Anyone Bought Commercially Released CDs That Seem to BE CD-Rs?

I think you have to be a little careful about assuming that any black CD is a CD-R. I assumed that for quite a while but then at some point checked some of what I had thought were CD-R's because of the coloring and they were actually real CDs.

 

No.

. . . and if I ever receive one that was not clearly described beforehand, it goes right back in the mail.

 

Indeed, some years back Rhino Records released a five-disc Ray Charles box set with black CDs for an extra touch of class. Not sure if those were devoid of matrix numbers, though.

 

I recently acquired David Crosby/Graham Nash's Whistling Down The Wire from CD Universe. The CD is out of print, but on Amazon, one can still buy it in CDR form, produced by Amazon. I thought I found a new copy of a 2000 factory pressing from CD Universe, but when it was delivered, it was clearly a CDR. The whole thing was baffling -- did CD Universe obtain CDR pressings from Amazon? Needless to say, it was sent back for a refund.

 

Yes, it's very hard to find a copy of the real CD of that title, and will likely be expensive if you can find a copy. It took me quite a number of years to finally get one at a normal price. The only advantage you have is the ignorance of most people about the difference, so you may find a cheap copy of the real thing; however, you might have to go through a lot of email exchanges and returned CDRs to get one, which might not be worth your time.

 

Yeah, it is not worth the aggravation. I like the album and have a download version, but it would have been nice to have it on CD. That said, I will probably just stick with the download, unless it is reissued on vinyl one day (which seems unlikely).

 

Yes, several unfortunately. From Hep Jazz, Nimbus and Mercury Living Presence. They are poorer in quality than factory made discs, no question about it; many digital artifacts can be heard.

 

purchased several john fahey in-print titles from amazon about a year ago. most were actual silver cds. Volume 6 and Volume 4 (from 60s) on Takoma were both light purple/CD-Rs, not indicated as such when purchased, not marked as CD-Rs on packaging and I also charged at full price ($11-13 each). I did get my money back, returned them and ordered them from third party seller and had better luck. Others from the 60s on Takoma and some from early 70s were actual silver CDs...
Also, I recently picked up several john fahey titles from the 80s on rounder - all were CD-Rs and I was charged at full price of $15 each -- none marked as CD-Rs on discs or in description on amazon...!?
jw

 

Just purchased George Russell Sextet, Ezz-Thetics, from Amazon. Turned out to be a CD-R. Seems like more than a few of the Keepnews Collection titles are now shipping as CD-R's. Not listed as such on Amazon.

 

O'Jays "The Imperial Years 63-66 We'll Never Forget You" from Shout is also a CD-R.

 

The Sammy Hagar & The Circle CD that just came out last week is a CD-R. At least if you order it through Amazon.

 

Got the recently released Grand Magus "Wolf God" CD from Japan and thankfully it's a factory CD - whew. Wonder if the domestic is?

-s1m0n-

 

huh? its not listed as such anywhere

 

Amazon retroactively listed it as an "on demand" CD.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RD3GFV1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They have set up a second release page for their pressed CD version.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NN5QHH7/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

 

thank you. wtf. why have a pressed and CDR release? are we sure there is a real pressing of it?

 

I will find out in a couple of days. I posted another thread about it earlier today just specific to the new Hagar release.

 

Found a disc yesterday from 1995(!) that is a CD-R, this one also has silk-screened art on the disc label:

Arco Iris / De Cusco
Algeria - Joy (The Best of Latin American Music)
Catalog No.: Arco 9506
UPC: 7502694212507

-s1m0n-

 

Absolutely always return CD-Rs for a refund. Otherwise, what incentive is there for labels to issue recordings on real CDs?

Also, leave a 1-star rating review on Amazon's product page warning potential buyers that the release in question is issued on CD-R.

 

I do think it's important that labels are completely transparent about this. It ought to be clear what the consumer is getting. I've since bought another Smithsonian CD, but was able to find it secondhand on a silver disc.

 

Thanks for the warning. In protest of this ridiculous and totally unacceptable situation I now refuse to buy this CD period, even if I think I might be getting the real pressed CD. It is simply not even worth the friggin' hassle of getting a goddam CDR instead.

 

I was at intermission at a concert recently and they had some CDs on the merch table. I picked up and looked at a few (all sealed in cello) and wondered to myself, "I wonder if this is a factory CD or not?" Then I spotted another one but this was a hybrid Super Audio CD and I thought, that disc is a sure bet right there because, as far as I know, they do not have SACD (hybrid) burnable media so it has to be a factory pressed disc*. Granted this doesn't help for the hundreds of titles you may want for which there is no SACD option but it made me think.

-s1m0n-

* I hope not to be proven wrong but if you know otherwise please enlighten us.

 

All factory-pressed hybrid SACDs have a gold-colored bottom. SACD-Rs exist, but they technically aren't legal and most SACD players won't play them.

 

Thanks Phantom, good info.

-s1m0n-

 

Although I've had Amazon refuse to publish 1 star reviews based on that.
I never buy CD's from Amazon now.

If I must have a CD I'll order a japanese pressing from CDjapan, or if it's an older release I'll buy it used on discogs.

 

I bought the Glamping EP by Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (ex-Jellyfish) via PledgeMusic. Great music (including a Jason Falkner guitar solo), but the pale blue color of the play surface screams CD-R to me. Same with a compilation of rare Tomorrow tracks sold by the band's drummer, John "Twink" Alder.