Columbia House, BMG, etc. (1 Viewer)

[Phil_O]

Maybe this is a dumb question, but are Columbia House, BMG and the like's CD's of the same quality as those bought at full price? The same question for their DVD's. I guess I am just wondering how they can sell them so cheaply. Is it by their own manufacturing or do they buy them in bulk from record companies?

 

[Phil_O]

What I mean by quality is sound and video quality being the same as the store-bought ones.

 

[David WS]

I believe that the audio Cd's sold by Columbia and BMG are made by their own pressing plants. So technically there is a difference between these discs and those purchased through the standard channels. I do know that the artwork for the CDs is different sometimes. I have an old Jane's Addiction CD that has the Columbia artwork and not the original. I have heard that there is often a sonic difference in the two versions. I don't know if the DVDs also fall into this category. I would be surprised if they make their own DVDs as there are not as many DVD pressing plants as there are CD plants.

Dave

 

[Michael St. Clair]

They absolutely do not make their own DVDs.

They make most of their own CDs, but not all of them. Personally, I doubt there is a sonic difference.

 

[Mike Hutman]

They sound the same to me.

 

[David WS]

that there is often a sonic difference in the two versions.

by Me
You can find "reports" of poor sound quality on CH and BMG CDs all over the Internet. Just go to Google/groups and search for "poor quality Columbia house" These are mostly first hand accounts of individuals doing personal comparisons of the different versions on their own equipment. I couldn't comment on the validity of their test methods but there are people out there making their case. Like everything on the Internet, be careful not to take it as gospel.
When ever somebody other than the original owner/producer/record company is in charge of the production process, there is a greater chance for apathy and thus poor quality. IMHO
I must say I've never experienced any quality difference but I do believe the possibility for differences exists.