Do CD-R's sound the same as originals

What we are talking about here is the entrenched analogs against the open minded digtals. Every point made by those saying there is a difference relates to the older technology analog systems. The fact is, a numerical copy is a numerical copy, and it doesn't matter that the CD is burned or stamped, gold or silver, or if the lens is plastic or glass. We are not talking about cartridges, after all, or frequency response of a tape deck. This is digital, which is a simple sysytem of transcribing numbers from one file to another. There is no system interaction, no cabling, no impedence, or any other crap which encumbered our efforts for years in the analog domain. If you don't like digital, you won't like CDR. If you accept digital technology, and I mean the very basic concept of it, then you will recognize that it is possible to make indistinguishable copies. That's not to say perfect, but indistinguishable. If you can hear a difference between an original CD and a copy made in the proper manner, then you are exercising an active imagination. It is not a matter of better hearing or a better system, but your own mental image of what is actually being reproduced. We accept that.

That's your opinion, and it most certainly isn't fact. CD-R's aren't simple numerical copies at all. You need to brush up on the basics of digital audio, and pulse code modulation. And THAT is fact, and we ALL recognize THAT. I am neither closed minded, nor do I "not like" digital. I am simply telling it like I hear it. If you don't hear it that way, please do not tell me what I hear, or don't hear. That is the epitamy of arrogance, insolence, closed-mindedness, and shows a lack of any civility. I AM NOT TELLING YOU WHAT YOU ARE HEARING, so kindly refrain from telling me what I hear. I have an imagination, but I can also hear at least as well as the best human ears in the world can.

Madisonears to say that it doesn't matter if it's burned, stamped, gold or silver implies to me that you have either never tried to resolve the diffrences or don't have a resolving system. I have tried all sorts of angles and they all make diffrent sounding CDR recordings, especially CDR brands. The digital cable, the source player, even the shelf material that the CDR recorder is placed on contributes to the sound of a CDR. I bet a lot of guys who say that a copy is a copy period are just echoing what they read or heard someone else say, not from actually comparing the copy to the original on their own systems. To me music and science are two different things.

Ryan, thanks for shedding some more light on this! I am still comparing that CD-R you lent me, besides making lots of my own.

Carl, thanks for the charming compliments. Hearing as well as a dog must truly be a curse. Barking like one, even more so. I guess there are differences to those who can hear them. To others, probably most humans, there are not significant enough differences to bother with. Those who obsess over the tiniest of variations after extensive and excruciatingly close observation are neurotics who cannot grasp the importance of music over mechanics. Sometimes I want to just chuck the whole business and buy an AIWA rack system at Sears so I can just listen to the music.