Ripping Station

Well, the little TEAC CD-ROM reader has met its match in a particular CD-R disc. After a certain point it got into trouble, gave up and popped the lid open. But everything up to that track was good, and having only one disc in the retry pile is certainly a lot better than it had been.

Ripping

Those headphones are the Pioneer SE-A1000. It’s one of those items that Amazon sometimes has in stock, other times it’s “fulfilled by Amazon” or some other seller. I paid $59 for my pair, and I recommend them highly for those with a large hat size, like myself, and where a very long cord is needed, which is not what I need them for at the moment. The SE-A1000 is excellent for very critical listening. The sibilance in the vocals of certain less-than-perfect recordings can sometimes be over-emphasized, but that same quality makes the SE-A1000 perfect if you’re comparing an MP3 copy to the original, or trying to distinguish between a CD data error and a splice in the master tape of a recording.

The little TEAC that could

I’ve been struggling with a project at home for some time, ripping a bunch of CD-R’s to MP3. Some of the discs simply could not be read by any of the combi-DVD/CD drives I have. The only player that worked at all is a dedicated CD reader that came with the Compaq computer I bought on October 25, 2001 — the day that Windows XP was released. But some songs wouldn’t finish ripping, and even if they did finish it could take hours, and even with error correction enabled on the drive the results were awful, as heard on the audio player’s first track. The song, by Bonnie Guitar, was #27 on the Billboard music charts the week of June 24, 1957. The second track on the player has a clean rip of the song from the CD-R.

[audio:https://s3.amazonaws.com/dogratcom/Audio/2013/12/1st+rip.mp3,https://s3.amazonaws.com/dogratcom/Audio/2013/12/2nd+rip.mp3|titles=Bonnie Guitar: Dark Moon – bad rip,Bonnie Guitar: Dark Moon – good rip]

You would think the first recording was taken from a badly scratched record, and the second from a CD, but they both came from the same CD-R. What made the difference? An amazingly nimble 10-year-old TEAC CD210-PU USB CD-ROM reader I got hold of that sails through the same discs that gave five other units a fit.

That same week in 1957, another recording of the song, done by Gale Storm, was #7 on the Billboard chart, and it makes for an interesting comparison to Bonnie’s version. I hear a definite Elvis influence here.

[audio:https://s3.amazonaws.com/dogratcom/Audio/2013/12/GStorm.mp3|titles=Gale Storm: Dark Moon]

Diane Disney, 1933-2013

Sharon, Walt, Diane and Lillian Disney
Sharon, Walt, Diane and Lillian Disney

Diane Disney has passed away, a month shy of her 80th birthday. Diane was Walt’s first daughter, and his only biological child. Sharon, who died in 1993, was adopted. Brian Sibley knew Diane, and today he talked about her on BBC Radio 4.

[audio:https://s3.amazonaws.com/dogratcom/Audio/2013/11/Brian+and+Diane.mp3|titles=Brian Sibley on Diane Disney]

This is the Disney Studio’s press release with Diane’s birth announcement.

12/18/33 - IT'S A GIRL! At the Walt Disneys. The infant was born almost at the moment that Disney, creator of Mickey Mouse, was receiving a medal from a Parents' Magazine for distinguished service to children. Hastily thanking 75 distinguished guests for the medal, Disney deserted the luncheon and rushed to the Good Samaritan Hospital (Los Angeles) to see his wife and baby girl. The baby, born through a Caesarian operation, and mother were reported doing well by the attending physician. Photo shows Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse making the important announcement.
12/18/33 – IT’S A GIRL! At the Walt Disneys. The infant was born almost at the moment that Disney, creator of Mickey Mouse, was receiving a medal from a Parents’ Magazine for distinguished service to children. Hastily thanking 75 distinguished guests for the medal, Disney deserted the luncheon and rushed to the Good Samaritan Hospital (Los Angeles) to see his wife and baby girl. The baby, born through a Caesarian operation, and mother were reported doing well by the attending physician. Photo shows Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse making the important announcement.