Original vs Copy CD

The myth and the truth, The reason of the test

Some people argue that there are differences in sound between a genuine and a copied CD...

I say argue, because really this is just a guess for which there is no logical justification, no technical or scientific explanation...It is a theory some people support within Hi-End madness...

So, starting from this point, here in this thread we are going to see and investigate if this claim is (or is not) reasonable (or possible) to be true…

The media Used

The media was chosen for the test is the ‘Pink Floyd - The Division Bell’ red book CD, taking into consideration the existence in reference cd data base of the ripping program (for results verification), the excellent recording quality, the existence of physical damage to the disk (scratches!), large over several tracks and dynamic differences... A 'difficult' generally CD…

Technical & process

Cloning and comparison processes were done in a powerful computer running Windows 7 with the program EAC (Exact Audio Copy) and a Samsung cd rom drive, (TSSTcorp cddvdw SH-S2238b), also certified by the program… All of the original CD tracks ripped in Secure Mode with 100% success, that was verified from the program and the log filed created… Original tracks saved in a folder with extension ‘.orig’…

Then the original CD was copied two ways a) with Nero track by track recording from the original saved tracks and b) with Clone Cd using CD copy function with the use of intermediate image file… The two CD clones created from the above procedure extracted with the same program and cd rom and saved in a folder with extension ‘.copy’…When compared were found identical… So what was left to do, was to compare the original CD tracks with the tracks of one of the (identical) copies…

Comparison a’, technical

It was done a track by track comparison with the audio file comparers of three (3) individual programs; EAC, Audiograbber and Wavelab... The tracks were found not just ‘similar’ but 'identical' (wavelab)...

In addition, two (2) randomly cloned tracks, sourced from the original and the copy, were compared and analyzed with the amazing program Fourier Rocks Wav Analysis, which not only makes bit to bit comparison but also 'acoustic' analysis of the files... Again the result was the same... ‘Identical’!!!

Comparison b’, aural

Of course an (unnecessary) acoustic evaluation of two CDs, the original and the clone was made for the 100% completion of the process... I confess that when I did this I felt like chasing chimeras... It was like being in a classroom of elementary school and the teacher was asking from the kids to pull out of a basket full of numeric cards of different color and size, two same numbers which their sum would be ten (10)... One kid draws blue five, the other kid orange five... it makes ten (10)... One kid draws big yellow five, the other kid small brown five... it makes ten (10)... it makes ten (10) again... and again 10… and again 10... And here the questions begin to rise!!! Is it ever possible, when two (5) fives been added, whatever color or size they are, to give a different result than 10??? Is it ever possible, two objects that have been tested with proven computer programs and they contain exactly the same and identical numeric chains of zeros (0) and ones (1), with the same structure and the same timing, to have a different result???

Conclusion

The first part of the test completed successfully without any strange or different results than expected... Pretty much it is widely known that a red book CD can be copied 100%, i.e. to be cloned... The result is an identical copy CD with the original, without the slightest change... If this CD will placed in a CD player, simply and logically, in no way can be sounded differently...

Both CDs, the original and the cloned, exist and are available for anyone wish to ask for further acoustic comparison and verification of the results... They are also available for team evaluation with the blind test process in a meeting...

Just above is mentioned ‘the first part of the test’ because there will be a second more interesting one, that has to do with reading the CD from the CD player rather than the computer cdrom drive... There, every one of the last questions will be clarified... In this thread was estimated that no photos is necessary to be uploaded... But for technical reason we just show some photos from the comparisons... Moreover, whoever wants can get and hear, evaluate, investigate in any way the 2 CDs...

by Manos Bits