Confronting the track lengths on the sleeve with the ones shown by a PC or a player, I came to the conclusion that CD 44 is the duplicate, i.e. CD 45 is missing. The track lengths are compatible with both but the last track, Romance in F, is some seconds shorter than what should be in CD 45.
Thanks, as soon as I have time I try to check with the CD (eloquence) in my possession. The length of the tracks is sometimes not very significant, it is sufficient to increase the silences by a few seconds at the beginning or at the end ... Thanks to your suggestions, now I know where to look... However, I wrote to universal italia both on the website and on social networks. Let's see if they respond, even if from previous experiences I would not rely too much on them, indeed they could even deny the existence of the problem ... Meanwhile, after a user's report, the product seems to have been deleted from amazon.com!
That verification with the Eloquence CD would be a huge help in confirming this issue. I've haven't seen the exact lengths of the 3 tracks of the violin concerto but will check when I turn on my PC. I also contacted: - Decca via twitter; - Universal Italy via mail; - Universal Music via mail. No Facebook since I'm still waiting an answer from them since almost two months there. But I think it should take some time for them to organise, decide their action strategy and answer.
I decided to cancel the Grumiaux box and bought the Karl Richter box instead. I'll wait until cd44-45 problem is fixed.
So, here I am with tracks details for the infamous CDs 44 and 45. I have listed the track lenghts for both CDs as listed on the sleeve (listed column) and shown by a player or PC (shown column). (Sorry, but I couldn't find a way to insert the table as text with a good enough formatting, so used an image) As you can see, the shown lenghts are exactly the same. The thing that make me think that CD 45 is missing is that track 5 is shorter that listed on the sleeve of CD 45. All the other lenghts are compatible with both CDs. I ripped both CDs with EAC and quickly visually checked the tracks waveforms with Audacity. They are identical, like a copy-paste. A metadata search for the tracks in CD 45 shows the info of CD 44's tracks. In the meantime I messaged on FB Classical Collection, which is a Universal Music (Italy probably) page that is advertising the box set. They saw my message pretty quickly, but they have yet to answer. And I finished adding the box on Discogs, check it out if you wish: Discogs entry EDIT: ok, so the Classical Collection FB page answered me, the apologise and said they're getting the correct CDs to send as a substitute. They gave me a mail address to contact and said they'll come back to me as soon as possible. The mail is an umusic mail but the contact person is Italian, so I don't know if it's the same for everyone. Seems like she's a product manager for Universal Music Italy. I've asked them if I can share the mail address and will get back when they'll answer me. If you're in Italy you can contact them directly via FB, they seem quick to answer. If you're not, try and see if you have a FB page with the same name in your country. I'll report back when I have news.
Hi , They replied to me. This is their answer: Buongiorno, ci dispiace molto per questo disguido, stiamo provvedendo a procurarci i dischi corretti da inviare in sostituzione. Mandi cortesemente una mail con il suo indirizzo a: [email protected] e la contatteremo appena possibile. Grazie e scusi ancora. Looking at the cd eloquence in my possession, with the romance directed by edo de waart, the reported length is 7.57 , this seems to confirm your thesis...
Same thing, I edited my original message. No need to report back on the mail address now Ok they also said I can share the mail address, that's the one Torran posted. I specified that I was in contact with people outside Italy with the same problem, but they didn't mention anything about the mail address being only for Italians, so you may try it or wait info from Hurwitz or others.
I'm in Canada but I ordered my set from Amazon Germany. Hopefully they'll have one contact that is good worldwide.
I got my Grumiaux box from JPC. When I heard about the problem I contacted them and sent a message to Decca on Facebook, but they (Decca) didn't reply. I e-mailed JPC again and will report back.
But what can really JPC (or any other shop really) do? You can send it back and that's it. It is up to Decca, not JPC.
JPC can and should act as an intermediary, after all I bought the box from them and in the EU the seller is accountable for any defects. No way I'm going to return the whole box to JPC, that would be too expensive. The easiest and cheapest way for JPC (and Universal) would be to replace the wrong disc.
Ok, but it depends on Decca, not JPC. JPC cannot replace anything by itself. They can only take the box and give you the money back.
Give it a shot at the mail address Torran posted. If all else fails, it's just another mail sent but they can direct you to your relevant Universal customer service.
There are more options for the seller (JPC in my case) than just take back the box and refund the buyer. Universal should and, like Universal Italy (see earlier posts about that), hopefully will provide a replacement disc, either to JPC as the seller to be forwarded to the buyer, or directly to the buyer. And, like I said, it is the cheaper option.
I wouldn't be so sure. some time ago I complained to them that a cheap membran box (barbirolli if I remember correctly) contained a duplicate cd in place of the correct one. They gave me only the correct cd without making a fuss ...
Still, I doubt a retail seller can replace an item "by itself". It would have to receive one or more replacement CDs from the manufacturer then act as the intermediary. Is it reasonable to assume Jpc.de is in that position at present?
They've done it before and I don't see why things should have changed. Anyway, I hope to hear from them soon to clear things up.
Yes - unless Jpc manufactures CDs, which they don't, they are unable to replace anything without getting the discs from the manufacturer. Presumably this is what they have done in the past to keep customers happy, but they are still just an intermediary between customer and manufacturer.
Yup, that's what I normally do. Got a replacement CD from both Sony and a boutique Jazz label in Spain that way and am aiming to do the same with Decca/Universal, too.
