Frequent "clicking" in Files riped from CD by iTunes

[bucs79]

I'm going a little nuts. I have a pretty large and always expanding collection of CDs that I rip using iTunes (Usually as Apple Lossless but I've tried other formats and get the same problem). Almost invariably, there will be intermittent "clicking" noises which almost sound like soft percussion drum lines, but don't fit into the song. If I rip the songs using iTunes on my wife's PC I don't have this problem. It is a source of embarrassment having to use a PC to work around a problem on a Mac.

Does anybody have this problem? Is it a hardware problem?

This happens on pretty much every brand new CD, so it's not a CD problem. I'm not running anything fancy in the background.

I'm thinking of taking my iMac back to Apple to fix it but I'm afraid they'll tinker with my settings or reset the machine and it would be a pain to get my computer back to its current state.

This is my only complaint about my iMac. I hope somebody can help.

 

[Eraserhead]

Sometimes happens for me too, though not always... Try switching on error correction in iTunes

Go to-->iTunes Menu-->Preferences-->Advanced-->Importing-->Use Error correction (bottom checkbox)

then rip a cd again and see if it works.

 

[Spectrum]

I used to get this happening when ripping on a G3 Pismo Powerbook back in OS9 - and possibly more so when on battery power.

I felt it was due to the hard disk spinning down and up again. Also, I think it occurred if I started trying to open up other files, and do saves etc during a rip.

Try adjusting the powersaving options in System prefs.

Does it happen only if you are doing other things? What if you leave it all alone to rip?

 

[bucs79]

I've got error correction on already.

As for not doing anything else while I rip CDs, that's not an option for a few months and even then it would be hard to do. My work is pretty much 100% at the computer, so If I'm working so is the computer --and there is no such thing as "after work" for a few months.

It COULD be that I suppose.

What powersaving options do you recommend?

 

[DaftUnion]

Maybe your CD's are extremely scratched up on the back or most likely are. Try cleaning your cd's well before you pop them in and import them...having the error correction box checked only works to a certain extent.

 

[gnasher729]

I'm going a little nuts. I have a pretty large and always expanding collection of CDs that I rip using iTunes (Usually as Apple Lossless but I've tried other formats and get the same problem). Almost invariably, there will be intermittent "clicking" noises which almost sound like soft percussion drum lines, but don't fit into the song. If I rip the songs using iTunes on my wife's PC I don't have this problem. It is a source of embarrassment having to use a PC to work around a problem on a Mac.

Does anybody have this problem? Is it a hardware problem?

This happens on pretty much every brand new CD, so it's not a CD problem. I'm not running anything fancy in the background.

I'm thinking of taking my iMac back to Apple to fix it but I'm afraid they'll tinker with my settings or reset the machine and it would be a pain to get my computer back to its current state.

This is my only complaint about my iMac. I hope somebody can help.

Attacking the problem in a logical way:

1. There is something wrong with your Macintosh. If a problem like that happened on many Macs, we would have heard about it. At the very least you should use Software Update to get the latest version of your OS, and then tell us exactly which model of Macintosh and which OS version you are using.

2. The problem is either happening when reading from the CD, or when playing back. Try which one happens. Import a CD on your Mac and on the PC. Then write each one to a CD as a data CD, put it in the other computer, and play it. So on the Macintosh you play the music that was imported on the PC, and on the PC you play the music that was imported on the Mac. If the Mac has problems, your problem is with sound output. If the PC has problems, the problem was with CD reading.

 

[BurtonCCC]

My bet would be that your laser needs cleaning. They have CDs with actual brushes on them that lighty dust off your laser, but I don't know if you can put that into a slot-loading drive. Anybody know if you can?

Daniel.

 

[dylan]

Make sure your not doing anything too processor intensive while your ripping.

 

[AppleMatt]

This has only happened to me on one disk (Eminem Encore), but I know *exactly* what you mean, and it totally spoils the music.

I couldn't work out what caused it so ended up ripping it on my PC in iTunes and copying back across.

AppleMatt

 

[bucs79]

I think its a problem with my hardware.

I have this problem on pretty much every CD even on brand new ones never put into any other CD player.

I can rip the same CDs fine with my wife's PC.

I can "convert to mp3" files which I ripped as Lossless and are known to be fine. The resulting mp3 files are fine.

So I don't think it's s CPU problem.

The suggestion about cleaning the laser sounds promising.

Does anybody have any other info on that?


Thanks

 

[bucs79]

Attacking the problem in a logical way:

1. There is something wrong with your Macintosh. If a problem like that happened on many Macs, we would have heard about it. At the very least you should use Software Update to get the latest version of your OS, and then tell us exactly which model of Macintosh and which OS version you are using.

2. The problem is either happening when reading from the CD, or when playing back. Try which one happens. Import a CD on your Mac and on the PC. Then write each one to a CD as a data CD, put it in the other computer, and play it. So on the Macintosh you play the music that was imported on the PC, and on the PC you play the music that was imported on the Mac. If the Mac has problems, your problem is with sound output. If the PC has problems, the problem was with CD reading.

I'm running Mac OS X 10.4.6

I've got an iMac G5 20" screen with a Superdrive. 2 GB DDR SDRAM and a 2 GhZ PowerPC G5 chip.

I've ripped CDs on both the PC and Mac and tried to play them on the Mac.

Those ripped from the PC sound fine. Those ripped with the Mac skip.

So I'm chalking it up to my DVD drive.

The question is does anybody know how to fix this?