From some of the posts that I've read Burst Mode using test and copy yields comparable results to Secure Mode, is that the general consensus?

I have a couple of CD's that were hanging up badly on some of the later tracks using Secure Mode but they seemingly ripped fine using Burst Mode. What's up w/ that?

Buffered burst mode with Test & Copy is useless if you don't take a close look at the CRC columns on the right side of the EAC main window. If CRC's matched (highest probability that extraction was OK), you will see 'OK' ... if there is a mismatch, you'll see '#' ...

..and on a scratched CD, it could take a lot of T&C attempts before CRC's match. Secure mode doesn't have that problem, and can be smarter about guessing what the damaged data is, too.

Burst mode with test and copy should not be used on badly scratches CDs. For that you will need secure mode.

It can be safely used IMO for new and unscratched CDs, but visually check the CRCs after extraction.

I use burst mode for CDs that wont rip using secure mode and windows media player for CDs that wont rip with burst mode either.

on my ipod and PC system (altec lansing 6021 speakers) I dont hear any obvious anomalies using burst mode. no clicks, pops, etc.. still I am using secure mode for CDs that will rip using that.

BTW I use Lame 3.96.1 APX and WavPak to convert to Mp3 and .WV files respectively. the ipod uses the MP3 and teh PC system uses the .wv files with foobar. So far I have ripped about 500+ CDs using EAC about 7 using burst mode and 3 using Windows Media Player.

I forgot to ask...what should i be listening for to discern any difference between burst mode and secure mode. if the bad CDs ripped well using burst mode then the good CDs should have no trouble at all. ther eis huge difference between the speed of burst mode and secure mode (8-10x vs 3.5-4x) so did i just waste a lot of time using secure mode?

I wish the new version would display "There were errors" on the log if the CRC's didn't match. It can be a pain remembering to visually check every time.

If the CRC's match, there is no difference between the quality of Burst and Secure. Andre himself once said he rips this way.

If the CRC's are "OK", THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE. It is a bit-perfect copy. Don't worry.
I would use this method everytime (I do) and only use secure on bad CDs (I do, actually)

I get ripping speeds 25-30X. That is a huge difference in time.

the idea is to replace secure mode (slower) by burst mode with test and copy (faster).

if you rip in burst mode with test and copy and CRCs match it is likely that you got yourself a "safe" rip (that would be comparable to a secure mode rip in EAC), but this is likely to work for undamaged/unscratched CDs.

i assume you are not doing test and copy with your burst mode rips so nothing can be stated about them being secure or not (remember you have to check the CRCs!!).

Different CRCs just tell you that the rip is not "secure", meaning the audio ripped is different in both attempts (test and copy). From that to an audible difference there may be a huge gap.

"Secure test & burst copy" or " Burst test & secure copy" feature would be nice I guess.

Not so much. It would be pointless to rip with a Secure Test then Burst Copy. Might as well do Burst for both since you are still left to compare CRCs. Less so a Burst Test, Secure Copy since the latter would catch errors. But so would Secure Copy (only) so you gained nothing except an extra test that Secure by itself performs during Copy.

Some errors may be undetected by secure mode but may be detected by comparing burst CRCs, and vice-versa, and it's not about additional test but about the ways both methods work.

Am I overly paranoid when I'm doing Secure mode test & copy?

Is a simple copy enough with secure mode?

Secure test & copy doesn't make much sense, what makes sense is comparing CRCs of Secure copy and Burst's test & copy.

If you get 100% track quality in secure mode(no C2), then the secureness is the same as burst mode + test & copy(CRC OK), and then there is a low chance of undetected errors. If you get under 100% in track quality in secure mode and no errors reported, then the chance of undetected errors is higher. When ripping in secure mode + test & copy, then you can catch some of the errors that sometimes slips through secure mode. But remember that you can also get two of the same wrong CRC's when ripping in secure mode + Test & copy, because of consistant errors, so CRC OK actually dosen't prove anything...

-Martin.