Australian CD manufacture... [Archive]

PRYML

14-01-2011, 00:20

Has anyone else noticed that the sound quality of CDs is highly dependent on where it's regionally manufactured, even though it's the same music? :scratch:

And to my ears, Australian manufactured CDs tend to sound the worse; thin-sounding, "no meat on the bones"... :chainsaw:

I suspect that the sound quality readily available to Australians (i.e. locally manufactured CDs) in the country may have also heavily influenced the way Australian Hi-Fi designers "voice" their products... or that Australian audiophiles would have a distinct preference for valve (over solid-state) amplification to compensate for the lean sound of AU manufactured CDs... :rolleyes:

Perhaps our Australian forum members can share some of their insight? :)

Batty

14-01-2011, 00:52

The only Australian made componant I have is my Krix subwoofer. I no longer have a CD player thus do not buy CDs. In short I am in no way in a position to comment.

PRYML

14-01-2011, 01:04

Hi Steve... :)

I hope that you're well and that Adelaide's not experiencing extreme weather irregularities that my friends in Queensland are currently experiencing :rolleyes:

Si74

14-01-2011, 01:21

Funnily enough I bought a couple of cd's of ebay that turned out were supposedly made in Oz and after a few tracks they went straight in the bin.
absymal quality.
On my second Supratek pre amp now and they do the biz!

theophile

14-01-2011, 03:21

I avoided the problem entirely.2000+ records,>20 CDs.

PRYML

14-01-2011, 03:50

I avoided the problem entirely.2000+ records,>20 CDs.

I guess that's why the HMV at Queens Street Mall had to close down :lol:

theophile

14-01-2011, 04:31

I guess that's why the HMV at Queens Street Mall had to close down :lol:

That should read '<20 Cds'.

At least JB Hi-Fi in the city has records. :)

Audiocom AV

14-01-2011, 08:32

Has anyone else noticed that the sound quality of CDs is highly dependent on where it's regionally manufactured, even though it's the same music? :scratch:

Absolutely.

I have purchased the same CD from France, USA, UK, Japan. The Japanese pressings are generally the best, particularly the 'Black Triangle' label, 32XD, 35DP, etc.

Over the past couple of years the country of manufacture has been replaced with ‘Made in EU’ for all European pressings.

You can buy from Amazon Japan to get Japanese pressings, often with better quality Jewel case and inserts. Be careful on the import duty.

DSJR

14-01-2011, 08:40

I bought the first Mandingo release (especially done for the Oz market and shipped from there) and apart from the inevitable "EMI" no-noise being used, it sounded fine to me. Maybe it's the sh*t quality of CD drives these days magnifying differences in manufacture, but superior clocking and low-jitter operation should more than make up for this?

Audiocom AV

14-01-2011, 08:55

I bought the first Mandingo release (especially done for the Oz market and shipped from there) and apart from the inevitable "EMI" no-noise being used, it sounded fine to me. Maybe it's the sh*t quality of CD drives these days magnifying differences in manufacture, but superior clocking and low-jitter operation should more than make up for this?

Even with very low jitter clocks, internal or external, you can still hear the differences between the quality of CD's.

MartinT

14-01-2011, 08:57

Be careful on the import duty.

Order them one at a time. Each package will be less than £18 so will avoid import duty. I have used Amazon Japan and HMV Japan with great success.

UV101

14-01-2011, 09:02

You can buy from Amazon Japan to get Japanese pressings, often with better quality Jewel case and inserts. Be careful on the import duty.

Yes but can you understand the website!!!! :lolsign:

http://www.amazon.co.jp/

Audiocom AV

14-01-2011, 09:03

Yes but can you understand the website!!!! :lolsign:

http://www.amazon.co.jp/

Thankfully, it is also in English;

http://www.amazon.co.jp/In-English/b?ie=UTF8&node=1094656

Audiocom AV

14-01-2011, 09:05

Order them one at a time. Each package will be less than £18 so will avoid import duty. I have used Amazon Japan and HMV Japan with great success.

Thanks Martin.

Not sure if that pushes up the shipping cost. Multiple items may save on shipping, but that = import tax.

It is worth the effort.

UV101

14-01-2011, 10:06

Thankfully, it is also in English;

http://www.amazon.co.jp/In-English/b?ie=UTF8&node=1094656

Thanks Mark, I'll take a look :cool:

Batty

14-01-2011, 21:45

Hi Steve... :)

I hope that you're well and that Adelaide's not experiencing extreme weather irregularities that my friends in Queensland are currently experiencing :rolleyes:

Thanks for your concern, Adelaide only received a mere 30mm of rain so not a problem and very welcome.

magiccarpetride

14-01-2011, 22:44

Has anyone else noticed that the sound quality of CDs is highly dependent on where it's regionally manufactured, even though it's the same music? :scratch:

And to my ears, Australian manufactured CDs tend to sound the worse; thin-sounding, "no meat on the bones"... :chainsaw:

I suspect that the sound quality readily available to Australians (i.e. locally manufactured CDs) in the country may have also heavily influenced the way Australian Hi-Fi designers "voice" their products... or that Australian audiophiles would have a distinct preference for valve (over solid-state) amplification to compensate for the lean sound of AU manufactured CDs... :rolleyes:

Perhaps our Australian forum members can share some of their insight? :)

Ah, so that explains the weird incident I've witnessed in my local CD shop: one dude was walking around the store with two shopping baskets filled to overflowing with CDs. He would then unload them on the counter, and go back for some more shopping. When asked wtf?, he just replied that he's on a short visit from Australia.