How to check a Master Audio CD for Errors?

Hi @ all :]

I need to verify that an Audio CD that i burned on a CD-R is 100% Error-Free because it is supposed to be an Audio-Master-CD to be send to a CD-Factory to make a Glass-Master of it and press thousands of CDs - yeah!

So i wonder what is the definite tool to check an Audio CD for Errors?

[Yes, i know it is not an Ardour DAW Task, but i tried in several Forums and astoundingly nobody knew anything about this subject, so i thought the right place might be here, as the final production step for many Ardour-Users will be burning a Master CD and then somehow verifying if it’s Error-Free]

[I tried in english here http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=7075466 and over here in german http://forum.ubuntuusers.de/topic/wie-kann-man-eine-audio-cd-auf-fehler-ueberpr/ - if i get an a satisfying answer somewhere i’ll update all postings]

So, any suggestions? Am i missing something that everybody knows and that’s why nobody answers ;?)

I just asked some colleagues of mine and was told that most pressing plants will check your master as part of the service they offer - but check with them first.

If they don’t offer this service, Nero produces a CD testing package which is quite cheap but evidently, not very comprehensive:-

http://www.cdspeed2000.com

Or if you have a better budget, this one is available from Clover Systems:-

http://www.cloversystems.com/CDX.htm

The app that’s used by high-end pressing plants comes from StageTech:-

http://www.stagetech.se

and finally, Plextor offer their own CD checking software but it only works for Plextor & UltraPlex drives.

Whatever path you choose, the problem that will be of most concern to the pressing plant is the CD-DA BLER rate (CD Digital Audio Block Error Rate) so you need an application that can measure it. Hope that helps.

[Edit…] Incidentally, there are professional CD mastering engineers who offer precisely this sort of service, to take the stress out of it for the less experienced. See if there’s one in your area (a local recording studio would probably know someone).

The practical and quick answer is “You can’t,” tempered slightly with “but it doesn’t matter as much as it used to.”

There are some older Philips cd players that could be modded to report errors, and for a while Plextor was making burners/players that could report some errors, but the former is a bit clunky and impractical and I don’t believe Plextor makes those any more. Besides, the Plextools software is Windows only.

If you trust your replicator, they’ll reject anything out of tolerance, so don’t sweat it; they will (or should!) let you know.

This is one reason why DDP as a delivery format is preferred, because you actually can verify it, but fewer and fewer mastering houses, even fairly well-known ones, deliver anything but audio cds. They’ll call it a “Pre-master” but it’s really just an audio cd.

rec.audio.pro is a place to do some more research. Also http://www.digido.com/faq.html, www.cdfreaks.com, and http://www.cdrfaq.org,

BTW, are ISO’s of audio cd’s even possible?

One cool thing would be if replication facilities would accept WAV+TOC files, but I’ve not heard of any who do.

So, for us mere mortals without the bread for a Meridian analyser, burn your audio to good media (MAM-A or Taiyo Yuden) on a good burner (Lite-on and Benq are making some good ones; not Plextor) at a relatively slow speed (2x-8x), and call it good.

Finally, I’ll go out on a limb and say there is no cd, R or otherwise, that is 100% error free.

Good luck!

Michael

Did you burn it from an iso? If so, you can do checksum checks of ISO and CDRW

I suggest you try a non-linux centric forum. For example, gearslutz.com might be a good starting point.

dont worry about it. the replicator will check it before intake. and trust me they’ll reject anything that is bad.