[AntonyMullen]

I can rip a disc that looks like a dirty road map with lightning speed. I can rip a disc that looks pristine for half an hour or longer.

I cannot figure out what makes EAC tick. I cannot predict how well anything will rip with confidence.

Maybe I should be using Burst mode, rather than Secure. Maybe (probably) I should have bought a really nice drive.

To be clear, however, with this post, I curious about the CDs, themselves. I suspect some older CDs may suffer partial delamination following years of rough handling, that a smooth polycarbonate substrate isn't as essential as expected or suggested. Then again, perhaps some discs are simply engineered poorly?

I admit that, in the end, my struggles may lead back to using secure mode. Or my drive. Clearly, I'm without a clue.

If you have the time and patience to share, I'm all (digital) ears.

[JeanMcaleer]

Probably not poorly "engineered" but manufacturing is an imperfect mechanical process and there can be manufacturing defects. They are not necessarily manufactured to be "bit perfect" but they should play "audibly perfect" on a CD player. As far as I know, a CD with small "data errors" is not considered defective by the manufacturer as long as it sounds OK when played.

The data-layer is on the top of a CD and it's read through the full-thickness of the polycarbonate. It can be damaged from either side and I think it's easier to damage a CD from the top, and it's not as easy to see the damage because of the label/printing, and you can't repair top-damage by polishing. (The data layer on a DVD is in the middle of a polycarbonate sandwich, so you can sandpaper the top without hurting it. The data layer on a Blu-Ray is on the bottom.)

[KetyElly]

Well, sometimes you’ll get a perfect rip, and other times it’s like the drive just decides to take a nap mid-rip. Feels a bit like rolling the dice, honestly. I remember getting so fed up that I’d try anything to get a clean rip. And, funny enough, I came across a digital dice roller, just to add a bit of randomness when things weren’t going my way.