LEGISSUE: Any Way to Rip / Convert Music CD with XCP DRM?

Audacity Help Forum Windows
1

HI!

Info: OS: Win10 (latest updates including Anniv. update), Audacity 2.1.2 (just updated from 2.1.0)

Issue: I have a 2005 music CD with the heinous, discredited, and almost entirely forgotten Sony XCP DRM software.

What do I want to do: rip or convert the music on the CD into mp3 files.

What the XCP does: when you look in File Explorer, you do NOT see the music tracks, only the special CD player program and some other files. Audacity does NOT see the files (of course, Audacity > Import only goes to File Explorer so Catch-22 on that). The files can ONLY be played with the player on the CD disc.

NOTE: I do not have a problem with the XCP DRM causing any software, hardware or OS problems. I have checked those things out thoroughly, yes, I did learn where the XCP files are hidden and they are not on my computer.

I have heavily researched this on the web and know a lot about the whole XCP thing–how to avoid it, how to delete it (not easy and best not to do if it isn’t causing other problems) and much more. But not how to do this.

I have also tried Nero (crap, plus, even being careful during the install, it also installed Nero Tune-It or something which was even crappier), AIMP, and EAC.

And I did this hack: thoroughly colored the outside edge of the CD disc with black marking pen. Supposedly, this makes it readable but I think it only prevents the XCP from being installed on the computer, which can also be accomplished, more easily, by holding down the key after inserting the disc. Again, the XCP software installing/having been installed on my computer is not the problem.

Does anybody have a solution other than buying the music online (obviously without the XCP) or doing the “bad thing” (which I won’t even mention because I’m sure we all frown on that method of obtaining music and other copyrighted material)?

Thanks.

2

http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/tutorial_recording_audio_playing_on_the_computer.html

Koz

3

Are you sure it’s copy protection? I’d be kinda’ surprised if XPC even works on Win7 or Win10.



Audacity does NOT see the files…

Have you tried an actual [u]CD ripping application[/u]? I’ve used [u]EAC[/u] for a long time and recently I’ve been using [u]CueRipper[/u].

Audacity [u]cannot read or burn[/u] audio CDs.

4

You got me, DVDoug. I’m a liar. I have no idea what is going on. Of course there is NO WAY that it played on MY Win10 pc.

Seriously, dude, WTF? where do you get off with your reply? Do you even know what XCP DRM is? If not, then you should do some research first before replying or at least have thoroughly read my question. You know, the question where I SAID THAT I HAVE TRIED EAC.

5

Way cool, Koz! Although, I wish you had also just said, “You may be able to record the audio by playing the CD with its built-in player by reading these sections of the manual:…” I had no idea that I could even record things playing on my computer! It’s the modern way of holding up a mono-cassette player/recorder to a mono radio (for Dr. Demento, of course). I did have to open the second help on how-to set Recording Device to Stereo Mix (Realtek…) but it worked. One note–that section of the file could use some editing to include that it works in Windows 10, too (not that I needed to see those words before trying it out).

It works! And now you’ve taught me how to “fish” and I shall be able to “fish” and “feed” myself for life. :slight_smile: I believe with this new skill I can now apply for jobs in sound mixing and editing…

Everybody else? THIS is how you answer questions–with the straight dope. Thanks again, Koz.

6

Steady on TPB. Dvddoug made a valid suggestion: “CueRipper”

I’m unclear how you got this to work. For the benefit of anyone else that comes to this forum with the same problem, perhaps you could clarify:

Given the tone of your post I’m not sure if you’re saying that it does not play on Windows 10, or if you are being sarcastic.
Your next post strongly implies that you were able to play the CD on your computer, and your first post says that you are using Windows 10, so am I right in thinking that you were being sarcastic?
Also, you said that “The files can ONLY be played with the player on the CD disc.” but you also said or implied that you did not run the software on the disk, so how did you get it to play?

For what it’s worth, I presume that the disk will play (safely) on a normal CD player? In which case, I would have just recorded it from a CD player - not quite “lossless”, but I’ve got a good CD player and a good sound card, so there would be no noticeable loss in quality. Not such a good solution for anyone that does not have appropriate hardware.

It would also be interesting to see what IsoBuster says about the CD.

7

Steve, if you don’t “get” sarcasm when it’s right in your face, you might want to avoid the internet. That was not sarcastic.

I was pretty clear–it plays on my Win10 pc with the player that is on the disc, and that is the only way it played. In a stand-alone CD player? Well, if I HAD one, I’d have tried that.

And if you re-read my question, I in no way implied that I “did not run the software on the disk.” I directly stated that it had not installed itself on my computer and that the XCP DRM had not caused a problem with my computer:

The files can ONLY be played with the player on the CD disc.

NOTE: I do not have a problem with the XCP DRM causing any software, hardware or OS problems. I have checked those things out thoroughly, yes, I did learn where the XCP files are hidden and they are not on my computer.

But to you: why bother replying when I have already stated that another user’s reply provided an actual working solution?

8

as I wrote: “For the benefit of anyone else that comes to this forum with the same problem, perhaps you could clarify:”
but I see that you have no interest in anyone other than yourself, so we’ll leave it at that.

9

Because ISOBuster or other ISO application that can see the audio data on the disc is another valid solution. If you can make it work it is a better solution, because you don’t lose quality in recording a CD by an analogue method, and you don’t have to wait for the playing time of the CD to retrieve the data.


Gale