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[webbhq]

Can anyone please recommend the brand and model you would recommend for best quality sound.  I am disappointed with LG and Plexwriter I recently purchased.  Some suggest a bluray burner may rip/burn better audio CD's but not sure.

Also not to push my luck but I'm new to JRiver and when I imported all my music the albums which were a compilation of songs got separated into separate icons of the album for each cut.  How can I consolidate them back into individual albums.  Finally is JRiver the best software for creating the highest quality sound reproduction?  Better than Nero?  Thanks I appreciate your advice.

Gary

[csimon]

Also not to push my luck but I'm new to JRiver and when I imported all my music the albums which were a compilation of songs got separated into separate icons of the album for each cut.  How can I consolidate them back into individual albums. 

In the tags, make sure all tracks have got the same Album and the same Album Artist and they're in the same folder physically on disc.

See http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=87275.0 for a similar issue. 

Finally is JRiver the best software for creating the highest quality sound reproduction?  Better than Nero?

We like to think so!

[webbhq]

Thank you for that info.  Did you have an opinion about the best burner I can get or are they all commodities these days?

[csimon]

I have no opinion I'm afraid, I thought that burners would always record perfectly (at least, you put write-verify on) and I can't see how they'd affect sound quality! I can't see how one machine may burn better 1s and 0s than any other. In what way were you disappointed with the sound quality that your LG and Plexwriter burned? You might be better to ask the opinion of those who suggested that BR burners may be better for CDs.

[Frobozz]

JRiver Media Center will group all the tracks for a compilation album together if all of the files are in the same directory and if all of the tracks have the same exact album name.

Here's a wiki article that explains how compilation albums get grouped together: http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Using_Album_Artist_and_Album_Artist_(Auto)

If you need to manually force a compilation album to be grouped together you can:
select all the tracks for the album
verify that the Album tag is the same for all of the tracks
manually enter an Album Artist tag that is the same for all of the tracks
You can use a name like "Various Artists" "Multiple Artists" "Grammy Artists" or whatever suits the album
Or if it is a compilation of something like Bob Dylan covers you can set the Album Artist to "Bob Dylan" so the album will show up with the rest of your Bob Dylan albums

If the tracks for your compilation albums have gotten all spread out in different directories you can move all the tracks to the same directory using the Tools >> Library Tools >> Rename, Move & Copy dialog.
Select all of the tracks for the album
Go to Tools >> Library Tools >> Rename, Move & Copy
use the Rename, Move & Copy dialog to get the tracks for the compilation album all to the same directory

[astromo]

Thank you for that info.  Did you have an opinion about the best burner I can get or are they all commodities these days?

Take a look here for some data:
http://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthread.php?30430-CD-DVD-Drive-Accuracy-List-2013

At that site, a search will show up a list for 2012, 2011 that pops up for me. The link above says that surveys were done also done in 2010, 2009 and 2006. I'll leave it to you research through the detail. On that journey, you'll probably cross the proprietary term, "AccurateRip".

From a quick search of Interact, I found these threads from history:
Ok Which is the best way to rip Flac? Use MC15 or Exact Audio Copy? Or......
Why does MC 15 not support accuraterip???
There may be more - over to you.

So, there appears to be some disagreement about how much the hardware and software differences matter.

MC defaults to Secure Rip:
http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/CD_Settings
So, I'm guessing that the official line might be that due to the multi-read methodology used during ripping, addresses shortcomings that may be present in the optical drive. To get a better understanding, you'd need input from a source with a better understanding of MC's architecture.

Finally is JRiver the best software for creating the highest quality sound reproduction?  Better than Nero?

There are a lot of options out there, for sure. And it depends on your definition of "best". In the world of audio, there is a plethora of opinion. Ultimately, they're your ears, so let them decide.

When I was making my choice a few years ago and with all that was out there, I got to choice / research overload. I threw my hands in the air and thought, gee a bunch of audiophile nerds probably know something. I found the articles posted here to provide guidance that read reasonably to me:
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/section/ca-academy-2/
Problem was, it appeared that most of the software conversation revolved around the Apple OS. I'd decided to stick with Windows, so when I read this piece:
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/330-windows-7-audio-JRiver-media-center-14-configuration/
it cinched my view and I went for JRiver.

This follow up article is also worth a read:
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/436-jriver-media-center-17-detail/
and especially this quote in the Introduction:

A cursory look at the JRiver Interact forum shows evidence the company is very responsive to its customers and leading the way when it comes to full featured playback applications. Compare JRiver Inc.'s responsiveness to that of Microsoft (Windows Media Player) or Apple (iTunes) when a customer requests a new feature or posts a possible issue on the user forums of the respective companies. Receiving a personal response from a company representative from Microsoft or Apple would be an extremely rare occurrence. Not so with JRiver. It's very common to see forum posts from both the CEO Jim Hillegass and CTO Matt Ashland on a daily basis.

I think that there are other capable software platforms out there but what has made me very glad with the original investment, is MC's library database and functions. In terms of managing your collection, this is where you'll see the dividends paid out time and time again.

The silver lining, big bonus for me was that MC (Windows version) does video, TV and images ... recently, I've seen posts on using it for electronic comic books. So, I was able to consolidate all my electronic / digital media to 1 platform. You may be purely focused on audio, so this isn't relevant. But if you're interested, check out that capability.

[JimH]

Bad CD's are a more common problem than bad drives.  I would just buy one one and try it.  We don't see a lot of problems with bad CD drives.

Using a Blu-ray drive to burn CD's seems a little silly unless you need to burn Blu-ray discs.

I would probably buy a DVD burner though.

