Thanks for posting that Ian! Interesting that no mention is made of any hardware, as all "rippers" are dependent upon the device/connection. As I stated earlier, there is simply no way to guarantee a bit-for-bit copy if the laser "reads" a bit incorrectly (and it does happen) whether on a rip or a playback (or bit parity errors occur). Data formats detect (and correct these type of errors) by the use of checksums. CRC, or other algorithms. To be clear, it doesn't matter for most, but to "guarantee" bit-for-bit accuracy on a audio "copy function" software such as EAC (which I have used) simply "reads" an audio cd many times and compares the bits. The device hardware is more important imo...Plextor is the burner/reader of choice for me and most others that gave a crap about this geeky technical stuff
. Again, I reiterate...it simply doesn't matter for most and you'll likely never "hear" a difference on a first-generation copy.