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CDs that sound scratched?


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Old 11-10-2005, 11:52
Inkblot
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I'm sure I just heard a scratch on the CD I'm listening to (The Dolphins, track 1 of Everybody's Talkin' by Fred Neil). Suppose it could be a transfer from vinyl?

So has anyone else got any CDs that sound like they're scratched? Intentional DJ style scratching doesn't count!
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Old 11-10-2005, 12:23
Brain Donor
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I've been listening to Gorillaz Demon Days a lot through headphones lately, and the thought crossed my mind that it sounds like I'm listening to it on vinyl - little crackles, pops , etc.

As it's a new CD it's obviously not a transfer from vinyl. It seems likely that it's been done deliberately to give the impression of listening to vinyl. It doesn't distract from the music and I think it works well on that particular disc, but I wouldn't want it on all my CDs.

Edit: Afterthought: or maybe I've just got a faulty copy of Demon Days
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Old 11-10-2005, 12:37
MrKev
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Depnds on a few things. If its an old recording then the actual master tapes might have pops or crackles on them. Also if it is something that involves samples (which often come from vinyl) then you get the scratches and crackles.
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Old 11-10-2005, 13:34
andygrif
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Maybe it's creative licence?
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Old 11-10-2005, 15:16
Morzine
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Originally Posted by Brain Donor
.. It seems likely that it's been done deliberately to give the impression of listening to vinyl. .:
What sort of brain dead idiot would think of adding clicks and scratches to supposedly enhance the sound of a CD.

I don't want to get into a CD versus Vinyl argument as both have their merits, but the scratches, surface noise and clicks and buzzes of Vinyl is one of the chief disadvantages of the medium.

I think the sound that the OP is hearing is far more likely to be the error correction on his player working overtime and dropping the sound out for a fraction of a second.

If the CD is badly scratched, especially if the scratch is orbital rather than across the radius (i.e. follows the circular tracks rather than crossing them) or if the CD lens is dirty, that could explain the sound.

Try playing it on another player, or find a friend with the same CD and see if that makes the same sound. Clean the CD carefully and also clean the lens in the player.

CDs should be treated with great care. Despite their reputation for indestructibility, they are sensitive to severe abuse.

PS, maybe it has an inkblot on it.
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Old 11-10-2005, 15:25
zoot
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Originally Posted by Morzine
What sort of brain dead idiot would think of adding clicks and scratches to supposedly enhance the sound of a CD.
More than you'd think. The trend you mention was very popular in the 90s as the vinyl-versus-digital argument raged. Massive Attack's 1998 album Mezzanine was one of many that ended with a scratchy "fake run-out groove" effect.

Stereolab, on the other hand, are fond of leaving 20-second gaps on their CDs to let you know where "Side 1" ends and "Side 2" starts, etc.

There's nothing sinister about it, it's just musicians having their fun.
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Old 11-10-2005, 18:31
AntsINyourPANTS
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Scratched CDs don't give just pops or crack noises; instead they they freeze or skip massive parts of the song.
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Old 11-10-2005, 19:46
dslrocks
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Keane's Everybody's Changing has a faux record pop effect at various points throughout the song. I think it's rather irritating.

At first I thought it was a fault and that I had a duff CD, but after listening to it on the radio and asking about it on here it seems that it was part of the song after all.

It's a bit pointless to be honest, the faux record pop effect just doesn't suit Keane.
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Old 07-11-2005, 23:09
Smoochy
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The scratches that you hear are definately from samples used from vinyl recordings which are used by many bands and singers. Fatboy Slim does it all the time.
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Old 08-11-2005, 08:09
maskmud
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Madonna's Erotica has that scratchy noise on it.

I even believe there is a sleevenote on the cd about it. Can't look cos all my stuff is packed up due to imminent house move!
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Old 08-11-2005, 08:16
Carmen Queasy
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The scratches make the song sound "authentic", as if it was being played from vinyl - or at least that's what they want you to think.

LOADS of people use it and it's often quite subtle until you listen for it.

Some acts actually end a song with that noise you hear when the needle gets to the end of a vinyl record. Can't think of any of the top of my head.
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Old 08-11-2005, 09:39
iain
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i remember when erotica came out and seeing someone in a record shop trying to get it exchanged as they thought it was a faulty copy - was there for ages arguing the toss with the guy in the shop!

