I just got seriously pissed with the recording industry this week! 
I’m talking about copy protection of audio CD’s done in a totally unacceptable way.
One of the most used schemes right now is CactusDataShield 200 and boy was I in for an distasteful surprise, when I saw what they have done to my music! These are tests of the level of errors that the new Massive Attack: 100th Window and Radiohead: Hail to the thief (test done with the brand new Plextor Premium):
http://www.lestoffer.dk/Massive.gif
http://www.lestoffer.dk/radiohead.gif
Yikes!
The C1 errors are on every cd (pressed or burned) but usually at a much lower number (e.g. 2000 to 5000 is good). While these errors will be corrected without a problem in a error-circuit, too many of them can cause problems. Note the massive amount on both cd's!
The C2 errors should not be present on a new pressed cd (and even an only decent burned cd-r shouldn’t introduce them). These should usually be corrected without problem, but again too many of them will cause problems.
The CU errors are uncorrectable errors. These are deemed as destroyed samples that the circuit cannot reconstruct and interpolation is thus done. Interpolation can be done on audio but sometimes ticks and clicks will be the result.
The basic truth is that these cd’s are intentionally being sold in a damaged shape. In other words: They come prebuilt with scratches, so while they might play in most audio equipment it will probably just be a matter of time before the real scratches add up and render the cd useless.
Wonderful. Just wonderful.
And here’s the real bugger: They do it for copy protection, but guess what: my Plextor Premium rips the tracks super fast without any ticks and clicks as long as I set it up to ignore the CU-errors and interpolate (like a cd player would have to do anyway). A burned copy will then give a near perfect cd with like 3000 C1 errors.
I’m talking about copy protection of audio CD’s done in a totally unacceptable way.
One of the most used schemes right now is CactusDataShield 200 and boy was I in for an distasteful surprise, when I saw what they have done to my music! These are tests of the level of errors that the new Massive Attack: 100th Window and Radiohead: Hail to the thief (test done with the brand new Plextor Premium):
http://www.lestoffer.dk/Massive.gif
http://www.lestoffer.dk/radiohead.gif
Yikes!
The C1 errors are on every cd (pressed or burned) but usually at a much lower number (e.g. 2000 to 5000 is good). While these errors will be corrected without a problem in a error-circuit, too many of them can cause problems. Note the massive amount on both cd's!
The C2 errors should not be present on a new pressed cd (and even an only decent burned cd-r shouldn’t introduce them). These should usually be corrected without problem, but again too many of them will cause problems.
The CU errors are uncorrectable errors. These are deemed as destroyed samples that the circuit cannot reconstruct and interpolation is thus done. Interpolation can be done on audio but sometimes ticks and clicks will be the result.
The basic truth is that these cd’s are intentionally being sold in a damaged shape. In other words: They come prebuilt with scratches, so while they might play in most audio equipment it will probably just be a matter of time before the real scratches add up and render the cd useless.
Wonderful. Just wonderful.
And here’s the real bugger: They do it for copy protection, but guess what: my Plextor Premium rips the tracks super fast without any ticks and clicks as long as I set it up to ignore the CU-errors and interpolate (like a cd player would have to do anyway). A burned copy will then give a near perfect cd with like 3000 C1 errors.
