the "enable digital CD audio for this CD-ROM device" box

T

toyospares

1
What are the implications of checking the "enable digital CD audio for this CD-ROM device" box under Win2kPro on a Pioneer DVR-106D?


As I understand it this allows the audio to be feed out digitally via the IDE bus rather than in analog via the DVD's D to A converter and then into the Sound card.

Thinking this through in simplistic terms as a novice I would say -

i/- If I was recording an audio tape to CD then the analog signal from the line out of the tape deck comes into the sound card via the line in socket, is then converted to digital by the sound card and written to the CD via the IDE bus.

ii/- If I was ripping audio off a CD then without "enable digital CD audio for this CD-ROM device" checked the signal would come out in analog form via the DVD's D to A via the DVD's audio cable to the sound card and then via the sound cards A to D, back to digital. Isn't this undesireable i.e. distortion/noice added by a superfluous D to A and then A to D back again?

What am I missing?


I understand there may be some issues with machines that don't have the audio cable installed. Also possible issues with headphone sockets on the DVD player itself. I've also hear that other issues may exist with copyright enforcement via the digital signal.


Something doesn't make sense here and it's probably due to my limited understanding of the issue. Can anyone enlighten me?

Thanks.
 
FortiTude

FortiTude

1
afaik this checkbox allows you to choose the signal way / D-A converter for cd-audio playback only ... either your soundcard or cd/dvd

every good and i think even bad cd ripping programs use other interface for audio ripping so you dont have double conversion.

dont think it has anything to do with audio recording, all the audio data you write on cdr is sent to the writer as raw data via ide ... independent from that checkbox

hope its right like that ...
forti
 
L

LTR12101B

1
Digital playpack is required for certain processing functions - eg. Windows Media Player doing visualizations and other tricks.

If your system is marginal for performace, analog play (and even if enabled for the drive, many players should offer the choice) has a much lower overhead - in many cases, NO overhead, as the CD can continue to play even if the program that started it is closed


A good RIPPER, like Exact Audio Copy, will always use digital, for 2 reasons:
1. It avoids D-A plus A-D reconversion losses
2. It can work at > 1x speed

"Live recording" a playing CD is a last resort!
 
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T

toyospares

1
What if I'm just backing up an audio CD via Nero's CD copy facility.

Why am I doing it that way? - It's easy and straight forward.

I assume it's a straight digital copy?
 
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