Un-rippable CD? (1 Viewer)

[Camp]

Like many of us, I rip all my CDs to my PC. I've never had any problem getting a CD to rip...until today.

I purchased Massive Attack's new CD 100th Window and it's got me beat. I've tried ripping it with WMP 9, Media Center, CDex & EAC. All of these rippers either crash or stall when they attempt to extract the CD audio.

Worse, I can't play this CD on my PC without using the playback software stored on the CD. MusicMatch, WMP 9, and Media Center can't even "see" the tracks on the disc. The built-in playback software works fine but I doubt I'll be buying another CD from Virgin if they're going to force me to use their software.

Any ideas on how to rip this CD?? I don't think this falls under the forum's piracy policy as I own the CD...Mods...please edit my post if you think it crosses over the line.

 

[John_Berger]

Portable CD player plugged into the line in.

Record each track to individual WAV files, editing as necessary.

Use CDex to convert the WAV file to MP3.

No CD is unrippable. It just might take a few extra steps.

 

[Kevin P]

Some of the reviews on Amazon.com mention that this disc has copy protection. Supposedly it'll crash iMac drives and stubbornly refuse to eject too. Looks like the Cactus Data Shield CD virus strikes again.

There are ways to rip these discs, but forum rules forbid discussion of them here.

KJP

 

[Camp]

I may need to do the digital recording method. Right now I'm playing around with EAC settings to see if I can get a rip. In case anyone else has this problem I'm using this as my guide http://ikonboard.napigator.com/ikonb...=ST;f=1;t=3718
So far I have EAC "seeing" the proper file sizes of each track. Initially it saw each track as a couple KB and one track as 700MB.

This is one bitch of a CD. It better not suck!

 

[Steven K]

Without going into too much detail... a black magic marker will do the trick... and that's all I will say

 

[John_Berger]

Oh, it's THAT copy protection. { snicker }

Yeah, we'd better drop the subject.

 

[Camp]

Without going into too much detail... a black magic marker will do the trick... and that's all I will say

Tried it. Didn't work...or perhaps my hands weren't accurate enough. ?

I spent an hour on it and threw the CD away.

 

[Kevin P]

I spent an hour on it and threw the CD away.

You should have returned it to the store and demanded your money back, or a replacement copy that IS rippable. You didn't spend your money to get a DEFECTIVE CD, so they are obligated to correct this situation by either giving you a non-DEFECTIVE copy of the CD or your money back.

The only way to stop this nonsense is to fight it.

KJP

 

[Rob Gillespie]

I've got the UK version and did a rip/MP3 encode the same as usual. I seem to remember having some problem with the final track but that could have been down to a minor problem with the disc itself.

Anyway, the album isn't bad.

 

[MikeAlletto]

I would have returned it and written a letter to the group explaining why you returned their cd and don't intend to rebuy it. Its not legally a cd if it doesn't comform to the cd audio specs. Does it have the compact disc audio logo on it? I have a backup of all my cd's and put the copies in my car and rip it to my computer for when I'm at my desk then I store the originals in a box in my closet.

 

[Daren Welsh]

Question about the content of the CD ... how similar is it to Mezzanine (the only album of theirs that I have listened to)? I really like Mezzanine, when I'm in the right mood. It's got that deep moody rocking that just hits the spot.

 

[Steven K]

You could always try to make an exact image of the disc with an application such as Alcohol 120%. Try making an image with Error checking on, and with it off. Then burn the image to a new CD and try ripping the CD-R. It's worked for some copy protected CDs in the past.

 

[MichaelBryant]

Man this sucks! I want this album but refuse to go through the hassle of owning a copy protected CD. I'm glad I read this topic before I opened the package. Once it arrives I'm sending it back to Amazon.

 

[Camp]

I've now learned there are various "pressings" of this album depending upon geographic regions. I purchased my copy off the Internet so who knows where it originated.

My copy did NOT have the CD logo on it. That seems to be one of the keys to recognizing one with copy protection. The outer ring of the disc itself is also fairly unique (to me, at least). There are two very visible rings at the outter edge that I've never seen before. You may be reading this thinking "this must be a pirated copy this guy purchased"...that's not the case. This is a varient of the Massive Attack CD the record company released to test this copy protection scheme.

The disc is rippable. I've now read of several people figuring out different ways to do it. A lot depends upon what brand of CD drive you have (Plextor and specific Lite-On models being the best). It's not an easy one to rip but it is possible. I just don't want to spend the time learning how to do it. Until someone writes an audio ripper designed to easily circumvent this protection scheme I won't bother wasting my time with it (or my $$).

One of the worst things about this copy protection is that it forces you to use the built-in audio player if you want to listen to the disc on a PC. You cannot play the tracks back on your media player of choice (WinAmp, MusicMatch, etc.). The included media player sucks and it indicates the audio is at some bizzare bit rate (something like 46kbps).

This Massive Attack disc isn't the only one with this newer copy protection scheme. I've read of a few others that are out now.

We need to watch for these...perhaps we could start a list of discs to look out for?

 

[MichaelBryant]

Camp, some CD's only print the "CD logo" on the disc itself and not on the outside package. Is there anything to look for on the outer jewel case that will give away whether it is copy protected or not? If I open the thing I don't think Amazon will refund it. You'd think the record companies would be required to put a message on the outside informing consumers about the copy protection.

 

[MichaelBryant]

What a relief! My copy had the compact disc digital audio logo on the inside of the case and it ripped successfully. I bought mine from Amazon so maybe all of the ones they sale don't have the copy protection. What a bummer that the logo doesn't appear on the outside where potential shoppers can see it.

 

[Steven K]

Another possibility is to just listen to the CD as normal (through the player included) and then use an application such as Total Recorder to make a "live" recording of it. Total Recorder (from High Criteria) digitizes any analog signal being passed in the sound card (it works for audio CD, Real Audio, etc...)

It's actually a very nice little program.

 

[Camp]

There is not CD logo anywhere on the outside or inside of the CD case. The CD logo does not appear on the CD itself either. The only words on the CD are the publisher and other assorted stuff.

The back cover does indicate copy protection exists on the disc. In small print it says:

This disc contains copy control technology. It is designed to be compatible with CD audio players, DVD players and PC-MS Windows 95, Pentium 2, 233MHZ, 64MB RAM or higher, Mac OS 8.6-9. *with the CarbonLib Extension and Mac OS X. Quality control - [email protected] 2003 The copyright in this sound recording is owned by Virgin records LTD. 2003 Virgin Records LTD. This label copy information is the subject of copyright protection

I went to Best Buy over the weekend and EVERY copy they had (15 or so) looked identical to my CD. Of course, that's only on the outside.

 

[MichaelBryant]

Camp, my cd does not have the copy protection warning anywhere on the cd package. I think it sucks that you and many other people out their can't hear this great album because of the facist copy protection garbage. Maybe you could buy it from Amazon. If you don't open it they will refund you and pay for the return shipping. You will know it isn't copy protected if their is no message on the back like mine.

 

[Camp]

Thanks Michael.

I took a chance and sent a harsh email to the address mentioned in the copy protection message (quoted above). I even mentioned that the copy protection scheme made it overly difficult to rip the CD.
I received the following response:

Dear Camp,

We are in receipt of your email and regret you have experienced a problem with one of our products.

Please forward your address and we will send you a replacement copy that you should find to your satisfaction.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Regards,

Either I'll actually get a good (rippable) version of the CD or a subpoena for ripping their intellectual property.