Iain
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Old 25-11-2005, 10:18
stoat
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Could be digital clipping, a lot of CDs arent mastered properly these days.
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Old 25-11-2005, 19:01
most_haunted
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Enya - Traid Medley...not a well known song but it's on her first album "The Celts" and throughout it sounds scratched.
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Old 25-11-2005, 20:44
luvsnail
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Should also point out:

Many copy-protected "CDs" work by relying on the CD player's error correction to fix their intentionally corrupted data. This can (and does) result in pops and crackles being heard on a number of CD playing devices. If you are unfortunate enough to have purchased one of these CDs, you should be able to return it for a refund (or possibly a clean replacement), since it is clearly defective.
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Old 25-11-2005, 21:08
SGE
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There's one on Lauryn Hill's Miseduaction album and I always skip it. Bloody annoying and just stupid. Even more annoying given that it sounds like a bloody top song as well. These creative types, eh?
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Old 24-12-2005, 14:15
bongo88
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Maybe it's because the Cds are actually scratched or dodgy??
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Old 28-12-2005, 01:31
rkl
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Subject says it all really. It seems that a lot of artists tried this "trick" out (along with the annoying "hidden track" that turns up after 15 minutes of silence on the final CD track....arrrgh!) on the CD versions of their albums, much to the annoyance of myself and no doubt many others.

Matthew Sweet's brilliant "Girlfriend" CD album has *30 seconds* of "vinyl needle stuck in groove repeatedly" sounds at the end of the final "side 1" track and it even goes a few seconds into the following track too! Utterly, utterly maddening when you have to listen to that every time you put on the CD - makes me want to get Audacity out and edit the MP3 rip I made of my CD just to remove all that crud
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Old 28-12-2005, 01:46
luvsnail
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I suppose a lot of artists are frustrated by the way the Compact Disc has changed the album listening experience. For the majority of people born before 1990, it just feels more natural for an album to be made up of two "sides". For an album to maintain one constant mood throughout without any breaks can be boring or tiring to listen to. That's why a lot of modern artists try to recreate the double-sided vinyl medium on CDs by adding pauses halfway through. This is often accompanied by a vinyl sound effect to maintain authenticity and try to restore some of the listening experience that CDs have taken away.

What really annoys me, however, is when these sound effects are also present on the vinyl version of the album. I buy most of my albums on vinyl these days, and I find it very confusing when albums suddenly start making these scratchy noises, considering the amount of time and effort I spend setting up my system properly and taking care of my records.

"Extra tracks" at the end of CDs are also very annoying, especially when you want to copy the CD to your computer. For some reason, most of them seem to append a long silence and the extra track itself to the final track of the album, so that both songs and the long silence are all in the same track. Why?? It would make so much more sense for the extra track to be on a separate track, and if the long silence is really necessary for the musical flow of the album, it can be placed between the tracks. This way, it can be easily skipped, and it is not necessary to copy it when transferring songs to PC.

One thing I don't really mind is the "hidden tracks" that exploit the way CDs work and place an extra song before the first track on the album. The tracks aren't really a part of the album, and don't get played at all when the CD is played normally. It's just a fun "bonus" track for those who find them. Such tracks have been included on albums such as David Gray's 'White Ladder' and Super Furry Animals' 'Guerrilla'.
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Old 28-12-2005, 10:10
PhilH36
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But this doesn't work on all cd players. I have one such cd that I know of,you start playing track one then hold down reverse search so it winds back to the beginning of track one and then continues back to the beginning of the "hidden" song. On some players it will stop rewinding at the beginning of track one and won't access the hidden song.
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Old 28-12-2005, 10:52
luvsnail
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Originally Posted by PhilH36
But this doesn't work on all cd players. I have one such cd that I know of,you start playing track one then hold down reverse search so it winds back to the beginning of track one and then continues back to the beginning of the "hidden" song. On some players it will stop rewinding at the beginning of track one and won't access the hidden song.
True, but only on "broken" players that don't implement the red book CD standard properly.
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Old 28-12-2005, 11:14
Inkblot
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I'm still trying to work out how the pre-track one hidden tracks work. If I look at the files on a CD there are the same number of files listed as there are visible tracks, and track one is roughly the same size as other tracks of the same length. So "track zero" can't be part of track one. In which case, where is it?
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Old 28-12-2005, 11:46
vonvonvonvon
 
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Originally Posted by dslrocks
the faux record pop effect
ROTFFLMFAO!

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