CD Audio Blips on 14" g4 iBook, aieeeee

[molesquirrel]

Here's the setup: I've got a 14" g4 iBook that I purchased in August of 2005. I really don't think this behavior was present when I first got it, but I cannot nail down when it started happening.

Basically, any cd I put into the superdrive to rip off via iTunes (6) will have a good deal of 'static' or blips in several of the audio files. These files are almost exclusively in the last several songs of an album, and I've seen this problem across used cds as well as several brand new cds.

I (just today) bought and used one of those cd lens cleaners, no change.

the static is also noticeable if I simply copy the files off the cd as .aiff, then listen to them like that (this is present not just in itunes, but the media preview thing in finder as well as Audion).

What's very interesting is that if I listen to the trouble tracks directly off of the cd, there's no distortion whatsoever.

So it seems to me that there is a problem in the transfer of the audio from the drive to the HD. I recall back in my Windows days noting that certain cds would skip the digital read method and go with the slow but (apparently?) more reliable analog read access; I can't say that makes sense to me with how the data is stored on the cd, but I'm wondering if there is an equivalent 'alternative' read method I can use in os x?

Thanks in advance!

 

[ElDiabloConCaca]

Try enabling "Use error correction when reading Audio CDs" in the iTunes preferences under "Advanced > Importing". This may slow the ripping speed slightly, but should get rid of those clicks, pops and hisses.

 

[molesquirrel]

Try enabling "Use error correction when reading Audio CDs" in the iTunes preferences under "Advanced > Importing". This may slow the ripping speed slightly, but should get rid of those clicks, pops and hisses.

Crap, I figured I had forgotten to mention something. I am about to say that I have had that checked for a long time, as it was something I did back when the problem first came up, and I scoured the options looking for something. So, guess what I found unchecked. I rechecked it, and tried a few of the trouble tracks. The amount of distortion has decreased, but not disappeared, unfortunately.

So, thanks for the help, and toss me any other hints you may have; I'm working up an alternate ripping setup at my work that I can always use as backup, but it's obviously a bit more of a pain than doing it the right way.