I recently ripped my entire IBM PC collection and have a large number of discs that are not in your database. Unfortunately, I do not have a Plextor drive, so I have been ripping my discs using CloneCD. The majority of games I have that are not in the database are not copy protected or are protected with SafeDisc. Are discs ripped using CloneCD still accepted or do you require discs to be ripped with DiscImageCreator?
DVDs can be dumped with any (DVD-capable) drive, though the use of DIC is highly preferred (together with DICUI it also exports all the necessary info in a handy .txt file ready for submission: saves a lot of time).
For CDs you indeed need a Plextor. I'm no export on the technicalities (someone will probably correct me haha), but it has something to do with reading lead-in and lead-out which most drives can't. However, recently there were some developments and it's now possible to dump CDs with a few (still widely available) Asus and LG blu-ray drives by using a custom firmware.
All of my data only CD's that are in the redump.org database that I have ripped on my drives using CloneCD have matched the checksums in the database. All of my CD's with audio tracks have matched after shifting the offset of the audio tracks. For data only CD's, if my drives are producing matching checksums across the board on discs in the database, there is no reason to believe that the rips of my data only discs that are not in the database would not be valid.
I am also ripping with 3 different makes and models of drives and getting the same results on all 3 drives.
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