CD isolation platform

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_D_S_J_R_
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Re: CD isolation platform

Unread post by _D_S_J_R_ »

Ripping CD's isn't the same as analogue transfer. Rips are bit perfect, or should be, as the digital files are taken from the disc in a different, non-streaming way and if there's a problem, it'll try again and again until it's read, or come up with an error. This is NOT the same as playing a disc, where timing matters. Hell, if bits got lost all the time, what about computer data in general? The computer doesn't know a CD has music on it. It's all digital files to be moved.

I'm not an engineer (that much should be obvious by now), but I know enough and there's loads of info out there if you need to confirm what I've typed above :)
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way...The time has gone, The song is over, Thought I'd something more to say...

bunsen burner
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Re: CD isolation platform

Unread post by bunsen burner »

It has been said that if files are ripped as described above, that the resultant sound can be "better" than the original.

Certainly, in my experience, there seems to be no loss of information.

Just for interest I use a Squeezebox touch and Berisford Bushmaster 2 DAC with a 14v PSU for my digital files replay. The computer is hard wired to the router, and the router hard wired to the Squeezebox. No wireless here. :)

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terrybooth
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Re: CD isolation platform

Unread post by terrybooth »

That's precisely my point. The CD's content is digital information. Ripping the content gives a bit perfect copy of the original, but now it's solid state and therefore free of any vibrational effects on the CD transport and reading mechanism. We're now in 'streaming' land and vibrational effects would have to be gross (i.e. strong enough to pull connections apart) to have an effect on signal transmission.

The CD specification, as far as I know, treats the information differently from computer connections. If the CD system 'detects' missing information, it interpolates (makes it up), in a computer connection it's there or it isn't. I'm not talking about binary here - it's either a 1 or a 0 - I'm talking about 'datagrams'.

Certainly at a network level, the 1s and 0s aren't simply squirted over a wire, there are assembled into 'packets' which contain chunks of the data plus information about the particular chunk and its relation to other chunks. It's these that go over the wire. Between the two ends of the transmission, there is a system which controls the flow of these packets to ensure that the information contained in the data packets is accurately reassembled at the other end. At the level of the system which is actually reading this date and converting it into information humans can understand, there are mechanisms to mitigate the impact of variation in dataflow - data buffers being a key one. So the system doesn't read data directly from the network - it needs a bit of time to complete its tasks - the transmitted data is put into a buffer (store) and the data is processed from there. Rather like the office in tray which allows someone to smooth the peaks and troughs of work (information) arriving so that they can work at a more or less steady rate, the buffer allows the processor/program to process data at it's own rate. If the buffer is not emptied fast enough or filled fast enough, the musical impact is typically silence. Because listening to music is a one way 'conversation' buffers can be set large. In the case of digital telephony, they are set small. So, in my experience, transmission failure in music results in long silences whereas with telephony you get short silences (the famous 'Norman Collier' effect).
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terrybooth
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Re: CD isolation platform

Unread post by terrybooth »

bunsen burner wrote:It has been said that if files are ripped as described above, that the resultant sound can be "better" than the original.

Certainly, in my experience, there seems to be no loss of information.

Just for interest I use a Squeezebox touch and Berisford Bushmaster 2 DAC with a 14v PSU for my digital files replay. The computer is hard wired to the router, and the router hard wired to the Squeezebox. No wireless here. :)
Actually, you will be wiring to a network switch, the routing part of a domestic ADSL set up allows data to go from the home network to the internet (which is a different network). Apologies if this is nerdy but in the development of domestic IT, common usage has diverged from what is technically correct. Virgin Media and BT both call the device they install with the ADSL line a hub: these contain a router to route data to and from Virgin Medias network and thence to and from the internet; a gigabit ethernet network switch into which you can plug network devices; and a wireless access point.
Pioneer PL71/DL103/ Phono2/HiFiPi/P90SA/TIS/CubixPro

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