The CD copy is more musical, in particular, the high frequencies ring with trueness that I used to experience only from records and live performances. The air and the image stability are much better, and instruments and vocals sound more dynamic and true-to-life. And most importantly to me, the sense of timing and “foot-tappity-ness” of live music was there.

I have found that plugging in a USB mouse and moving it around while the disc is being written with a USB CD writer makes the sound “edgier” and gives an unnatural hardness and grain to cymbals.

I put the CD writer on four small Isodiscs and damp it with another four large Isodiscs on top. To ensure a stable power supply, I plugged all the computer equipment into a PSAudio Power Plant5 to ensure that power fluctuations will not affect the writing process.

muhahaha  lol i laughed my ass off when read that thing with the USB mouse. 

And most importantly to me, the sense of timing and “foot-tappity-ness” of live music was there.
:x

"Foot-tappity-ness". That's a new one.

Edit -- I wonder about the USB mouse thing tho.  I used to have a USB NIC, and would get a crackling sound whenever a sound file was playing and the NIC was transferring data at the same time.

makes the sound “edgier” and gives an unnatural hardness and grain to cymbals.

Black CDs, however, were supposed to have better reflectance than gold or standard CDs. The Black CD also has better absorption of the laser beam. As the laser has to burn pits in order to write data, the better absorption enables it to burn a more consistent pit.

In general, the best CD writers for this would be ones with the most
powerful laser to ensure that the burns are consistent and deep (pits and
lands are sufficiently differentiated). Usually the fastest writer has the
strongest laser.

Of all the brands I?ve found, I like the ?Platinum Black? but Arnie
preferred the ?Memorex? as being more musical than the Platinum,
but a touch less dynamic. (The advantage of the Memorex is that it is
one of the few available in the U.S.)

I must have driven my wife mad playing the same piece of music over and over again for almost two months, and insisting that she help me distinguish between the various copies!

Quote

Black CDs, however, were supposed to have better reflectance than gold or standard CDs. The Black CD also has better absorption of the laser beam. As the laser has to burn pits in order to write data, the better absorption enables it to burn a more consistent pit.

Quote

In general, the best CD writers for this would be ones with the most
powerful laser to ensure that the burns are consistent and deep (pits and
lands are sufficiently differentiated). Usually the fastest writer has the
strongest laser.

Quote

Of all the brands I?ve found, I like the ?Platinum Black? but Arnie
preferred the ?Memorex? as being more musical than the Platinum,
but a touch less dynamic. (The advantage of the Memorex is that it is
one of the few available in the U.S.)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!11111111

lmfao

"What are you doing ?
(shaking the mouse like a madman) -I'm burning a CD !
-By hand ?"...

"I assumed smoke was natural when burning a CD."

theres no way cd color may change quality or stuff

I think there's a huge disconnect between logical, rational types, and emotional-intuitive types.  Sometimes I wonder if this gap can be bridged, or if each side will keep on wondering what the hell's wrong with the other...

It's all your fault Xenno. 

Quote

It's all your fault Xenno.  

So people actually believed what Xenno posted?

I've ABX'd the following disk colors against the plain silvered variety by recording identical tracks on each.

This is what I found....

Black disks: More soulful (good for R&B)
Red disks: More anger, energy, frenzied (acid & hard rock, punk, heavy metal)
Blue disks: More meditative, transient, mellow (trance, electronic, ambient)
Green disks: More commercial w/ repetitive beats (pop)
Yellow disks: More earthy, minimalistic, muted percussion (folk, bluegrass)
Purple disks: Had a hard time with this one - had the same qualities as the Blue & Red...only merged! No matter what was recorded on it I would fall to sleep and wake up dancing! (avoid this color at all costs!)