Ok, so Im being a bit anal, but what drives are capable of perfect backups (ie can overread into the lead in or out as needed for the offset)

I would like to the plextor premium, but of course its cost is also a premium. I have a lighton 53x32x52 but it misses a whole 6 samples (thats the really anal part - I know I cant hear it)

Perhaps you should be asking yourself why this is so important to you when it is really nothing in the larger scheme of things.

Some useful links although I can't find what I wanted to show you...
Is smaller read offset better?
offsets, caching, c1/c2, etc. obstacles

Same goes for LossLess compression but a lot of people use it anyway.

I would check out CD Freaks for a Plextor or Lite-On drive that can over-read into lead in/out & if you plan on using EAC look for a drive that doesn't cache & has a good CIRC decoder.

It's no use if you can't overwrite also. And EAC only support overwriting with some Teac drives. To know which ones, search in EAC's forum, in Andre Wiethoff's posts.

I personally dont care about overwriting, as I just want perfect rips

Select tracks with null samples at their beginnings/ends for the CD's beginning/end, then it causes no difference.

I did a test yesterday which I'm sure others have done. I recently purchased a Plexwriter Premium.

1)I set up EAC with the appropriate read offset correction (+30) and write offset (-30) as suggested here.

2)I ripped a CD (Radiohead - OK Computer) using these settings to a wav image and cue sheet. I named the files CDImage1.wav and CDImage1.cue

3)I burned a copy using EAC and this ripped image.

4)I ripped the burned CD and named the files CDImage2.wav and CDImage2.cue.

5)I used EAC WAV Compare to compare the two rips for any differences. It reported none.

I am fairly sure that the Plexwriter Premium cannot overwrite into the lead-out (those 30 samples), so do the results of my test mean that the last part of the last track from this CD is silence (null samples)? Is that why the waves were identical? Would I only ever find differences in the waves if it were a CD that had sound right to the very end of the last track?

The Premium may be able to overwrite into leadout, but since EAC only supports that function with Teac drives, the issue is moot.
You will have a very hard time finding a CD where the samples in the leadout are not silent. At least I do not know of one and haven't seen any reported here yet.

Kraftwerk - Computerwelt
Laser Dance - Future Generation
Peter Baumann - Romance 76
Alphaville - Forever Young
Alphaville - The Breathtaking Blue

In many CDs, you can get analog background noise (from a console or an amplifier), or dither noise until the very last samples, and sometimes beyond.

Three times a yes.


I agree with Pio. I can't name some specific CDs, but I know there are a lot. Most modern CDs (early 90s and later) have digital fade-outs at their ends, though.

Good alternative for an overwriting drive is a drive with write offset = 0, like LG GSA-4120B.

So, just to clarify something -- is it that the Premium cannot overwrite into the leadout or is it just that EAC does not support this feature of the Premium?

EAC only has overwriting enabled for some TEAC drives. -Martin.

I know that, but does the Premium actually support overwriting?

Sorry about that, i misunderstood your question. -I dont know if it can overwrite ? -Martin.

I don't think that it is a feature. I think that it is a hack.

What is a hack and not a feature?

Overwriting.