[kstuart]

My existing HT PC DVD drive died, and so I did some research, and ended up choosing an Asus SATA DVD burner, the one that has a lot of reviews on NewEgg.  I researched mainly with regards to ripping, not burning.  Burning quality is mostly a function of the quality of the blank disks.

So far, the Asus works very well, particularly in regards to tray action and so forth.

[Frobozz]

Awesome to have a recommendation for a drive that you can still buy.  When people ask me for a recommended ripping drive I never know what to recommend because the good drives I have personally used are out of production and out of stock.

[mwillems]

My existing HT PC DVD drive died, and so I did some research, and ended up choosing an Asus SATA DVD burner, the one that has a lot of reviews on NewEgg.  I researched mainly with regards to ripping, not burning.  Burning quality is mostly a function of the quality of the blank disks.

So far, the Asus works very well, particularly in regards to tray action and so forth.

Thanks for the rec, my current CD/DVD drive is circling the drain (lots of errors while ripping) and I was just starting to research a replacement.  That's a nice drive, and the price is right 

[Listener]

> Can anyone please recommend the brand and model you would recommend for best quality sound.

If you are using secure ripping in JRiver, you should get the same results on any drive for which JRiver reports that it read the CD with reliable results.  However, drives vary in how well they can read CDs with flaws and how fast JRiver can rip a CD.


I use and recommend the Samsung 222/223 and 243 series of CD/DVD drives.  (These are standard height drives rather than the slim height drives used in laptops.)  Here is a detailed review:

http://www.cdrlabs.com/Reviews/samsung-sh-s223q-22x-dvdrwram.html

The results that matter for ripping audio CDs are on Page 5 starting at the "CD DAE and CD Speed v4.7.7.16 (DAE) - Pressed CD:" section.  The things that I look for are

1. "Caching - NO" is desirable for faster secure ripping.

2. The screenshot labeled "CD Speed - ScanDisc" shows a "good" value of over 50% for the test disk.  A drive producing a higher value for this test will read more marginal CDs without error.

3. The low number of errors and % of the disk with errors in table below the screenshot is another indication that the Samsung drive will read more marginal CDs without error.

(Don't get too concerned about the idea of read errors. The review discusses errors in the context of specific tests with special test CDs.)

The same web site has reviews of drives from LG, Lite-on and Sony.  I find the Samsung drives results to be better.  I use four Samsung drives in my PCs and find them to be better than Lite-on drives that I used previously.

 Bill

[6233638]

Keep in mind that most (all?) Blu-ray readers are still capable of burning CDs and DVDs - they just don't burn Blu-ray.
 
I have always liked Pioneer drives - they're relatively quiet, fast, and I have found them to be reliable.
I will say though, that the Pioneer BDXL drive I have does not seem built to the same standard as my older (regular) Blu-ray drives, and I find that it is more prone to read errors with damaged discs - but I always like to have at least two different drives in any PC for that reason alone. Sometimes you will find a disc that just won't read without errors in one drive, and using the other one works.
 
I have not found LG drives to be reliable at all (I had a couple of those HD-DVD+Blu-ray combo drives a few years back) and I think it was a cheap Samsung Blu-ray reader that managed to destroy a CD a couple of years back. (taking out the drive with it)

[mwillems]

I think it was a cheap Samsung Blu-ray reader that managed to destroy a CD a couple of years back. (taking out the drive with it)

Therein lies a tale. I've never heard of a drive destroying a CD, but I can imagine a few ways it might happen.  What was the failure mode?

[6233638]

Therein lies a tale. I've never heard of a drive destroying a CD, but I can imagine a few ways it might happen.  What was the failure mode?

I had a disc which was in quite bad condition (I'm glad people don't ask to borrow CDs much any more) so I started the rip just before heading out and left the PC ripping the disc, and it apparently spent hours trying to re-read bad sections of the disc, which I guess was a factor.
 
I'm not sure why it took so long, but after I got back the rip failed, so I tried it again.
 
The drive tried to read the disc at full speed and the results were explosive. The disc was in pieces, and the drive was completely destroyed.

[connersw]

.

[webbhq]

To csimon.
Yes the laser can wear and affect the sound quality I have 3 drives on the same computer and burn separate Cd's exactly the same way and upon playback they will sound different.

[cncb]

Yes the laser can wear and affect the sound quality I have 3 drives on the same computer and burn separate Cd's exactly the same way and upon playback they will sound different.

If that's the case, I'm not sure how you wouldn't get any burning errors because the correct data is not being written to the CDs.

[Frobozz]

To csimon.
Yes the laser can wear and affect the sound quality I have 3 drives on the same computer and burn separate Cd's exactly the same way and upon playback they will sound different.

I've never done a listening test for different burned CDs or any sort of a critical comparison for CDs burned with different programs.  I don't know how well MC does for burning quality that could affect audio playback.  This is likely something that you'll have to experiment with yourself on your system and do what sounds best to you with your gear.

My overwhelming primary concern with a computer drive is how well does it rip.  I rip lots and lots of CDs.  I've burned maybe a couple dozen audio CDs in my lifetime.  I don't have a dedicated CD player at home any more.  My best playback is from the computer now and a connected DAC.

I've used MC to create burned CDs for the car and to create CDs with my favorite demo or auditioning music for when I go to audio meets or auditions.  MC is the easiest and most convenient way to do that for me since I use MC for my playback and library management.  I go with convenience for burning.  Haven't tried to compare for sound quality differences in burns.  Now for audio meets I make a burned demo CD along with a USB thumb drive of my demo tracks (and cross my fingers that the USB drive will work in whatever I plug it in).

[unkjr]

I bought an LG blue ray burner on sale Newegg to finally rip my movies to a new nas server. It wouldn't read some of the movies that had already been watched on a Panny player. Finally bought a more expensive Asus, it's read them all.