CDs vs Downloads

[teamsaint]

Is there another announcement that physical media are dead ?
If so, I need to know before I start work tomorrow.

[Bryn]

Absolutely no reason at all for cds or their cases to fail apart from them not being taken proper care of!

Though not very often, I have found CDs to arrive in the post damaged due to splines from the jewel case hub having broken off in transit and scratched the CD's upper surface coating. This can lead to skipping or simply a truncated playback.

[richardfinegold]

A pity, but I won't be buying any more CDs as gifts. (I bought my father quite a few and later inherited them back when he passed away). The only CDs I buy are specific albums by favourite artists, eg latest Dylan, and discs, especially song recitals, where you get the lyrics conveniently to hand and those that have been attractively or lovingly produced, eg Phillippe Jaroussky's Mélodies françaises on Verlaine’s poems on Erato. Alpha Classics and Harmonia Mundi, likewise French, are also good at producing aesthetically appealing albums that you might want own physically.

I don't quite go along with David Mitchell when he refers to CDs' "annoying unreliability, their propensity to get scratched and skip, to become grubby and then get further scratched when you wipe them". It can happen but I have not found it to be a major problem. But I do take his point on their "their maddening, clattery, self-disassembling boxes".

I usually just wipe mine with distilled water and a bath towel . I’ve used hand soap with excellent results. Compared to the maintenance required for lps this is a breeze

[gurnemanz]

Though not very often, I have found CDs to arrive in the post damaged due to splines from the jewel case hub having broken off in transit and scratched the CD's upper surface coating. This can lead to skipping or simple a truncated playback.

I like to keep a few spare blanks cases as replacements, also doubles, since even small scratches or cracks annoy me slightly.

Another minor irritant is that sometimes the small teeth that hold the disc in place break off.

[Bryn]

. . . Another minor irritant is that sometimes the small teeth that hold the disc in place break off.

Those are what I referred to as "splines from the jewel case hub".

[gurnemanz]

Those are what I referred to as "splines from the jewel case hub".

Thanks. I shall duly incorporate the word "spline" into my active vocabulary.

[gurnemanz]

PS: if a spline (I'm starting to use this word immediately) should snap off on one of the card based CD cases, you cannot remedy the situation without complaining to the manufacturer to get a replacement - which I probably wouldn't bother doing and which they might not comply wuth anyway.

[Bryn]

Thanks. I shall duly incorporate the word "spline" into my active vocabulary.

I struggled between "spline" and "tine", as in forks (the other end to the handle).

[Petrushka]

I like to keep a few spare blanks cases as replacements, also doubles, since even small scratches or cracks annoy me slightly.

Another minor irritant is that sometimes the small teeth that hold the disc in place break off.

I've got a decent sized boxful of empty jewel cases precisely for this purpose. Most of them were obtained from the free promotional discs that Gramophone gave away, while others came from now outdated CD ROMs.

[Lordgeous]

Likewise! As I think I've said before, whoever designed CD cases should be shot! Another grumble is trying to get the inserts or booklets out. And of course, as I get older, trying to read them! Cardboard cases are easier in many ways (and more envromentally friendly) but annoying when they have no printed spine. And, I presume, are not going to last as long.

[Petrushka]

Likewise! As I think I've said before, whoever designed CD cases should be shot! Another grumble is trying to get the inserts or booklets out. And of course, as I get older, trying to read them! Cardboard cases are easier in many ways (and more envromentally friendly) but annoying when they have no printed spine. And, I presume, are not going to last as long.

The cardboard sleeves in the big boxes need careful handling as the CDs are often very difficult to extract. Many months ago a fellow Forumite suggested investing in a pair of white cotton gloves (easily obtainable from your local Boots) and I'm still using those I bought at the time of the suggestion. Wouldn't handle my CDs without them now.

It's exasperating to find those booklets that are almost impossible to either remove from the jewel case or replace into it. The most notorious one on my shelves is the Gramophone Awards Collection reissue of the Chailly recording of the complete Varese. The booklet is so thick attempts to put it back in have damaged it so I've used an elastic band to keep it together.

[Bryn]

The cardboard sleeves in the big boxes need careful handling as the CDs are often very difficult to extract. Many months ago a fellow Forumite suggested investing in a pair of white cotton gloves (easily obtainable from your local Boots) and I'm still using those I bought at the time of the suggestion. Wouldn't handle my CDs without them now.

It's exasperating to find those booklets that are almost impossible to either remove from the jewel case or replace into it. The most notorious one on my shelves is the Gramophone Awards Collection reissue of the Chailly recording of the complete Varese. The booklet is so thick attempts to put it back in have damaged it so I've used an elastic band to keep it together.

A trick I have found helpful is to lift the spine of the boolet and pull the booklet out backwards.

[cloughie]

A trick I have found helpful is to lift the spine of the boolet and pull the booklet out backwards.

Also older jewel cases had an extra central lug holding the booklet in which gave a narrower space - replacement with a newer lid or breaking off the central lugs also helps - also useful when doubling up cds in boxes to save shelfspace!

[Petrushka]

A trick I have found helpful is to lift the spine of the boolet and pull the booklet out backwards.

That's how I got the Varese booklet out of the jewel case but it's impossible to put back in. It's a rather thick 30 pager and it's made even more difficult to return to the case once some slight damage occurs such as bending the corners or buckling the paper which only increases the thickness.

[RichardB]

lift the spine of the boolet

I'd just about heard of splines before but this is a new one on me.

Of course many companies haven't used these "jewel cases" for some years, but it beats me how such a poor design was put on the market in the first place.