Re: [gentoo-desktop] Re: A few problems with CDs and sound

[Paul de Vrieze]

On Tue, Apr 1, 2008 at 4:49 AM, Duncan <1i5t5.duncan@×××.net> wrote:
> Randy Barlow <randy@×××××××××××××××××.com> posted
>  47F0CA08.3070400@×××××××××××××××××.com, excerpted below, on  Mon, 31 Mar
>  2008 07:24:56 -0400:
>
>
>  > Lindsay Haisley wrote:
>  >> I may try this, though, since libgnomevfs still complains about not
>  >> being able to find libcdda.so.  I'm not sure what this library does.
>  >
>  > I think libcdda is for looking up on a central database the artist/track
>  > names for CDs.
>
>  Yes.  CD-database.  There's some politics in the history there for those
>  interested...


Hmm. Actually, it has little to do with databases. That is CDDB
(notice the last letter). CDDA is CD Direct Access. This comes from
the fact that there are two ways to play cd's with a computer. The
first way is to have your dvd (or cd) player, transform the cd data
into sound, and transfer it via a cable to your sound card (or
motherboard). This is what the cd channel in your mixer is about. The
second way used to be problematic a long time ago, but shouldn't
really be so now. It fixes the problem of missing
cdplayer-to-soundcard cables. That is, the cd drive reads the digital
data from the disc, and this data is then send as pcm data (like a wav
file) to the sound card. The job of libcdda is to do that. The culprit
here is a wrapper around libcdda to allow gnome systems to see an
audio cd as a filesystem (it is not) and also provide easy ripping in
the user interface.

Paul

ps. To rip cd's you always use digital access. Otherwise you couldn't
make quality copies.

-- 
Paul de Vrieze
Researcher
Mail: paul.devrieze@×××××.com
Homepage: http://www.devrieze.net
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