Have a cracked Police *Every Breath You Take: The Classics * SACD? Go here! (1 Viewer)

[KeithH]

Like some of you, my US pressing of The Police Every Breath You Take: The Classics hybrid SACD developed spindle cracks after a few weeks. Not wanting to take a chance with another US pressing, I ordered the European pressing from www.amazon.co.uk . With shipping, it cost about $19 and got here in two weeks. I was hoping the European version would be in a Super Jewel Box, but it is in a digipak. The back cover says "Made in the EU." Anyway, problem solved!

Now if I could only get a good copy of the Norah Jones Come Away With Me SACD. :frowning:

 

[cwhite]

I've had my copy for months and there are no cracks. However,
my DSoTM's spindle cracks have become tiny flakes. This disc's days are numbered!

 

[MattCPT]

Keith,
Thanks for the link to the Police SACD. I intend to replace mine due to spindle cracks. I noticed that Amazon.co.uk also has Pink Floyd DSOTM SACD. Do you know if this SACD is also pressed in Europe and is safe from the Crest factory spindle cracks? I would love to replace my current copy as well.

If you find a safe copy of Nora Jones please let me know. I plan to return the one I have due to spindle cracks. I'm very disappointed in how difficult it is to find artist that I like with multichannel hybrid SACDs. I refuse to buy any SACD now until I hear from others where it is pressed and if spindle cracks have been found. This is a huge blow to SACD in my mind.

Thanks,
Matt

 

[Jigesh Patel]

Apologize for a side question...

The same title also comes as DTS . Which has a "better" (I know - it's a matter of personal taste..) surround mix? May be not too ideal a comparison though - one high resolution surround audio and the other just surround audio..

Thank you.

Jigesh

 

[Steve Meskell]

The same title also comes as DTS . Which has a "better" (I know - it's a matter of personal taste..) surround mix? May be not too ideal a comparison though - one high resolution surround audio and the other just surround audio..

As far as I heard they used the same 5:1 mixes on the DTS cd,DVD video and the SACD....except for the extra songs on the DVD video.

 

[KeithH]

Matt, no problem. The Dark Side of the Moon SACDs coming from amazon.co.uk should be European pressings because I know that this title was pressed in Europe. I'm sure you would be safe ordering from amazon.co.uk. However, you may be able to find a Japanese pressing at a local store, which would be crack-free. Have you looked? To identify a Japanese pressing, look at the catalog number. The catalog number for the US pressing ends in "1-US", while the Japanese pressing has no US designation in the catalog number. Also, if you read the small-print copyright blurb on the back insert, the Japanese pressing says "Disc Manufactured in Japan". When I first heard about the Crest problems and realized that I had a US pressing of Dark Side of the Moon, I immediately exchanged it for a Japanese pressing at a local Best Buy.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

However, my DSoTM's spindle cracks have become tiny flakes.

Haven't you heard? Having a disc shed flakes of plastic inside your pricy DVD player is a "cosmetic" problem. Just ask Crest or their posse of online defenders.

Oh, and this crack thing really only affects a couple of dozen discs. You must be part of the vast online conspiracy trying to discredit SACD.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

Which has a "better" (I know - it's a matter of personal taste..) surround mix?

DTS is lower resolution, so it's not that one.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Which has a "better" (I know - it's a matter of personal taste..) surround mix?

A couple of people reported that the rears were reduced by a few db on the DTS disc, I supposed if you find the SACD too aggressive you could always check out the DTS disc.

 

[Steve Meskell]

A couple of people reported that the rears were reduced by a few db on the DTS disc, I supposed if you find the SACD too aggressive you could always check out the DTS disc.

You can also buy the DVD video....it has basically the same DTS mix plus it has a kick ass mix of "Synchronicity 2" that is not on the cd/SACD

 

[Dan B]

I guess I'm a little late to this, but is there an official response from the makers of these discs? I just got the DSOTM disc & I've touched it like twice & mine's cracked already.

Shouldn't they be offering to replace such an obviously defective product?


-Dan

 

[Justin Lane]

I guess I'm a little late to this, but is there an official response from the makers of these discs? I just got the DSOTM disc & I've touched it like twice & mine's cracked already.

Shouldn't they be offering to replace such an obviously defective product?

