Why I Use Clone CD Instead Of Exact Audio Copy :

I use an Asus DVD-E616 drive for reading (which will extract audio at 18x, 3220 kb/s), and I burn onto a Yamaha CRW-2100E.

Exact Audio Copy is an excellent program for making bit-for-bit result ".WAV" files on your hard drive, without any loss from the transfer from an audio CD to your HD.  This process can take quite long, because the CD reader must convert ALL audio tracks to the HD first, then the ".WAV" files on the HD are burnt. 

With Clone CD, it utilizes "RAW DAO" burning mode, which can do the same thing that Exact Audio Copy can do, except "on the fly", which bypasses the HD and results in about 1/2 the speed of burning a CD, and you get the same results. 

One issue with Clone CD is that not all readers and writers can support "RAW DAO" mode, but fortunately for me, both drives are supported.  So if both of your drives are supported by this program, I HIGHLY recommend that you use it.  Why spend all that extra time when you can get the same results in about 1/2 the time? 

Now I am not bashing Exact Audio Copy, it is an excellent program, but for speedy CD copies, it isn't the way to go.

I also tested Clone CD's results from burnt CDs.  I burnt 3 copies of an original CD, then using EAC I compared the resulting WAVs and they all proved to be accurate with the original CD.  You can try it yourself if you don't believe me!!!  But remember, you must burn using "RAW DAO" mode in order to get these accurate results.

I also believe that Nero 5 allows you to use "RAW DAO" mode, but I have not used Nero extensively, but anyone with info on it would be greatly appreciated. 

Links to download both programs will be provided below :

Exact Audio Copy - Link

Clone CD - Link