Question for the audio guru's!

j79

chuok
Hi.
I was wondering if you could give me some advice. I purchased a CD, that will not play on a Mac. Its copy-protected by Sennet.net's Alpha Audio (If I knew it was copy-protected, I would have not purchased this CD)
What really pisses me off is the fact that the CD will only play on PCs. The software which validates the CD is a Windows exe file! (I've already sent an email asking them about us Mac users.. no response)

When I place the CD in, I get two CD icons (as if its a multi-session CD) - when I get info on one of the CDs, it shows the size as 626 MB. But, if I check the folder, I see only two folders, both containing Win files, totaling about 2.6 MB.

I've tried using Disc Copy to see if I could create an image of the CD (error 5), and other programs. No luck.

I've given up on extracting the data from the CDs. So, I'm wondering.. what would be your suggestions on a cheap way to get audio into the Mac, with decent sounding quality?

I've read that iMic is better than the sound-in jack.. Is this true?

Thanks in advance :)

Jack

Mod's - Sorry if this is in the wrong forum.
 
>>If I knew it was copy-protected, I would have not purchased this CD

GOOD POINT. Return the CD, send a complaint e-mail to the music label (asking them why they decided to let us out of their music) and buy another one.
 
but just to make a point: first try to import the sound through audio in.
 
Originally posted by fryke
but just to make a point: first try to import the sound through audio in.

I would love to do that, fryke. As you said, JUST TO MAKE A POINT.
I own an iPod and I bought the CD to listen to the music on the iPod (and on my computer....)
I think its horrible how they are treating ALL their customers as pirates.

Anyways, I guess the question i wanted to know.. is there a better option than going thru Sound In? Does iMic (from Griffin) really make that much of a difference in quality?
Plus, is there software which could remove any hiss that may accompany the sound? Or, should I try it out first, and see if there is any hiss at all?? ;)

BTW, senne, thanks for the suggestion! I tried it out, but, it still doesn't show the hidden tracks.
 
You might try extracting the audio as a digital audio stream instead of analog using a PC equipped with a sound card offering both a digital or an analog audio stream option. These cards are actually more common than you might imagine (even my old Gateway PC has both options which can be selected with a touch of a button in the OS). This way you shouldn't have any audio degradation.

I'm not sure if it would work with just one PC or not. You might need to use one PC to "play" the CD and the other to capture the audio stream. It depends on the communcations capability and settings of your card. Look for full duplex. I hope this helps.
 
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