Sick of hunting down old CDs to avoid crappy remasters

Yet again I've been sent a 'mint' CD that stinks of lofts/damp basements. Despite wiping everything down; booklet, disc and case you can never get rid of that smell. The booklet staples are rusty too. Sure the CD isn't too scratched but the whole package just reeks.

...and I paid 3X the price of a new remaster.
Man I just want to buy new. No BS. Why does this state of affairs exist where old OOP music sounds better than the stuff available to buy new?

 

If it wasn’t advertised as you received it (per your description), I’d complain to the Seller.

Do you buy it off EBay, Discogs, or Amazon Marketplace?

 

You said it Forum friend. I recently needed new copies of the first two Boston albums. So I ordered new copies from Amazon, and the remasters showed up.
Well, they sound different, and not just louder. I heard random bits I didn't remember with the past CDs.

 

I know the feeling. I am very hesitant about buying used CDs online in general. I got burned just recently with a hard to find CD on eBay. The CD had a hairline scratch that apparently was deep enough to affect playback and no amount of cleaning or resurfacing would even allow the CD to be ripped. I'm so glad I didn't pay more than $8 for it.

 

Yeah I'm sending it back. Just so annoying that the reason is "it smells". I would rather it looked like it had been used as a hockey puck like one of the used CDs I ordered previously. It seems kinda insulting to send a guy his stuff back because it stinks but there's no way it's going in my rack.

 

I don't think I've ever had a smelly cd but I've had some smelly album covers. I had to air them out in the backyard.

 

I got one of those musty attic, old cigarette ash laden CD's of a Sheffield Lab direct to disc Harry James album.

I had to remove the disc and lay out the liner note paper portion on a rack to air them out. I washed the plastic jewel case in bleach, laundry detergent because it has enzymes (a tip I got from an auto mechanic). After the paper aired out enough I sealed it in plastic ziplock bag and put the disc back with the washed jewel case. The CD shows through the front jewel case so I know what CD it is.

 

Even better -
Similar stinky CDs that I’ve ordered from Amazon Marketplace sellers have just asked me to trash it, or they’ll send me a pre-postage-paid envelope to return it.
It’s “insult to injury” for you to pay postage, out of your pocket, to return their trash back.

Whether you bought it off eBay, Discogs, or Amazon Marketplace - There should be a cost free option for you to dump that disc.

 

The sending it back or complaining to the seller idea is a good policy in theory, but close to 50% of the vintage CDs that I receive from discogs, Amazon, and eBay are in noticeably worse condition than they were described, even from reputable sellers. I don't have time to have a bunch of communication over multiple $5 transactions. I've just learned to put up with it as long as the CDs play. I'm with the op though... I didn't get into to this hobby to "collect" vintage CDs. I just want the music to sound nice, and modern reissues never sound nice (with a very few exceptions, usually in the form of limited editions from boutique labels, and even those are usually not *quite* as nice, to my ears, as actual vintage cd mastering)

 

Seriously, why isn’t the loudness war over?

Do people who buy CDs at this point still worry about the volume?

 

I was hoping for a good CD copy of Electric Ladyland a couple weeks ago

 

Guess I'm lucky. I've literally never bought or experienced a smelly cd.

 

My only such experience was through Amazon; it’s quick, simple, and painless.

1. Just pull up your transaction history.
2. Send an email (be professional & courteous)
3. State the CD was received with a foul horrible odor, and you do not want it.
4. Request for options to get a refund.

To NOT email the seller about the issue is basically silently accepting their faulty business practice. It’s allowing them to self-perpetuate dumping their shoddy poor product on other buyers.

You’re falling into the lazy trap that they’re hoping dissatisfied customers will just settle for.

 

I think that you are only understanding half of the problem here. He's frustrated that the loudness wars have put him in the position of having to always look for the oldest masterings. And if the loudness wars didn't exist, he would be happily buying brandnew CDs today.

The reason why he purchased this CD in the first place is because it is one of the masters which he knows hasn't been brickwalled. And he doesn't want to return it because these are difficult to come by. And so he's frustrated that the only way to get the good sounding masterings is to put up with this kind of BS.

So if he returns it, he might be unable to easily locate another acceptable mastering of this CD. I've done exactly the same thing as the OP, and I too find the process to be annoying. And so I understand his dilemma.

 

Here's the issue with the old vs the new. Didn't the original issue cd's have old riaa vinyl eq scoop on them? If i'm wrong just tell me to shut up, but I thought that was the whole reason cd's were remastered in the first place was because of this.

 

I must admit, I do enjoy my older CD's much more than the new stuff.
Too hot, too much filtering, compression whatever.... I like the 80's and early 90's discs the best.

