How to choose audio CDs based on mastering quality?

[Vandal]

Recently, I've been looking to ramp up my music collection. Wanted to ask the experts here if pressing makes a difference, and how much of a difference? Also looking at a CD, how to tell if it'll be a very high quality copy or not? Are there any indicators to look for on the cover itself, which give a clue as mastered from original, re-mastered, which press was used etc?
Thanks!

 

[jls001]

Thumb Rule while buying CDs: see the label for "Imported by ......"

Avoid cheap Rs 199 CDs. They have lousy covers (no jewel case!), badly burned and tend to sound lousy compared to costlier imports. I think for producing cheaper CDs, the quality control takes a back seat
Joshua

 

[Vandal]

Thanks Joshua. Among imported CD's, anything special to look for? How can I tell where/what equipment was used to re master/make the disc? Like is it part of the bar code, or some other numbering on the case/disc?

 

[iaudio]

Vandal, interesting thread you have started. I will be glued in to know if there are ways to identify a better CD other than buying and listening to it!
Like Joshua said, most of the 'import' cds offer better quality, while the cheaper versions are in most cases compromised for quality.
My recent purchase of Leonard Cohen Essential CD was recommended by Ajay124 on the forum, he had confirmed that it was a good recording besides being a good compilation of songs, at a decent price.

 

[rahuljonline]

It's quite easy to tell as some of the cds have pixelleted album covers. It's easy to tell that they are somehow not imported but burnt here.

 

[kvandhi]

Thumb Rule while buying CDs: see the label for "Imported by ......"

Avoid cheap Rs 199 CDs.

Do you mean by we have to avoid cheap price CDs.(Rs199). Beacuse i can see some CDs priced around Rs399 and others are Rs199. So how to decide the quality just by looking the cover of CDs?

 

[bunty312]

Will there be an audible difference between the two (Rs. 199/- v.s Rs.399/-) ?
Other than the covering etc...
If every '1' is copied as a '1' and every '0' as a '0', i dont see any difference.

 

[santhukp]

Will there be an audible difference between the two (Rs. 199/- v.s Rs.399/-) ?
Other than the covering etc...
If every '1' is copied as a '1' and every '0' as a '0', i dont see any difference.

Hmmm... Good point..

 

[iaudio]

Will there be an audible difference between the two (Rs. 199/- v.s Rs.399/-) ?
Other than the covering etc...
If every '1' is copied as a '1' and every '0' as a '0', i dont see any difference.

What about the quality of the disc?

 

[Latheesh]

Many Rs.399 CDs are of pathetic quality. Kasoor Rs.125 CD I bought is worst than MP3.

Experts - we can rank Indian/Intnl labels based on the quality, inputs pls

Almost all CDs by Verve records in my collection are good.

 

[NetFreak]

Thumb Rule while buying CDs: see the label for "Imported by ......"

Avoid cheap Rs 199 CDs. They have lousy covers (no jewel case!), badly burned and tend to sound lousy compared to costlier imports. I think for producing cheaper CDs, the quality control takes a back seat
Joshua

Best way to handle this situation is to buy the CD and make couple of copies or store that as ISO in PC.

There would not be any difference in Audio quality but life of CD itself might be lesser due to inferior substrates etc.

Audio quality would suffer only if they choose to remaster audio stream itself. Quality of CD material, pressing would not impact audio quality.

 

[bunty312]

Best way to handle this situation is to buy the CD and make couple of copies or store that as ISO in PC.

There would not be any difference in Audio quality but life of CD itself might be lesser due to inferior substrates etc.

Audio quality would suffer only if they choose to remaster audio stream itself. Quality of CD material, pressing would not impact audio quality.

"There would not be any difference in Audio quality but life of CD itself might be lesser due to inferior substrates etc." +1

As long as the '1's are read as '1's and '0's are read as '0's, Rs.199/- CD = Rs.399/- CD..
But how long this happends depends on the quality of the disc..

