RE: GG on CD vs LP

["Adam Villani" <avillani@ueic.com>]

> Ouch!  All this talk about transcribing LPs to CD via PCs has
> this audiophile
> engineer running for cover.  I'd recommend buying the CD release, where
> possible.  A few issues to consider if you care about audio quality:

I'm no audiophile, but I can't really say that I'm pleased with the state
that computer CD-burners are in right now. About 50% of the time, it seems,
the resultant CDs are not playable in an ordinary CD player. As in, the
player will search and search and not come up with any tracks. These discs
are frequently only playable in a computer or a high-end CD player. Or
sometimes only the first couple of tracks are similarly unplayable.

Another frequent problem is flanging on sibilant or high-treble sounds.
Drums, for example, might come off sounding as if someone's hitting a metal
sheet right in front of a microphone. This is not just something an
audiophile would notice; any ordinary listener could listen and identify the
problem.

I've had these problems with a couple of different CD-burners and a variety
of blank CDs, but apparently with better equipment or blank CDs, one can
alleviate these problems somewhat. Perhaps in the future things may get
better, also. But for now, I would say that my reaction to computer-recorded
CDs has not been good.

Adam