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-2013At 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_SettingsSo, 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.