I believe, I have had this problem also, or a similar one. I've reproduced this problem not only with cdparanoia, but also cdda2wav. Interestingly, the problem seems to be related to the KIND of music. I have no trouble ripping various rock sorts of things, but *opera* CDs universally bog near the end of the track while ripping. I am not sure why this happens, but have found that if I'm patient enough (i.e., take an hour or two for a single CD), I get an ok rip. I posted to ask about this problem earlier, but got no responses. Best, Robert