 

I usually buy a cd because I want to hear the music on them more than whether or not it has a certain mastering.
I have bought some SHM cds from CDJapan because I know what I'm paying for and it will be a source mastering I really want.

But that is not the norm.

I don't get stressed out about remasters vs original cd pressings. I check the various thrifts on a daily basis and invariably a target cd, MFSL, deluxe version, or old CBS mastering of the Stones catalog will show up.
SACDS are more rare. So that is how I try to get the "better" pressings. I can't change how a cd sounds. I don't think the average seller of cds on Amazon and Ebay are even aware of the "loudness war" and probably have no idea about what mastering the cd they are selling has so I don't think it is realistic to expect a lot of accuracy from most sellers. Most of them are probably just trying to unload 20 year old cds they think no one wants.

Poorly pressed new vinyl bugs me a lot more than smelly cds...not that I ever sniffed one. Yet.

 

Definitely, Rick. Nothing like an 80s Merle Haggard CD on Epic to get the day started..

 

I bought a mint Marantz SR4023 stereo receiver from a NC eBay seller in 2017. It had that basement mildew stench, other than that it was perfect. Hate that nasty smell, paid return shipping back to NC. Seller emails back he can’t smell any odor, told him have someone else check it. He refunds my money shortly after. Bought a new golf bag with mildew smell in 2016, very hard to get rid of all of it, even leaving it out in the sun for days. Willing to search for old CDs that sound right and pay more, but also picky about condition. Many sellers don’t know how to check carefully for scratches, or don’t care and overrate their stuff. Mildew odor CD is a deal breaker too, junk!

 

It is just really too bad that modern cds aren’t mastered better, such a waste and trouble. I’m always seeking out used original cds, but what about new music where there is no decent cd version. It really sucks. Sometimes I buy vinyl or even cassettes looking for more dynamic mastering, and sometimes it works and sometimes it’s a big waste of time and money.

Why can’t we just get decent dynamic mastering on new cds and new remastered cds?

 

I believe I do understand the OP, and
Actually this thread has a Two Tiered Problem:
1. Crappy remasterings that may be brickwalled
2. Sellers that misrepresent the product he buys

I offered a viable, reasonable and practical solution to One of the problems:
Communicate with the Seller regarding your dissatisfaction.
That’s easy, and can be dealt with without much fuss nor effort. (Depending on where he purchased it... however, still not disclosed.)

My response was primarily in part to other posters that seem to just shrug their shoulders, and accept it whenever they receive a crappy stinky scratched used CD.
That’s not good!

No one has a solution to the Other problem.
(Which is poor sounding remasters.)
Essentially, the record labels are in control of this, and will release whatever they wish.

If this Thread exists solely as a vehicle to vent, then I understand, and everyone can say their piece. I have no comment regarding that other issue...

 

Amen. The title to this thread is something that I a mate of mine and myself complain about about all the time.

It's insane that CD masters get replaced with something WORSE to appease a (younger) demographic that doesn't even care about music before 2010 or psychical media formats!!! I shouldn't have to troll through 50 threads and dig through 2nd hand shops to get a decent sound CD. Newer should mean better, especially with digital.

Let's face it - the whole Loudness War may be stupid and pointless, but it's an endless cycle that will never be broken because the artists and labels will never help reverse the trend. As long as someone still wants it louder, everyone else wont want to be the one left behind.

 

I tried to return a receiver on ebay because it reeked of cigarette smoke and the guy sent back a really nasty e-mail acting like he was beside himself that I would try to return it over the way it smelled (but then also tried to claim there's no way it smelled). This thing stunk up my whole room as soon as I opened the box and unwrapped the bubble wrap. Then when I plugged it in and started using it, forget it. I had to take the cover off and put dryer sheets inside and leave it in my basement for quite some time. Every now and then I would go down and check it and still get a whiff. I knew if I could still smell it at all, it would still stink up my room once plugged in (I tried a couple times). By the time the smell went away, I had another system setup and no longer needed it. It's sitting on a shelf in an unused room waiting to be part of a 3rd system one day. But hey, it doesn't smell now after like 10 years. It did get some use as a phono preamp for transfers.

 

No. Never happened as far as I know.

There’s a bit of confusion because a CD might be made from the LP master tape. That doesn’t mean RIAA which is applied later. It might mean reduced bass though since too much bass can cause problems on vinyl.

Tim

 

Just download the FLACs and burn a CDR. It's not as if you are depriving the artist of money by doing so. No money goes to the artist when S/H copies are sold anyway. The chances are you have already paid for at least one 'remastered' copy somewhere down the line, too.

As an aside I usually get pretty good CDs when I order from discogs. But I am careful. Only one non-playable CD disaster I recall, where I got a full refund.