On 1/22/08 1:42 PM, "Bruce Kinch" <bckinch@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
One problem with the "bits iz bits" argument is that all sorts of
tweaks (not just better players/DACS) change (often subjectively
improving) the sound of CDs - de-gaussing, polishing, trimming, etc.
One of the nice things a good DAC can do is demonstrate how a
"bit-perfect" CD-R copy can sound better than the original CD, and that
is truly weird.
This is truly weird. I thought that Dr. Dunn's/Prism Sound AES paper on bit-identical CDs sounding different stated that the differences all disappeared when using an external DAC. It's the internal (to the CD player) DAC which he surmised gets its quartz timing futz'd by the servo arm's tracking fluctuations caused by a hard-to-read (less reflective) disc. So a slow burn on compatible media might make a better reference disc than a fast burn on compatible media (which might make for fewer errors but sound worse (on a CD player that is using its built-in DACs) and is, ironically, the better master disc!).
_andrew