 

[bunty312]

"There would not be any difference in Audio quality but life of CD itself might be lesser due to inferior substrates etc." +1

As long as '1's are read as '1's and '0's as '0's, there will be no difference.
But how long this happens depends on the quality of the CD.

 

[reignofchaos]

Buy Japanese pressings off ebay. they have the best mastering of all cd's. Then come the EU pressings and finally the lousy indian ones

 

[NetFreak]

But how long this happens depends on the quality of the CD.

Yes, cheaper CDs can degrade faster. But its easy and cheap to work around that. You can keep a copy of CD and/or keep a copy on PC in form lossless audio.

 

[rahuljonline]

Best way to handle this situation is to buy the CD and make couple of copies or store that as ISO in PC.

There would not be any difference in Audio quality but life of CD itself might be lesser due to inferior substrates etc.

Audio quality would suffer only if they choose to remaster audio stream itself. Quality of CD material, pressing would not impact audio quality.

Completely agree... That's the primary reason that CDs emerged victorious against the vinyls...

 

[jls001]

Do you mean by we have to avoid cheap price CDs.(Rs199). Beacuse i can see some CDs priced around Rs399 and others are Rs199. So how to decide the quality just by looking the cover of CDs?

Typically. In my (limited) experience, the cheaper CDs tend to sound bad. I don't think the cover tells the full story. Even some imported CDs sound bad. I guess it boils down to which mastering was used to burn the CDs.
Joshua

 

[jls001]

Will there be an audible difference between the two (Rs. 199/- v.s Rs.399/-) ?
Other than the covering etc...
If every '1' is copied as a '1' and every '0' as a '0', i dont see any difference.

If you have heard of Exact Audio Copy application (a free application) which is widely used to rip CDs, it uses multiple methods to ensure that what you rip is a bit perfect copy of the source, or as near bit perfect as possible. Firstly, it uses the usual error corrections (which is part of any two-way digital signal transmission chain). Second, it compares what you are ripping to an online database and checks if is the same as what they have on their database. It uses this database to add additional corrections, where appropriate. It gives you an "AccurateRip" result in percentage of confidence of its accuracy.

Compared to a rip using Windows Media Player (or similar players or ripping softwares), EAC is supposed to be more accurate. While installing EAC, it first asks you to calibrate your CD drive for optimal rip.

Bottom line: not all 1s and 0s are the same. Some are more equal than others.

Reason: one application takes an anal retentive approach to getting it bit perfect, while others are less particular. So all the 1s and 0s of the master does not get transferred verbatim to the copy.

Another reason for bad records is they use less than stellar masters.
Joshua

 

[Asterix]

Very interesting observations...here are some of mine...mostly empirical based on experience-

1. Invariably imported CDs sound better than Indian recordings..even if the release is through the Indian arm of the Label. By sounding better, I mean that the sound stage is more dynamic, instrument separation is better and clarity and effect of mixing stands out. These differences will show up even in an entry level dedicated stereo system.

2. Recording quality of albums are better than that of compilations of the same label/ artist! Surprising!

3. Releases from the EU are the best followed by US releases

4.Have particularly enjoyed the quality of releases of Vertigo, A&M, Sony (US), Universal (us) for Rock

5. Impact of ageing: Indian CDs that I had purchased in '98-'99 have deteriorated in physical appearance-ie the recorded surface has developed some cloudy patches which sometimes are removed on cleaning with handwash...but invariably persist. No deterioration seen on a set of 25 CDs i had purchased in 1999 in the US.

 

[NetFreak]

Bottom line: not all 1s and 0s are the same. Some are more equal than others.

Reason: one application takes an anal retentive approach to getting it bit perfect, while others are less particular. So all the 1s and 0s of the master does not get transferred verbatim to the copy.

That is the case only if CD has errors (E.g. Scratches). Error Correction Audio CDs favors playback over correctness (to avoid skips). Apps like these try to work around this aspect.

Another way is not bother with audio at all. Just create the CD image as "data" when its new and store it.

Due to the way Audio CD works, you will have to use BIN/CUE format instead of ISO. CUE stores info on tracks like start and end time of tracks.