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Topic: Are Music Club CDs Inferior to Store-bought? (Read 5721 times) previous topic - next topic
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Are Music Club CDs Inferior to Store-bought?

I was reading this review at Epinions, and the author claims that music club CDs, such as ones from BMG, are identical to the ones you'd buy in the store. However, I've noticed that most of my BMG discs don't match the ones in Accurate Rip's database (my other ones do, so it's not a config problem).

They're apparently different, but are they inferior in any way?

Are Music Club CDs Inferior to Store-bought?

Reply #1 –
That's odd. Did freedb ID the disc properly?
EAC>1)fb2k>LAME3.99 -V 0 --vbr-new>WMP12 2)MAC-Extra High
 

Are Music Club CDs Inferior to Store-bought?

Reply #2 –
I didn't know that they were different.  I have many CD's that I purchased from these clubs, they include some of my favorite CD's.  So far, all of the ones I purchase are in the accurate rip database.

I haven't used a CD service in 2 years so I don't know if things have changed.

I guess you could always rip a song off of one of those CDs in a lossless format and rip that same song off of a store bought in the same lossless format.  Then conduct a direct bit comparison.  If the two match, then the CD from the club has the same quality as the CD from the store.

I wonder if you have import albums.  I noticed that, when I was in the CD club (it was Columbia House) that most of the albums I ordered were actually imports.  I personally liked that better as import albums generally have a track or two that aren't on the US retail versions.

Are Music Club CDs Inferior to Store-bought?

Reply #3 –
Store-specific releases do exist. I've seen Best Buy editions of some CDs in the allmusic database, for example.
EAC>1)fb2k>LAME3.99 -V 0 --vbr-new>WMP12 2)MAC-Extra High

Are Music Club CDs Inferior to Store-bought?

Reply #4 –
I actually ran into this about a year ago.  I ended up doing a little test and the difference turned out to be that there was a minor offset of the audio data at the very beginning of the CD.  Other than about 100 or so zero value samples at the beginning of the first track the audio was identical.  Probably can be attributed to a different pressing or something of that nature.
"Monkey see, monkey do, yeah."  David J. Matthews

Are Music Club CDs Inferior to Store-bought?

Reply #5 –
I haven't checked all of them, but I have at least three that don't match at all. I have another that matches all but one track despite matching CRCs on three different drives. Thinking these CDs might have a different offset, I tried reconfiguring the drive, but Accurate Rip wouldn't accept them as key discs.

I found one that matched, but I just assumed that it was because other people submitted the BMG disc to the database.

If the audio on these discs isn't known to be of inferior quality, it's not something that I'll worry about.

Are Music Club CDs Inferior to Store-bought?

Reply #6 –
All the CDs I've gotten from BMG Direct are definitely different (in packaging at least).  You can tell because if you look where the barcode is, in small print it says Manufactured for BMG Direct.  I think they re-print/press the discs either overseas somewhere cheaper or use cheaper material.  I've been happy with everything I've gotten, though!

Are Music Club CDs Inferior to Store-bought?

Reply #7 –
Quote from: Fuchal on
I think they re-print/press the discs either overseas somewhere cheaper or use cheaper material.  I've been happy with everything I've gotten, though!


I don't know if they use cheaper material now, but I have over a hundred BMG club CDs that are over 15 years old.  None of them show any problems.
Creature of habit.

Are Music Club CDs Inferior to Store-bought?

Reply #8 –
I have alot as well and think they are just a different pressing. The license the albums and have a separate factory for the club discs. At least that is my understanding. As for the quality of sound on the discs I do not believe there to be any difference.

Are Music Club CDs Inferior to Store-bought?

Reply #9 –
This has been discussed here.