You would think so. However individuals on certain audio websites and internet message boards have parroted the Crest company line that these cracks are cosmetic and they are only effecting two dozen people in the world. I guess I am just one of the unlucky two dozen as I have 5 Crest pressed discs which exhibit cracks. This whole Crest debacle has been a terrible black eye on SACD and Hybrid technology.

J

 

[Michael_T]

This whole Crest debacle has been a terrible black eye on SACD and Hybrid technology.

You're telling me!

I have had to order Peter Gabriel "UP" from Europe to avoid getting another Crest made version. I went through two badly cracked discs before I succumbed.

I am on my 5th copy of 3 Doors Down "Away From the Sun" - since my first 4 copies all cracked extensively. I just keep buying the disc hoping I get a good copy. I have no problem constantly returning my bad disc so that maybe somebody somewhere will get the message.

(I have about 4 or 5 more SACD titles that exhibted cracks and have either been exchange or I am waiting for the cracks to worsen to the point the discs need to be exchanged).

I have sent e-mails to the top management at Crest, have gotten the requested "return receipts" (the two times I sent them e-mail), but have never gotten the requested response from either party. The same goes for multiple e-mails to EMI, Universal and even the Ice Magazine Watchdog.

 

[Ron Etaylor]

Does anyone have discs cracked to the point where they don't play? If my discs crack and won't play, they are retired, end of story. I have bought vinyl, cd, and now SACD/DVD-A. I won't buy anything a 4th time till the next upgrade.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

I had a cracked DSOTM that actually broke across the radius of the disc. ICE Magazine is a good suggestion for who to do a story on this... (I sent an email to S&V a little while ago, and I know that John Kotches from WSR is aware of this issue as well.)

 

[Kevin C Brown]

OK, I'm too lazy to find the "cracked DSOTM" thread, but I found a Japanese version today, and I wasn't even looking! Back to your normally scheduled programming...

 

[Michael_T]

ICE Magazine is a good suggestion for who to do a story on this

I sent 3 e-mails to Ice Magazine Watchdog, and two issues have come and gone without a single mention of this problem. I really wonder if Ice would want to "alienate" a bunch of labels over hybrid SACD (which probably is a niche market as far as ICE is concered). Generally the problems they tackle are ones that are fairly tame - and ones that have a more or less "happy" solution. This problem with cracked SACDs doesn't seem to have a happy solution yet. I know - I just bought NEW releases on hybrid SACD, like the George Strait "HonkyTonkville" (which just came out this past week) - I played the disc twice - and guess what????... Give up....??? I have two hairline cracks ALREADY, and this disc is only 5 days old. I own nearly 200+ SACDs, and I treat them with the utmost care - yet almost EVER Crest pressed SACD has exhibited cracking.

What upsets me the most isn't the cracking per se, but the way the labels (EMI, Universal, Blue Note, etc.) and Crest are handling the situation. Or should I say NOT handling the situation. The fact that these labels continue to use Crest, and the fact that multiple e-mails sent personally by me to all parties concered go unanswered, is disconcerting. It seems as if nobody really wants to acknowledge there is a problem.

Oh well, in the scheme of life, this is a minor problem. But for someone like me who buys A LOT of SACD, it is a major pain.

 

[KeithH]

I still haven't bought another Norah Jones SACD since I have no reason to believe that Crest has adequately addressed the problem.

There is no excuse for these cracks to be forming, and Crest's lack of a response thus far is an atrocity. Geez, I have CDs that are 20 years old that have not in any way lost structural integrity.

 

[Chris Elm]

Sorry to ask a blatantly obvious question, but
how do you know if a disc was pressed at crest?
and what do these cracks actually look like (other than that they are around the hub center in an arc?) Are they slight hairline, or very noticable cracks?

Thanks.

 

[KeithH]

Chris, most hybrid SACDs pressed in the US have been done at the Crest plant. I believe Sony's hybrid pressing facility came online later on. I don't have any of my Crest discs handy, but I'm sure there is a unique look to the matrix code (code numbers on mirror band, near the plastic ring). Pressing plants typically have their unique system for matrix codes. Perhaps someone here will chime in with matrix code information.

In my limited experience with cracked discs, the cracks were hairline in nature, but easily noticeable. I didn't even have to hold the discs up to the light to see the cracks. Also, the cracks were very short (under a quarter-inch), but some people have reported the cracks getting longer and longer over time and even the plastic flaking.