CDs manufactured for BMG

[ryanc]

So I'm still going through all of my vinyl and CDs since purchasing my H3s, and I ran across something unexpected tonight. I happen to have two copies of a particular album, both on CD. On of them has the 'Mfg for BMG Direct' sticker on the back and HOLY CRAP DOES IT SOUND HORRIBLE! The difference between it and the other copy is night and day -- muffled and the levels are off.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is it normal for those cheapo BMG discs you get from their club? It almost sounds as if it's gone through some sort of compression or downmixing before being pressed.

Full disclosure; I was a BMG member back in the early 90s. Of course, I didn't have the equipment to tell the difference.

[gnatnoop]

don't have any bmg pressings but did a quick search and found this thread, they said the BMG copy of Steely Dan's Aja had the "breath of life".

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/archive/index.php/t-100686.html

[Cornman]

Uuuum, very interesting, I have some of those BMG discs & will give them a comparison test tonight.

Varations in recording quality have been discussed here quite often, & as my systm has improves I find myself less likey to play some cd's that I use to like simply because the recording quality is revealed to be so poor, & thats a real bumer because a lot of it is really great music.

Cornman

[Marvel]

I've got quite a few BMG pressings, and the mojority of them are very good. I don't know if I have an original and a BMG of the same release to make a comparison, though.

Bruce

[wdrazek]

I was a member back in the 90's. At the time I also wondered if corners were cut. Some recordings were ok, but several were thin and compressed sounding, as though they were pressed in the early 80's.

[artto]

I was a member back in the 90's. At the time I also wondered if corners were cut. Some recordings were ok, but several were thin and compressed sounding, as though they were pressed in the early 80's.

Ditto

[SSnyder]

EXXACTLIE THE SAME>>>>>> you may-be are compairig diffrent masterigs

[davis419b]

EXXACTLIE THE SAME>>>>>> you may-be are compairig diffrent masterigs

LMFAO !!

[Dmitry]

They sound exactly the same as the non-BMG versions.

[ryanc]

They sound exactly the same as the non-BMG versions.

Clearly not, hence the reason I originally posted.

Just to make sure I'm not crazy, I did another test with a different pair of CDs. One retail, one BMG-made from a friend. At least on my setup (it's in my profile), they sound noticeably different.

[ryanc]

don't have any bmg pressings but did a quick search and found this thread, they said the BMG copy of Steely Dan's Aja had the "breath of life".

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/archive/index.php/t-100686.html

I read through this thread, but what I found more interesting was the following link to another thread that someone posted:

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?p=2226929#post2226929

The interesting bits that I got out of it were these.

1) While some discs are cited as "same as retail", "BMG uses Sonopress USA and Cinram USA (former WEA Mfg) for WEA titles." which don't claim to be.

2) "They take a digital master to the plant and press a run of CDs unaltered. The contract presses have the Dxxxxxx in the matrix for the BMG club number, the rest have the standard cat no. or DIDX/DIDP/DIDC no. (for Sony releases)."

3) "When the CD is mastered for production, the plant may adjust the peak levels down a tad or may not. These are the differences."

The disc in question is a 2006 pressing of Deftones: Saturday Night Wrist, under the Maverick label (which is part of Warner Bros.). It also has a DXXXXXX number as mentioned in the above thread. It seems likely that my disc was manufactured by Cinram.

It sounds like in most cases there are virtually no differences, but in my case, it does indeed sound flatter than the retail copy I have. That may be explained by the adjusting down of the peak levels that this particular plant performed...but who knows.

Cheers.

[SSnyder]

if you can here the differance between 2 pressig plants you have GOLDDEN EARS for sure congrattulatons []

[gnatnoop]

if you can here the differance between 2 pressig plants you have GOLDDEN EARS for sure congrattulatons

what?

[J M Hughes]

In the early '80s, I worked part time in a record shop and was able to compare different CD pressings. I noticed differences in sound quality between CD pressing plants, and Sonopress were definitely my least favourite.Their discs always seemed to have a bright/thin sound. Back then (this was about 1985) Sanyo seemed to be the best. Polygram pressings seemed to vary in sound according to how thick (transparent) the aluminium coating was. When buying Polygram discs for myself, I used to hold the CD against a bright light and compare the density of each pressing. Generally, the 'thicker' the aluminium coating (ie less transparent) the cleaner the sound seemed to be. However, other pressing plants (including Sonopress) seemed to produce CDs with a consistent aluminium thickness - if you compared different pressings, they all looked pretty much the same.

I have some Japanese CD imports from 1984, among them a Sony/Columbia disc of Michael Tilson Thomas conducting Debussy's La Mer. The original LP sounded fabulous, and I was very pleased to get this recording on CD as an import - even though it was hugely expensive. When CBS finally issued the disc themselves (around 1986/87 if I remember correctly) it sounded nowhere near as good as my early Japanese copy. Even more strange, the CBS issue was pressed in Japan! I found the same with some of Lorin Maazel's CBS Mahler cycle with the Vienna Philharmonic - my Japanese copy of the 7th symphony (which I actually bought in Japan) sounds better than the CBS/Sony issue where it was coupled with symphony No 6.

Regarding Sony, as a generalisation I would say their Austrian CD pressing plant (DADC) produces some of the best-sounding (and best looking!) CDs. Even so, there are strange exceptions - discs that don't sound quite as good as the 'same' thing pressed elsewhere. My early Japanese CBS pressing of Glenn Gould's Goldberg Variations (the 1982 digital recording) sounds much better than Sony's remastered SBM version for the Glenn Gould Edition. Yet, without exception, every other reissue in the GG Edition sounds better than the original CBS (Columbia) issues. In Europe (I'm UK based) virtually all Sony/Columbia/RCA CDs come from the DADC Austria plant - but I'm not sure about discs made for the US market; they may be pressed locally.

J M Hughes