External optical drive recommendation

The LG drive I referenced above works fine in MacOS directly. I’ve also used it with Burn and Toast if I need special options like for a compilation disc. Blu-ray discs can be burned from the Finder with compatible files for playing on regular consumer players.

David C.:

I’m glad to hear you also have had a good experience with the SuperDrive. I prefer a tray-loading drive also, but I’m happy with which ever will work. With everyone having given me so much helpful input regarding my initial post…I must admit now I’m really on the fence. If I had to make a choice right now it would be both the SuperDrive and the OWC burner!

Aside from the savings cost, the SuperDrive does have the benefit of matching an Apple component to another Apple component.

What puzzles me is trying to determine what causes an issue such as having a CD suddenly eject…is it the hardware or software or both? As far as my CDs go, I keep them in relatively pristine condition. Not a single one is scratched, and I don’t leave them laying around - they always go right back to their cases.

I’m going to continue ripping with XLD, so I can at least see the log reports for immediate feedback. I’m going to try to get more ripping done with the app this week and see what the success rate is.

Just a data point: I’ve used the OWC 16x Mercury drive for the around last 7 years. Primarily for weekly backups (burning Unix tar files into BD-RE (erasable) discs), quarterly epoch backups (again, tar files) onto M-DISC BD-R discs; and ripping CDs into iTunes (with a rare DVD rip once in a blue moon.)

Generally, it works very well, and I have only one complaint: after about 4 years, the first OWC optical drive stopped burning and reading BD-R/BD-RE discs; it continued to read/rip CDs and DVDs w/o problem, though. I purchased another one, and have had no problems with it since.

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That’s good to know. Sorry to hear about the first drive, but I’m glad your replacement is good. I really appreciate the feedback!

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XLD documentation is … lacking would be kind.

An old page on HydrogenAudio XLD Configuration has details. (It’s probably out of date, but I don’t think too much has changed.) If you want control over how CD files are named, the filenaming section can be very helpful.

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Jason - Your spot on about the lack of documentation - it almost put me off trying it out. I managed to figure out how to rip, but I will find this very useful for a better overview of the app.
Much appreciated!

Good point regarding XLD documentation but remember that this type of open source program is free so then you do have to look around in other forums where the software is used. The same issue applies to Audacity but there is more information out there for it as well as Avidemux and tsmuxerGUI for video files.

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I’ve been using a Pioneer BDR-XD05T BLK Clamshell Disc Load 6X Slim for about 2 years now - not sure if they’re readily available but I find it works well, especially for ripping CDs into iTunes/Music app. It’ll do BD as well but I’ve not tried it yet. I’m using a Mac mini M1 these days but it did work on my previous 2014 Mac mini no problem either.

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My SuperDrive has the same error, randomly ejecting a disc during ripping in iTunes. Just happened yesterday. Very frustrating. I use both iTunes and XLD, and have experienced the problem with both programs. MacOS High Sierra, but I had it happen on earlier versions as well.

I’ve never seen a drive like that…interesting and will keep that in mind. Good price too. Thank you for the suggestion!

That is most frustrating. Since jk2gs steered me to XLD last week, I’ve been ripping CD’s with it daily and have not had an issue so far, and I really like the instant feedback the logs provide allowing me to see at a glance whether any errors were encountered or not. I’m tempted to re-purchase the CD I sent back to Amazon twice because it would not rip the last track using iTunes, just to see if XLD can handle it. I’m going to continue ripping more CDs this week with XLD and see how things go from there.

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Regarding that last track, are you sure it was a music track not a file. I’ve seen some strange discs that have files other than music come up like that at the end but those discs are rare and were usually older ones that were targeted more at computer users but they also had music tracks.

I would try to find/borrow another drive to see if it does the same thing. But some discs do have errors which don’t always show up in normal playback

As far as I know it was all music. It was the single disc edition of Dylan’s More Blood, More Tracks: The Bootleg Series Vol. 14. For some reason, the last track (11) would not finish ripping. Returned it for a replacement which did the same thing. Either a defective batch of CDs or hardware/software issue on my end I’m not sure. I’m kind of a music buff and I never heard any issues about that particular Dylan disc as opposed to something like the Richard & Linda Thompson CD box set fiasco from 2020.

OK, good to know. I’ve only run into issues with two or three discs over the years so I would say it’s the batch that it came from since you had the same issue twice and your drive otherwise seems fine. But it is frustrating in any event if you wanted that particular track.

And so far I’m having great success with XLD ripping my discs - at least the logs have all reported no errors and the rips I’ve listened to so far confirm that. I must thank you again for the suggestion. I just wish these slim optical drives were heavier. I just ripped a CD and by the time the rip completed, the drive actually moved from being directly facing me to a slight angle away from me. However the log reports no errors occurred.

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The main thing is the error report so if it’s reporting no errors, it should be fine. Those drives are similar to those in laptops. For years, I used the one in my PowerBook G4 and there were only a few discs that had errors. Now that I think about it, those might have been done on my old Performa 6400 way back in the 2001-2004 years or so before I bought the G4. There was no error correction option in iTunes 2 way back then and I know I ripped many CD’s. Also, if there are not enough submissions in the database, the report might say not accurately ripped but in reality it might be. There just aren’t enough submissions for matching. The same can happen if you have a rare disc that is not in the database.

Glad to hear it’s working out and to be of help.

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Oooh! Oooh! Was that the “Hard Luck Stories” set?
I’m not a Richard Thompson “completist”, but I come close. :grinning: I have that set on my wishlist. (Maybe now I won’t.)
For some reason he likes to come to Albany, so we get to see him now & again.

Yes, the Hard Luck Stories Set. Many people had issues with ripping the CDs, even though they may have played fine in a CD player. Some had problems just playing the discs without ripping. Supposedly, the Label made good on replacing the discs.

Below is a link to comments from purchasers at Superdeluxe Edition.
https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/richard-and-linda-thompson-hard-luck-stories-1972-1982-box-set/#comments-159831

A second pressing was done for those who may have not purchased the first time around, but it appears to have sold out very quickly.

According to a posting on Steve Hoffman Music forums, there is a way to tell the 2nd (good) pressing from the first:
One thing to do is check the spine of the box set. If it reads “RICHARD & LINDA HARD LUCK STORIES 1972-1982” then you received the original pressing with the widespread issues. The re-press added “THOMPSON” to their name on the spine. It also corrected a couple typos on the track listing.
I cannot confirm this myself but sounds legit. Here’s a link to that page:
Richard & Linda Thompson: Hard Luck Stories (1972-1982) [8CD Box Set; 11th September 2020] | Page 151 | Steve Hoffman Music Forums (it’s comment number 3755)

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Yes, I found that out in a quick search. Oh, well.
Thanks for the info. I’ll check it out.