Guest Ruach Report post Posted March 5, 2004 Hi guys, The news article for the benefit of those who did not manage to watch the news on TV last night: The fake Norah Jones cd (as featured in the TV) appears to be similar to those retailing in a popular cd shop in town (the price tag on the fake cd along with the sticker "EMI Import" seems to indicate so). This may explain why early batches Norah Jones cds are HDCD enabled when there is no mention by the recording company. Some food for thought over the weekend before you visit a cd shop again SINGAPORE : These days even if you buy your compact discs from a reputable music store, they may be a high-quality fake. Police said the pirated copies were so good that even the experts had to send the CDs to a London laboratory just to be sure. This looks like an original Norah Jones CD. It has the recording company's sticker, the printing on the CD jacket is of a very good-quality, and on closer inspection, there is even a serial number and the code of a manufacturing plant in Germany etched on the CD. You may even have bought the CD from a reputable music store -- but it is not the real McCoy. These pirated copies are of such high quality that industry watchdogs had to send them to a laboratory in London for special tests before they could be sure they were fakes. The company believed to be making these high-quality fakes was raided on March 1. Police recovered master copies of CDs by Norah Jones and several other popular recording artistes. Mr Edward Neubronner, CEO of the Recording Industry Association, said: "These are high-quality counterfeits. The intention is obviously to dupe consumers into believing they are originals, because they are sold at regular original prices. We are working very closely with the police to ensure this sort of trend is nipped in the bud." The problem is that there is no difference in quality, and music-lovers cannot tell the difference Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mackie 0 Report post Posted March 9, 2004 I've just bought the latest Nora's album and unsure if it's a pirated copy as per the above news. My first impression was pretty positive relative to the muddy recording of "Come Away With Me" album. However, disappointment abound when I noticed her voice actually cracked on a few tracks. I also noticed the latest album is recordered/mastered at higher than usual volume level. This could result in audible distortion when the music gets complex or hits a climax. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fuwen 0 Report post Posted March 9, 2004 Some times the cracking is due to the limitation of the microphones. Even reputable label like Hugo where the boss is also a audiophile you do get occasional cracking at the highs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
headphonecrazy 0 Report post Posted March 9, 2004 I saw the latest Norah Jones in China for RMB10 which is S$2, look just like the real thingie. The crackling thingie is not so much about the quality of the pressing but basically due to bad mastering n engineering, which can be fixed in post production. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
red_ryder 0 Report post Posted March 9, 2004 Hey, I also encountered this crackling and distortion in some parts of the music for certain tracks in another CD - "Audiophile Voices II". I always thought that the problem was with my lousy system and not the cd itself. Like Mackie said, the distortion only comes in when music hits a climax or is very complex at certain parts of the song. However, it is much less pronounced coming from speakers. Man, I was under the impression that all I needed to do was get a good headamp and this problem would disappear! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
av98m 0 Report post Posted March 10, 2004 (edited) Is it just me or is the recording quality on many cds these days just plain bad? I'm starting to believe the only way to avoid this, short of moving on to vinyl, is to switch to a speaker based system. Headphones are just way too revealing. And never, ever buy any local or regionally pressed cds ever gain. The irony is that, ALL the "problem cds" the I have all come from the same recoding label, and they sound great on my cheapo mini hi-fi system, while being overly sibilant on my headphone setup. The rest of my cds are fine. Sheesh. Edit: MOST of my cds are fine. Notable exceptions include that infamous Emi Fujita CD with the really bad 1st track(distortion noticable from the 1:26 mark onwards), a couple of locally pressed "hdcd" cantonese pop albums etc Edited March 10, 2004 by av98m Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
red_ryder 0 Report post Posted March 10, 2004 Which Emi Fujita CD is that? I almost bought one last weekend but went for audiophile voices and Jane Monheit instead. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Absolute0 0 Report post Posted March 10, 2004 I hear some background hiss on both "Feels Like Home" and "Audiophile Voices I", but on none of my other CDs. The hiss is even more prominent on Track 4 of FLH, "Carnival Town". I seriously hope it is some background effect which my low-end system is unable to pick up, but what might be other causes of this annoying hiss? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mackie 0 Report post Posted March 12, 2004 It's a paradox. All audiophiles aim to achieve the most revealing and neutral sound from our systems but we must learn to bear with all goodness and flaws of recordings at the same time. Here's when "enjoy the music and not the sound" reminder constantly rings true. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adhoc 0 Report post Posted March 19, 2004 (edited) I hear some background hiss on both "Feels Like Home" and "Audiophile Voices I", but on none of my other CDs. The hiss is even more prominent on Track 4 of FLH, "Carnival Town". I seriously hope it is some background effect which my low-end system is unable to pick up, but what might be other causes of this annoying hiss? analog recordings (the first 'A' in your cd's SPARS rating) typically have tape hiss. anything pre-1990 is likely to be recorded using an analog medium. digital recordings have much lower hiss levels - but certainly not inaudible. EDIT: what i mean by 'typically have tape hiss' is if some post-processing was not done to remove the hiss. such post-processing is done infrequently, as it typically takes some music off with the hiss. Edited March 19, 2004 by adhoc Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fishball79 0 Report post Posted April 2, 2004 The crackling thingie is not so much about the quality of the pressing but basically due to bad mastering n engineering, which can be fixed in post production. I agree. Notice her voice starts to sound bad only during passages where she sings loudly, its some sort of compression due to a sh*tty mastering/mixing process. The fake album could've gone through some mastering though. Only way to find out is to buy a certified original from HMV, etc but really.. why spend more money on such a boring album? Interestingly, this problem is not picked up on minicompo/budget stereos/pc speakers but on higher end stereos and most cans setups. Goes to show the more money u spend the less u'll like bad recordings. Unfortunately bad recordings are aplenty nowadays... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jasonhanjk 0 Report post Posted April 2, 2004 When the mastering is done properly, it will sound wonderful. Too bad I only like 2 music in emi fujita album that has no hiss or sibiliance (spelling). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
