Buying CDs. Why?

[Roehre]

Not all CDs are delivered without faults, either. I have had quite a few where the reflective layer was defective.

Or play completely other music as is on the label (a pop concert on an Ondine Finnish trumpet concertos CD, or a -still unidentified- piano recital in stead of Milhaud orchestral works on a Discovery CD, e.g.), or the label on the wrong side (a Philips CD), or only one track for the whole CD without index points (Marco Polo with Schmidt 1)

[Dave2002]

Or play completely other music as is on the label (a pop concert on an Ondine Finnish trumpet concertos CD, or a -still unidentified- piano recital in stead of Milhaud orchestral works on a Discovery CD, e.g.), or the label on the wrong side (a Philips CD), or only one track for the whole CD without index points (Marco Polo with Schmidt 1)

I once had an EMI CD - one of the GROC series (actually still got it somewhere), which claimed one thing, and was clearly another. I think I was expecting Brahms' Requiem, but actually it was Fauré's - something like that, anyway. It wasn't just a packaging error, as the CD label was also incorrect. I was sent an additional "replacement" which was as I originally intended.

[Don Petter]

11. The last couple of seconds missing from a track. (This occasionally happens on Spotify also)

The issue is not that there are errors but how frequently they occur.

I notice that on my Amazon Cloud Autorip of a Menahem Pressler CD one track (not the last one) is some two minutes short. It doesn't worry me now I have the CD itself, but shows that their conversion method is not foolproof.

[Gary Cole]

In the earlier days of CDs, works such as the Diabelli Variations might have index points, rather than separate tracks. I was sorry to see the use of indices abandoned by nearly all those authoring CDs.

It wasn't really to do with 'those authoring CDs' but hardware companies producing fewer and fewer consumer-level players that could read index points until it became pointless using them. I was a great fan of index points!

Gary Cole
Regent Records Ltd

[Bryn]

It wasn't really to do with 'those authoring CDs' but hardware companies producing fewer and fewer consumer-level players that could read index points until it became pointless using them. I was a great fan of index points!

Gary Cole
Regent Records Ltd

Thanks for the clarification. I will have to bear that in mind when using CD Architect.

[Ferretfancy]

What complicated lives downloaders seem to lead! It's a lot simpler just popping the disc into the machine, so what arcane online behaviour am I missing out on ?

Bryn, what's a CD architect?

[Bryn]

What complicated lives downloaders seem to lead! It's a lot simpler just popping the disc into the machine, so what arcane online behaviour am I missing out on ?

Bryn, what's a[sic] CD architect?

Do you not have access to Google? CD Architect is a popular CD authoring program from the Sony Sonic Foundry stable. My copy came bundled with Sound Forge Pro 11 when I recently took advantage of a promotional upgrade from its less sophisticated sibling, Sound Forge Studio 10. I don't use it for downloads, however. Nero Express (as bundled with many CD/DVD writers) is quite good enough for burning downloads to optical disc.

[hafod]

Bryn, what's a CD architect?

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/cdarchitect

No. I'm none the wiser either.

[Don Petter]

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/cdarchitect

No. I'm none the wiser either.

Dors it do anything (that you really need) that Exact Audio Copy can't do, for free?

EAC can assemble and burn CDs, compress and uncompress files, edit wave files etc, etc.

[Stunsworth]

What complicated lives downloaders seem to lead! It's a lot simpler just popping the disc into the machine, so what arcane online behaviour am I missing out on ?

The ability to find the CD in the first place. Once I started having to double fill shelves it began to become difficult. I realise it's not for everyone, but personally I find it easier to find recordings - and browse the cover art - in iTunes than I ever did with the physical CDs on a shelf.

[johnb]

Dors it do anything (that you really need) that Exact Audio Copy can't do, for free?

EAC can assemble and burn CDs, compress and uncompress files, edit wave files etc, etc.

I have used CD Architect, though not very often, and it seems to be a much more complex product, but not perhaps ideal for the casual user.

[Don Petter]

I have used CD Architect, though not very often, and it seems to be a much more complex product, but not perhaps ideal for the casual user.

That was my impression from looking at that link.

However, as with all software, you tend to get to know the bits you need and ignore the rest (which is what I do with EAC).

[Bryn]

That was my impression from looking at that link.

However, as with all software, you tend to get to know the bits you need and ignore the rest (which is what I do with EAC).

EAC is a useful, if rather clunky. program. Trouble is, the unwary can end up with loads of programs they did not intend to download if they hit the big green buttons on the EAC site. Also, once installed, if you click on the Help button and then the "About EAC..." button. It will tell you that version 1.0 beta 3 is installed, and when you exit "About EAC.." it will tell you that you have an old beta and encourage you to get the latest version from their site. It's a con. Version 1.0 beta 3 is the latest version. It has not been revised since 2011. What they want to get you to do is click on the Download buttons on their site, which rather than offering you an update to version 1.0 beta 3, land you with converters you were not looking for. Beware. EAC itself is very useful, but its WAV editing option is a bit of a joke. It is not to be confused with the sort of editing offered by free programs such as Audacity, or dirt cheap commercial packages such as Sony's Movie Studio HD: Platinum Suite 12 (PC), which includes their Sound Forge Studio 10, (around £27 including p&p via the amazon.co.uk marketplace).

[Don Petter]

EAC is a useful, if rather clunky. program. Trouble is, the unwary can end up with loads of programs they did not intend to download if they hit the big green buttons on the EAC site. Also, once installed, if you click on the Help button and then the "About EAC..." button. It will tell you that version 1.0 beta 3 is installed, and when you exit "About EAC.." it will tell you that you have an old beta and encourage you to get the latest version from their site. It's a con. Version 1.0 beta 3 is the latest version. It has not been revised since 2011. What they want to get you to do is click on the Download buttons on their site, which rather than offering you an update to version 1.0 beta 3, land you with converters you were not looking for. Beware. EAC itself is very useful, but its WAV editing option is a bit of a joke. It is not to be confused with the sort of editing offered by free programs such as Audacity, or dirt cheap commercial packages such as Sony's Movie Studio HD: Platinum Suite 12 (PC), which includes their Sound Forge Studio 10, (around £27 including p&p via the amazon.co.uk marketplace).

Well, my EAC is still 1.0 beta 2, and I never go near their site, so that doesn't worry me.

The WAV editing does all I want - Usually editing out parts of a file, including announcements and blip noises, tapering off the applause at the end or, occasionally, normalising the file.

Audacity, I'm sure, is better, but if the devil you know does what you want ...

[MrGongGong]

Audacity, I'm sure, is better, but if the devil you know does what you want ...

Audacity is free
BUT
'clunky' and slow if you do lots of editing
it really is worth spending money if you spend a lot of time editing audio
my choice these days is Audition (ex cooledit) fast and accurate and batch processing etc