PC Streamin
Fri, Nov 25 2011, 3:53PM
This may be a new thread.
My query regards the audio
quality obtained from CDs ripped into a computer via say iTunes.
The CD/DVD drives on a typical PC
or laptop appear to be of cheap construction. The disc cradle seems flimsy and
the drive is noisy relative to a good quality CD player from say Marantz or
Sony.
On this basis how good is the
sound stored in the PC for streaming to a Hi-fi installation. I am assuming the
original CD is ripped with Lossless format.
Surely, there must be some degradation
in audio quality?
Sat, Nov 26 2011, 9:30AM
#2
RE: PC Streamin
Many thanks for your comments. I take your point regarding the PC reading the ripped content as a file and corrects accordingly. I agree with you that I cannot differentiate between the original source and the music streamed from the PC.
My suspicious nature made me wonder whether I was missing something.
bhg
PS apologies for the spelling error in the subject box.
Sat, Nov 26 2011, 4:44PM
#3
RE: PC Streamin
I used to worry about audio quality deterioration and spent many an hour switching from CD to iTunes and/or Spotify (of the same disc) and the only difference my 50 year old lug-holes could detect was volume levels from one to another.
Having said that I am using mid-priced hifi equipment so maybe it has it's limitations, but hey.....I'm happy.
Sun, Nov 27 2011, 9:49AM
#4
RE: PC Streamin
As JKH has said the various stages of error correction built into a CD player (which is actually in the hardware, not software) means that your laptop drive should have no problem ripping a CD perfectly accurately. Although the level of error correction is not as great on an audio CD as on a data CD-R, it is more than sufficient to handle dust and minor surface scratches on any CD in reasonable condition.
If you're really paranoid or have a more badly damaged disk, ripping software such as Exact Audio Copy will alert you if it encounters any serious errors during ripping. But despite its name, this software does not somehow produce more exact copies than say Itunes for a disk in reasonable condition.
Ted
I rip my CDs (which I still buy, though Spotify now provides a highly addictive auditioning medium) direct to FLAC via a programme called dbPoweramp. I'm sure it's one of many on the market. Others will be far more able than I to describe the technicalities, but I assume that the computer simply 'sees' the contents of the disc as a file and whatever error correction is needed is contained within the software. Once ripped, the disc tray then becomes irrelevant, of course.
I am a recent convert to ripping/streaming and have conducted several 'blind' tests just to make sure that the zeal of the convert isn't causing me to hear things or otherwise be delusional. I have been absolutely unable to detect the slightest degradation in quality between a CD and the lossless FLAC, and in many cases there is a noticeable improvement - particularly, for some reason, on very old historical recordings, but not exclusively so.
JKH