Do CD-R's sound the same as originals

My experience has been much different than Mfgreps above post. When a good source component, good CD, good blanks, and good recorder are used at 1X speed, I've made many excellent CD-Rs using Pioneer W-739 and 509 recorders at 1X speed. I would expect that CD-R recordings made on cheap, high speed computer "burners" would not be as good. I've never heard MP3, and have no interest in it. Cheers. Craig.

I wasn't referring to anything other than 1x speed, nor was I referring to MP3. Only a fool would even waste time burning a CD-R at over 1X speed, IMO...........................Joe: You know what? I don't feel like explaining why. If you make lots of copies, and hear no difference, that's fine with me. Be happy, go forth and populate the earth with perfect CD-R's. I never said there was a big difference, just that they don't sound exactly alike to me. I have a few things I am trying that might futher lessen the difference, but I have too many cables and speakers that I am reviewing to waste time wondering why a copy wouldn't be EXACTLY the same as the original. PERHAPS YOU CAN TELL ME WHY A COPY IS IN EVERY WAY, EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE ORIGINAL? (since you want to discuss it).

I have had the experience that they often sound better with my methods and equiptment used. I think that the blanks themselves make a big diffrence, I have only found one brand, TDK that has produced noticably better sound. It seems to make a bigger diffrence with some CDs as well. With a few of my recordings the diffrence was huge as to how much better the recorded version sounded. There has been a lot of mixed opinions and a lot of other threads on this site in regards to this, but for me personally I would prefer the sound of the CDR to the original most of the time.

Wow EJlif....I must try new methods. The CDR's that I have heard sound as if a curtain was hung in front of the music...with poor bass extension and lack of details. I thought them comparable to tape (without the noise problems associated with tape) I too have heard that certain brand discs make a HUGE difference with regard to using them for audio recording. My brother told me which to buy...and I cannot remember. I can inquire if anyone is interested. Interestingly...my new CD player will play CDR's (Levinson no.39), however, my old Muse model 8/296 combo (CD, DVD, 24/96 player) wouldn't read them!! Kevin Halverson at Muse also informed me of some inherent problems with the format from a technical perspective. Problems included degradation of sound and interestingly....he told me that the CDR's cannot be in the heat for long periods (ie: in a hot car). He told me that the CDR's can lose digital information or even blank out in the high heat of a closed auto.

For years I made CDR backups and copies, and didn't really notice anything different. Now that I have a more revealing system (having been shown the error of my lo-fi ways), the difference is quite aparent. While I'm not going to argue with anyone about "how" they sound different, I WILL say that CDR degradation is a fact, and I have witnessed it with some particular brands more than others. It starts with a pop here and there and gets progressively worse until most cd players won't play it. Not only is this a problem for music, but I've also lost data discs to the same fate. (Over an elapsed time of approx. 5 months) Granted, there could have been something terribly wrong with that set of CDRs, but... And lastly, copying a CD to hard disk, I can't help but notice the pops and clicks that are present even before it's burned to the CDR. (Using headphones and classical) Perhaps it's a problem within MY system. This makes me think that maybe some of the problem of CDRs lays not only in the medium itself, but also in the path which the data takes to that destination. While I haven't tried every method of improving the sound here, I have been writing at 1X, reading from source at 1X, copying disk images to HD 1st, etc. Sound still isn't up to snuff. Happy Listening