Hi all

I am going through the tedious but rewarding process of putting my entire CD collection into mp3 format. I have run into quite a hitch though that I don't recall happening in the past, but I probably just never noticed if it did. CDs, even with the slightest of scratches, produces pops and skips when extracted.

I have tried EAC with every option I can think of. No dice. I have tried AudioCatalyst to rip to WAV. Same thing. I tried CDex and it produced much better results in the default setting, but pops still appeared. Hell, I've tried RE BURNING all the CDs, successful burns without the recorder reporting an error, and even those produce the skips when ripped. I even tried buying another CD drive. No luck. Here's the kicker: When being played from the CD that produces skips and pops on my home stereo system or car stereo, these pops and skips are non existant.

Not that it matters, but my system is a p4 2.4c with a Sony DVD-R drive and Samsung DVD-ROM. Both drives produce the same results. These CDs are so lightly and barely scratched that they don't even hiccup in my less than expensive home stereo system, my car stereo system, and my 10 dollar Discman. If anyone can shoot me any pointers I'd really appreciate it. I am ripping my hair out here.

Have you tried ripping the CD with EAC (both Secure and Burst mode)?

From my 1st post:

I have tried EAC with every option I can think of.

Basic Question: In EAC Secure mode, how much error correction takes place (based on the error correction bars)?

Hold the CD up to a light and look through it. Do you see any light holes?? If you do than the actual data has been scratched off from the TOP of the CD. When this happens there is nothing you can do about the symptoms you mentioned. If this isn't the problem I would suggest trying another CD drive.

Did you try Skip Doctor ? You can find it around $20. There's also a motorized and Pro-motorized version which are slightly more expensive. You might also want to check this and this thread.

Not much. The resulting status says the CD was ripped without errors and of course I hear pops.



I don't see any holes (I know what they are) and like I said in my first post, I already tried another CD drive.

I also did use the skip doctor, but I don't see why that should matter. My CD's play fine in my CD player, and ripped they produce pops.

That matters because that means either Skip Doctor did not remove the scratches because your CD has more serious problems (like oxidization of reflective layer or a dent) or your CD has copy protection (check the album cover, it might indeed be the case). If none of the above your computer probably has a flaw with drive access, it might be a BIOS problem or IRQ clash...

None of the CD's have copy protection. I am 100% sure of it. Also, the CD's do not have any serious problems, as stated in my topic title. If they did, my car, Discman, and home audio player wouldn't play them flawlessly.

Ok, as I said it might be a drive access problem. But can you explain what happens when you try with Burst mode of EAC? Use Burst mode with slow read speed (like 4x) for the track you're having problems with then run Deglitch utility. That's what I do with my CDs. It should work fine if your rips are not full of pops. You need to rip it to WAV file and then use Deglitch and then encode into MP3 or whatever format you're using...

This sort of thing has happened to me once. I was ripping a brand new CD and EAC's error-correction started going on the third last song (and countinued on the last two tracks when I tried skipping ahead). It took was taking so long to finish the first track that I gave up, and to this day I have no idea why it didn't work. There were no visible problems with the CD and all the other tracks ripped at nearly 20x (in secure mode).

You've already replaced your drive, and I very much doubt it's a HD problem. Rip them in a friend's computer. If they're OK, consider replacing your memory, then your MOBO, then your computer. If they still pop on your friend's machine, the universal laws of physics have likely been altered...

When I use burst mode it just copies everything to the hard drive as it normally does, but like everything else produces pops.

I will try 4x and that Deglitch program and see what happens.

Unless there is a very rare problem that we haven't yet foreseen.

Some CDs are just poorly manufactured. I had a Pat Metheny CD (The Road To You) which played fine on any CD-A player, but I had the hardest time extracting with EAC on several CD-ROMs. The last few tracks grinded away for what seemed like hours before I gave up. It was the only CD I had that behaved that way, despite a completely flawless surface. I even exchanged the CD, and the replacement behaved the same way.

I eventually got an LG burner - it's "superior" DAE capabilities "mostly" solved the problem.

I think the problem you're having right now is a different beast, though...

Oh and also what ASPI layer are you using? Built-in Windows ASPI layer is known to be buggy and is not recommended. Replace it with Nero ASPI layer which you can download for free. You just need to copy the WNASPI32.DLL to the folder EAC sits in and then change the ASPI layer to external in EAC config... Restart your computer and give it a try...

