cd copy protection

[commando]

I just bought the new Norah Jones CD, and when I went to play it in my PC found it's copy protected. They include a player, but the quality of sound, in my opinion, isn't as good as a CD would usually be.

Does anyone know if it's possible to get the IFPI cds to play under and normal PC cd player, or rip them to good quality mp3s? I own the damn CD, I should be able to listen to it any way I damn well please.

[aken]

Originally posted by commando
I just bought the new Norah Jones CD, and when I went to play it in my PC found it's copy protected. They include a player, but the quality of sound, in my opinion, isn't as good as a CD would usually be.

Does anyone know if it's possible to get the IFPI cds to play under and normal PC cd player, or rip them to good quality mp3s? I own the damn CD, I should be able to listen to it any way I damn well please.

I know pisses me off too. I can't play it in my laptop.
Great CD though.

[scruff monkey]

have you tried EAC to rip the thing to wav?

[commando]

I'll try EAC at home tonight, it doesn't work on my work PC.

[ickabod147]

possibly iTunes? Otherwise do you think that the black marker around the edge trick would work? or is it encoded copy protection

[commando]

I don't know how it works, but any tips about how to listen to the music I own would be great :)

Black marker you say? Do you have any more info?

The sound quality is definitely poorer than the earlier CD, but I don't know if that's the CD or the copy protection scheme.

[scruff monkey]

Originally posted by ickabod147
possibly iTunes? Otherwise do you think that the black marker around the edge trick would work? or is it encoded copy protection

has any one actually tried that or is it actually just urban legend like sticking cds into a freezer to make the sound better?

there was a rumour years ago that using a green felt marker
on the outer rim of CDs would make them sound better too, I wonder if that comes from there.

iTunes is probably worth a shout too, you might want to try some of the CD burning software also, some of them can rip to wav

[mmcg]

Originally posted by cathalm
has any one actually tried that or is it actually just urban legend like sticking cds into a freezer to make the sound better?

there was a rumour years ago that using a green felt marker
on the outer rim of CDs would make them sound better too, I wonder if that comes from there.

iTunes is probably worth a shout too, you might want to try some of the CD burning software also, some of them can rip to wav

All your music is stored in binary, so unless freezing yer cds reduced the bit error rate or something, I can't see how it would improve the audio. And anyway, I think CDs have error correction on them, so it can't be that...
And by that line of reasoning, the green marker thing would be bollix as well.

The black marker did work with a certain kind of copy protection, but I don't think it's the one that's currently doing the rounds. (IOn my laptop, the current one seems to spin the CD for about half an hour - then do nothing)

[scruff monkey]

as I called them, urban legends
From what i can remember the current thing is to fuck up the toc slightly on the cds so that computer drives go gaga trying to read the fucker

[mmcg]

Would that mean they lose it in car CD players which do MP3 compilation disks too?

[scruff monkey]

not too sure, there have been reports of some not playing in valid CD players such as cars and dvd players
http://ukcdr.org/issues/cd/

If I bought one that did not play in my computer I would take it back, unless it is clearly marked as having protection and that it will not play, you stand a pretty good chance of getting your money back.

[mmcg]

Nah - too late... I bought a few off CD-WOW without asking them first. And anyway - I was desperate to hear Hail to the Thief!

[scruff monkey]

there are un protected versions of that album around.

not that I have ripped it or anything (ahem)

[Ploppy]

Just rip the tracks to your Hard Drive. Nero's "Save Tracks" option will do it no problem. Then you can do what you want with them. Write them back to your own CD, or MP3 them.

[commando]

It turns out that you can rip the CD to a WAV file using EAC (http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/), then write it out to an unprotected audio CD using whichever CD writing program you like.

I don't think it's technically possible to make proper copy protection for CDs. I support artists getting paid for their work, but I also demand reasonable use of the material i've paid for.

[mmcg]

It says on that website that you might get mush with the new copyprotection...


Q:

In the column "Copy Protection" is always "Yes" denoted. What does it mean, will it not be possible to extract the tracks?

A:

It is possible also to extract copy protected tracks, as the copy protection is only a flag on the CD, and all CD-ROM drives will ignore it on reading. Some month ago there are now also real copy protections for audio CDs, but this information is not given in the table. If there is such a CD, it will show garbage, not extract tracks or probably insert errors in the extraction.


But I'll give it a go - they may be trying to cover their own arses against lawsuits or something.

[commando]

mmcg, I might be having a blonde moment, but I have no idea what you're talking about.

[Fallen Angel]

That's a pile of shite...

[mmcg]

Sorry commando - I was having a poke round on the EAC FAQ pages and found that..

Fallen Angel - Whats a pile of shite? EAC does do a good job on the new copy protection then?

[Fallen Angel]

What I meant was if you pay good money for a cd you should be able to play it any way you want.

[Bigjoe]

This one time at encryption camp, I stuck an enigma machine up my pussy.

:D