EAC. EAC is the next best thing if you don't have a PlexWriter.

(in reply to balina34)

Thanks MP3Mogul,,,I guess that answers my bit for bit question..Sorry to be so meticulous but does the Plextools copycd to image AND copycd "on the fly" produce the bit for bit transfer?
I have many music cdr's I've made to Mitsui discs using clonecd in 4x extraction and 4x burning. They sound fine..I wonder if I should re-do all these with Plextools for archiving..They're rare live recordings of shows...And...how does Plextools extract audio "better" than clonecd? I know clonecd is better for protected cd's but how does that technically make a difference when extracting audio? thanks for your advice.
Joelmon

(in reply to balina34)

CloneCD does not "extract" audio, it merely copies. Both PlexTools and EAC extract the audio to the wave format. However, if you are making archival backups of cd's either will do a superb job. I use EAC to extract to a wave file, and then write to a MP3 file for archival purposes. Then I never have to play the original.

(in reply to balina34)

I don't know the technical aspects of extracting vs. copying...
When I made my clonecd "copies" I first made an image to harddrive then burned to cdr..Oh well, I thought it was an extraction..
So I will make new copies of my most important cd's by EXTRACTING with Plextools, then burning with Plextools too..I'm thinking about getting an external harddrive (120GB) to permanently store my WAV files..
Does that sound like a good idea..I don't think I want to compress my music..

(in reply to balina34)