I just downloaded that to my EAC folder but how do I get EAC to use it?

EAC-> EAC Options -> Interfaces -> "Installed external ASPI interface".

Normally that item is ghost and not selectable. You might need to restart EAC after you copy the file into EAC's folder.

Your link isn't working. I was going to ask you where I could download wnaspi32.dll, but I noticed while I was in the process of quoting you that the link is there.

Edit: ahh I think you edited your post while I was writing this last reply . . . . wow this thread is moving fast.

It wasn't greyed out before so I am hoping it's not still using the old one installed on my system?

Which option was selected before? If you select "Installed external ASPI interface" it should be using the new layer. Restart EAC (I'd have restarted the computer). Then when EAC starts, if the drives are recognized the layer should be working properly. That eliminates hte ASPI layer possibility. Then try at secure mode, if same problem occurs do burst at 4x and deglitch (it's probably a hardware problem then). Is there any CDs you have that rips in Secure mode fine? That would probably eliminate the hardware problem possibility. If none of your CDs could be ripped in secure mode, you almost surely have a hardware problem (considering you have two drives it's a mobo or a memory problem).

OK, this is the weirdest thing on the face of the earth, but at least I think it is an answer.

I ripped the CD with EAC the way you said. Same damn pops in the same damn spots. However, I replayed the pops about 10 times, and approximately every 10th time, the pop would go away. That, of course, makes no sense. So I burned it to a CD and played it, NO POP!?

It appears, SOME FREAKIN' HOW, my sound card is producing these CD sounding pops in the wavs, IN THE EXACT SAME SPOT EVERY TIME, but it isn't actually in the wav. How the hell the sound card can make the pop appear the exact same spot every time is BEYOND me. WOW is all I can say. Not only that, but it only happens with certain songs/CD's!

And someone told me the AC97 sound from Abit's IS7 mobo was great. HAH!

AC'97 sound sucks from any mobo, unless it is part of the SoundStorm system on the new IGP-T and SPP-T nForce2 mobos.

Didn't you also mention that CDs burned from the WAVs produced the same problem? Doesn't sound like your sound card if the WAV is in fact accurate!? Hmmm...

What I actually meant was if I copy the CD then re-rip the copied CD, the pops were still there.

This is the weirdest thing ever.

Uh...just a sec...

1. If you play back the burned CD through your sound card, do you still get the pops and skips?

2. If you listen to the burned CD on the drive's headphone output, do you still get the pops and skips?

Maybe it IS the sound card...

Edit: a bit of clarification...

Okay I'll try to make it clear (I'm pretty bad at that).
I take a CD, and rip it to WAV. Pops galore. Only seems to happen on scratched CD. Listen to the CD in a CD player, there are no pops.
Make a copy of the scratched CD so hopefully the fresh new CD-R will result in pop free extracts. No dice, the WAVs still have pops.
Burn the WAVs that have pops to a CD, listen to them on a home CD player, no pops. I then conclude my sound card must suck. Yet am still perplexed how it can produce the same exact pop in the same exact spot over and over again.

Again, listen to the burned CD on your machine using the sound card path and the direct output path. Don't extract it.

Yeah, if I listen to the CD in Windows Media Player those little pops come up.

Great - now listen to the same burned CD on the same drive but using headphones on the drive output this time...

No pops! TONS when I listen to it on the computer's output though.

Looks like your Rip->Burn process is intact, and I'd start to take a closer look at your sound card (drivers?, config?) - I assume you've tried playing the files in WinAmp or foobar2k with similar results. The important thing is that your machine for the most part is healthy and you can reliably rip and burn CDs (these processes don't use the audio card path).

Do you have access to a different sound card for further debugging your problem?

I do not have another sound card, but I plan on buying a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz tomorrow. Is that a good one?

Also, what kind of hardware problems could result in this happening?

Depends on what your requirements are (native sampling rate playback?, digital output?, etc). Try doing a bit of research right here - there were several sound card-related threads floating around recently. As for what kind of hardware problem you could be having, your guess is as good as mine at this point...

The volume setting, or bass/treble setting must be too high and produce clipping.