Best CD/DVD internal drive for CD transfer to HD

[john dozier]

As you probably know, the signal that comes off of the CD is a high frequency analog waveform. I would like to know which computer manufacturer does the best job of decoding this signal. I have a substantial CD collection which I would like to tranfer to HD. I currently have a four year old Dell which does a miserable job of CD playback, with unacceptable amounts of distortion on high level orchestral and choral recordings. My external dac sounds fine on downloads, thus leading me to believe that the internal CD/DVD drive is the problem. I am in the market for a new computer and really need some help in deciding which brand does the best job of CD playback. BTW the distortion appears to be inherent in the drive and processing as the distortion appears in the output of both the internal sound card and the external DAC. Thanks for your help.

 

[mstieb]

I have not purchased one in a few years, but I've had good luck with Plextor CD/DVD burners. You can buy an internal one and put it in its own external USB/FireWire case to get it out of the noisy PC case (and away from the main PC power supply).

 

[JeffH]

Take a look at the Samsung’s SH-S203 DVD burner. Maximuim PC picked it as the best of the best. I have been using one for about a year with great success. You can read the the Maximum PC review here:

 

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/reviews/samsung_shs223

 

[blownsi]

I believe playback and ripping to the HDD are two different things. There are lots of reasons why a cd drive in a pc doesn't sound good. That said, Plextor's are known to be very good drives for ripping. As for whether playback would sound good, that probably has more to do with sheilding, power supply, sound card, fans, etc. than the actual drive.