Danny Boy, I just read your earlier post/reply to mine.
My whole point was that it
could be misleading not that it
was.
I tried to be pretty generic in my explanation,I'm sure I could have stated things better.
Certainly the audio on the CD is digital, my point was you have to take it from PCM and convert it to be able to work with it, extract it, whatever. Technically is PCM a digital format? Yes but I was using the context of extracting it, in the ease of conversation I was differing the file your PC recognizes from the file your CD player recognizes for the general board. Both digital, one is literally a digital file your computer can work with, the other is (read as) essentially just bits of digital data. I wasn't trying to have an outright audiophile moment.
Also, yes, you can get an Exact Audio Copy or one of those more intensive programs to rip a near exact copy (debatable as to how exact it is, but it's certainly damn close, if the CD isn't damaged).
I was using that example just to demonstrate to the average non-audiophile person viewing this thread that Wave Forms
can be deceptive. That just pulling up a Wave Form and saying "look at all that clipping" is not always an absolute indicator, it can entirely depend on levels. Not everyone uses the same shit, most regular users probably just use something like Audacity (which I don't even have, that's why I used an old Sound Forge). Some people will literally 'record' the audio as it's playing.
I actually used an old version of Sound Forge to move those levels. Just to demonstrate.
I was just (trying to) talk about context. Given that we didn't even know the source of one of those files, that was the whole point. It can be misleading, it's certainly not always misleading. I generally use one of those Exact rippers (I have two that I use) but not everyone has those or understands some of these details.
