AnalogSteph
Major Contributor
Indeed, not only does EAC support ripping in safe mode (which was the only way to be decently sure you had a perfect rip before the days of internet databases, and more or less the program's claim to fame to begin with), you can even attempt to repair a damaged rip using CUETools assuming the disc is present in the online CTDB. I've had to do this once when getting a replacement CD would have been too much of a hassle.... actually twice I think, the other was a CD where one master had an audible glitch (digital transfer error) in one track but another didn't while being identical otherwise. (That was from the time when they would have been sending U-matic tapes across the pond for creating the local masters.)
A lot of modern(ish) optical drives aren't bad CD rippers at all, they're just often very cheaply built, much like floppy drives were by the late '90s. I've seen my fair share develop issues just due to "old age" (that being more than a decade). Bad bearings, bad belts, and electronic issues that I guess are a mix of bad caps and dodgy microswitches. I have a HL-DT-ST DH10N in here that seems to have gotten confused about whether it's closed in recent times, I think that's a contact issue in the switch for tray closed detection. I also managed to wreck the bearings in an older LG of mine with an eccentric CD once. In terms of slim drives, the Toshiba / Samsung TS-U633 seems to be a solid one.
A lot of modern(ish) optical drives aren't bad CD rippers at all, they're just often very cheaply built, much like floppy drives were by the late '90s. I've seen my fair share develop issues just due to "old age" (that being more than a decade). Bad bearings, bad belts, and electronic issues that I guess are a mix of bad caps and dodgy microswitches. I have a HL-DT-ST DH10N in here that seems to have gotten confused about whether it's closed in recent times, I think that's a contact issue in the switch for tray closed detection. I also managed to wreck the bearings in an older LG of mine with an eccentric CD once. In terms of slim drives, the Toshiba / Samsung TS-U633 seems to be a solid one.