[yogaboy]

I'm trying to copy an audio cd, I've got a Powerbook G4 with OS X 10.3.2.
I don't want to convert it or any of that, just create a perfect clone...
All the stuff I've looked up tells me to use Disk Copy, but I don't have Disk Copy. Other stuff talks about it being merged with Disk Utility. I've tried using Disk Utility to copy a disk but I can't work out what to do - it's doing my head in!!!
Please forgive my stupidity - there must be an easier way to do this without spending dosh on Toast or somefink?!

[d00d]

I've always found the built-in utilities in the Mac OS being insufficient for copying audio CDs. An alternative is to capture the music with iTunes and then burn to disc. However, this will not be an exact copy, even if you use AIFF capture because iTunes uses TAO burning. Honestly, the only solution I found was to get Toast, but I think that feature coupled with a few others was more than enough to justify the cost.

[PowerBook12]

create an image of it then burn that, all from disc utility. honestly though, i have toast /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[d00d]

I'm not sure that making a disk image works correctly. At least that's if I remember correctly.

[jax]

d00d:
what is TAO burning? i thought i have been backing up all my recently purchased CDs by importing them into iTunes as AIFF files and burning them to blank CDs, but your post makes it seem that i'm not.
how is it not an exact copy? it's not lossy is it?
i have Toast, but never really use it... i suppose that would be the way to go?
thanks
-jack

[d00d]

Well, there's no loss of quality in the music. However, it's not an exact copy of the CD. TAO is Track-at-once burning. DAO (which Toast offers) is disc-at-once burning. One of the more obvious differences is that DAO allows for true lack of gaps between tracks. This is important for albums like Nine Inch Nail's The Fragile or Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon in which tracks lead directly into one another. Using the iTunes method, you suddenly have gaps between the tracks. Toast will copy the CD bit for bit perfectly which makes it, in my opinion, the way to go.

[FXWizard]

You can consolidate tracks in iTunes, which removes any gaps between tracks that flow right into another...but this has to be done when you first rip the CD.

[d00d]

But if you do that, you can't move become tracks on the burned CD. It becomes one gigantic track.

[yogaboy]

I need DAO for my Giant Steps by the Boo Radleys, which has no gaps on the original...
...bring me Toast!
Thanks for the help people. Mac users ARE nicer than Windows users!!!

[spacepiggy]

I seem to recall that in iTunes preferences, there is a burning option for the gap between tracks. It is limited by the CD-R drive's capabilities, but on my TiG4 I get gap-less copies of the audio CD by setting it to 0 (zero). I even used it fix a copy that added gaps by mistake, when I reimported the tracks and reburned.

[d00d]

In reply to:

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I seem to recall that in iTunes preferences, there is a burning option for the gap between tracks. It is limited by the CD-R drive's capabilities, but on my TiG4 I get gap-less copies of the audio CD by setting it to 0 (zero). I even used it fix a copy that added gaps by mistake, when I reimported the tracks and reburned.

---

Yes, it has an option to set it to zero. I am well aware of that. There will still be slight stutters on most CD players even if you set it to zero.

[spacepiggy]

hmmm, I guess I'm livin' large. Every CD player that I've tested (about a dozen so far) plays smoothly across the gap, no stutters, no drop-outs
perhaps its time for you to buy some new audio gear?

[d00d]

In reply to:

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perhaps its time for you to buy some new audio gear?

---

It's cheaper and easier to just use Toast's DAO burning. Toast is a lot easier too for disc copying. You also maintain the same quality as the original CD (which you'd need to use AIFF in iTunes to do the same thing). I mean why take the horse and buggy over 10 miles of bumpy road when you can take the brand new monorail?

[spacepiggy]

doesn't iTunes import as AIFF?
I guess I don't get your point that importing an AIFF is not the same as copying it.
If iTunes offers 0 gap, and the drive supports it, what's missing from the original CD (of course an enhanced CD does require more to copy, but we're talking tunes here, not videos, games and weblinks.)
And you could create a image of the CD using Disk Tools, and then burn the image to get an exact copy.
No cost, no buggy whips.