Archive for the 'Compact Disc' Category

Transferring cassettes to CD, FM reception and antennas, Bose and Google Ads

Sound Advice By Don Lindich Week 19, 2007 Q: I have a laptop Mac running OS 10.3 Panther. Is there any way I can transfer cassettes of my parents voices to CD’s? -Virginia Patton, Minneapolis, MN A: Yes. You can buy the $39.95 Griffin iMic I mentioned in last week’s column and use it with […]

Analog vs. digital sound, Ray Charles vs. David Pogue

Sound Advice By Don Lindich Week 18, 2007 Q: I have many old record albums which I no longer listen to, mainly because I only have the time while driving. Recently I saw an ad for   the Teac model GF350. Is it a worthwhile for transfering my records to CDs?   Is there a […]

Making DVDs at home

Sound Advice By Don Lindich Week 10, 2007 Q: My wife bought Pinnacle Studio to burn home movies to disc. I am attempting this on a Dell Dimension computer outfitted with a CD burner. So far I have been unable to burn DVDs and obtain poor quality burning to CD-Rs. Do I need to buy […]

Picture CDs from the drugstore, using old speakers in a new home theater

Sound Advice By Don Lindich Week 9, 2007 Q:I normally take pictures with my digital camera, transfer them to my hard drive and make jpgs on CD-R and show them on our DVD player like a slideshow. At reunions I make a bunch of duplicate CD-Rs and give them to friends, etc,   and it […]

CD-RW, more on HD DVD vs. Blu-ray

Week of July 23, 2006 Q: I’ve been copying some of my old audio cassette tapes to audio CDs. I’ve had perfect success using CD-R’s, but poor success using CD-RW discs. On playback the CD-RWs will usually give errors (dropouts) and sometimes the CD will actually lock-up a player. In doing some research I found […]

Working around components that aren’t working perfectly

Week of April 2, 2006 Q: I am writing to comment on your recent column about repairing equipment, and bad experiences. The reception on my 20 year-old Sony receiver got very poor. (The amplifier was OK.) I knew it wouldn’t be cost effective to repair it, so I went to Circuit City and bought a […]

Burned CD and DVD long-term viability, TV antenna reception

Week of February 5, 2006 Q: I have been copying home videos to DVD with a DVD recorder. Recently there have been reports of the purple dyes in recordable CDs deteriorating. The blank DVDs also appear to have a purple substrate. I plan on not recording over the original tapes, but could you give me […]

Reel-to-reel tapes to CD, shelf sound systems

Q: I have reel-to-reel tape audio recordings of my children singing. How do I transfer them to CD? -Robin Torres Cincinnati, OH A: The easiest way to transfer any audio recording to CD is with a component CD recorder. Think of it like a cassette deck that records on CD. Your reel-to-reel tape machine with […]

CD/DVD player sound quality

Week of September 11, 2005 Q: I am looking into buying a CD changer and have a few questions. It is my understanding that if you connect a CD player via the analog outputs, you will be using the digital to analog converters (DAC) in the CD player. Conversely, if you connect it with the […]

Decorating and room acoustics, converting LPs to CD with a component CD recorder

Week of April 24, 2005 Q: My husband has a home office in a bedroom upstairs in our home. He has converted the closet into an entertainment center and set up a TV/surround sound system in it. The room currently has carpet. I’d like to put in hardwood floors and a real brick veneer along […]

Single disc vs. multidisc DVD and CD players, do expensive disc players sound better?

 Week of August 15, 2004  Q: I am thinking about buying a new DVD player because my current one does not play DVDs that I burn on my computer.  I would also use the player for music CDs. Are there significant differences in sound reproduction between single disc units and multi-disc changers when playing audio […]

Super Audio CD (SACD) and DVD-Audio (DVD-A)

Week of May 23, 2004 Q:     What are the differences between SACD and DVD-Audio, and what is availability of players and software?   Is a universal DVD player that supports SACD and DVD-Audio a worthwhile investment, or is this another VHS-BETA duel? Brian Deviley, Minneapolis, MN A: SACD, or Super Audio CD, is […]

Skipping CDs and DVDs, bookshelf speaker placement, scanning medium format negatives, Season’s Greetings!

Week of December 28, 2003 Q: I have some CD’s that skip and stick when I play them. How do I know if is the disk or my player?   A: It is a combination of both player and disc that are causing your playback problems. CD players vary in their ability to handle scratched […]

Cable vs. satellite, making slideshows on disc

 Week of November 23, 2003 Q: What do you know about Comcast’s High Definition cable? Is it true HD, or would I be better off with a satellite dish? Can you run down the pros and cons of cable vs. satellite? -Dan Murray, Moon, PA A: I have seen Comcast’s HDTV on several televisions and […]

Matching camera and printer, Epson Print Image Matching, time for a new CD player!

Week of August 31, 2003   Q:     I have read the archived columns on your website and it has already answered some of my questions!   For example,  I have been using Kodak paper on my Canon printer and wondered why the prints don’t look so good. I now know to  try  the […]

More Advent TV/Best Buy woes, printable CDs

Week 28, 2003 Q: My roommate bought an Advent TV from Best Buy in Deerfield, IL in September 2002.   He bought the Advent because it was the cheapest and they said it had a one-year warranty.   He did not buy the extended warranty.     It ceased to function in February of this […]

Labeling CDs and DVDs, speaker wire

Week 27, 2003 Q) My husband is a musician who has begun selling his CDs over the Internet.   We are making “promotional” quantities, maybe ten at a time and trying to produce high quality CD labels (using Avery stationery products) for these small quantities of CDs. We achieve good results with our H-P black […]

Speaker break-in, converting 8mm film to videotape

Week 26, 2003 Q) I am in a bit of a quandary with my new speakers.   I did my research on the web for a set of bookshelf speakers in the $250 – $300 per pair price range.   I listened to them at the store yesterday and they sounded great.   Now that […]

Burning MP3s to CD

Week  22, 2003 Q) I own a 2001 Dell Dimension 4100 running Windows 2000.  I have dual CD trays and can burn CD’s.  I have Easy CD Creator 4.  My question is, what are MP3s? Can I burn them onto a blank CD? Will I be able to play them, and where do I find […]

Repairing a vintage NAD CD player, DVD player won’t play burned CDs

Week 14, 2003  Q) I have an NAD CD player that I purchased along with an NAD receiver about ten years ago, and it sounds great.   Now the CD player needs repaired and I am having trouble finding a place to get it fixed.   Can you recommend a repair station? -Mike Medwig, Greentree […]