My Norah Jones SACD has spindle cracks! (1 Viewer)

[Michael_T]

As for the Norah Jones disc, I am just going to wait and see. Apparently Crest knows of the problem, and I would guess all the record labels do to. For now, I'll listen to the CD.

You can be sure that all parties know about the problem, if for nothing else because I have e-mailed top-level executives at Crest National as well as Universal Records, Emi Records and Groove Note. (I know my e-mails have been received since I requested a return receipt and I got them.) Curiously, though, I have asked for a personal reply to my questions and concerns, and I have not gotten any - even after multiple e-mails to the same parties on various dates.

 

[KeithH]

Mike, I am well aware of VAT, as I have shopped in Europe, but I had a brain lapse. Thanks. On the Amazon checkout page, there was a separate entry for VAT, which, of course, had no charge for me, so I didn't even give it any thought. However, I didn't consider at the time that prices in the UK have the VAT built-in. So, of course, the VAT of 17.5%, which amounts to £1.49 for a disc priced £8.50, was removed. There you go!

I am done buying US hybrids for now. Hopefully things will change where I will be able to feel comfortable making such purchases, but this is not the time. Either the labels will have to switch pressing facilities or Crest will have to get its together for me to start buying US hybrids again.

Thanks for taking the time to write all those e-mail messages regarding the cracking problem. Hopefully your efforts will make an impact.

 

[Carlo_M]

Shit Keith, talk about getting me up and running from my chair while reading your post!

Luckily mine has not yet developed any cracks (had it about a week or two and played it quite a few times).

So all U.S. Norah SACDs are pressed by Crest? And is the failure/crack rate pretty high? Or will I have a chance of my SACD living if it doesn't crack in the next few days/weeks?

Thanks!

 

[Sathyan]

add me to the list...

My Norah Jones has seven cracks; my brother's (which has been played less) has one.

How do you determine if this was pressed by Crest?

 

[Chu Gai]

A little blurb on problems stemming from Crest...http://www.audaud.com/audaud/MAY03/newsMay7.html

Look, it could be worse, they could've been pressed by Firestone and your players could've been made by Ford.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

The DSOTM disc left little plastic flecks the jewel case. I'll be damned if I let discs start shedding laminate onto the laser pickup and drive mechanism of my SACD player.

'Cosmetic' is a matter of opinion. Actually, it's just spin doctoring.

 

[KeithH]

Chu, thanks for the link. I wonder when Crest implemented changes to the production process. The Jones SACD came out quite awhile after Dark Side of the Moon.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

If the Gaucho SACD is a hybrid disc and is pressed in the US, then I will have to assume that it was pressed at the Crest plant, and therefore, I will not buy it.

The flaw in that argument is that Sony in Terre Haute, Indiana is pressing hybrids as well. It's not just Crest in the US doing this.

Sony has been and will be pressing discs for labels other than Sony Music as well. The replicators are just happy to keep capacity full.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

Keith,

Why don't you provide me some digital photos of the cracks so I can email my friends in the music business?

Thanks.

 

[Dan Joy]

So far my NJ is crackless

 

[Frank_S]

Thank god for vinyl! Good old crackless liquorice pizza.
Yeah, there's warps, an occassional tick & pop but nothing's perfect, err, except perfect sound forever, remember Sony's old CD slogan?

 

[Kristoffer]

Okay I am a bit pissed of about this whole Cracks issue!
My Pink Floyd DSOTM developed cracks some time after..
But I bought it from the states, so it would cost me as much to send it back to get a new one! Why can't the companies develop a method that works for Hybrid SACD??
Ill just have to buy it again, because, no way that I am risking putting the cracked disc in my player!!!!

 

[KeithH]

Kris, consider yourself lucky. Since you live in Europe, you will no problem whatsover obtaining a crack-free copy of Dark Side of the Moon. Here in the US, we got both the Crest discs and discs pressed in Japan. The Japanese version is crack-free, but can also be difficult to find. I am guessing that the Japanese version will be increasingly difficult to find with time. We probably got Japanese pressings to help meet the initial demand, as Crest may not have had the pressing capacity. As demand slows down, which it probably will, I am thinking we will just get Crest discs in the US. :frowning:

 

[Kristoffer]

Yeah but my point is, why do consumers have to accept a risk of the the product being faulty when they pay for a product!??

 

[Lee Scoggins]

why do consumers have to accept a risk of the the product being faulty

They don't. All of the retailers are offering exchanges for a new disc.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

They don't. All of the retailers are offering exchanges for a new disc.

Yep, they'll exchange it for another Crest disc that will likely crack as well. Some people have been through four or five copies of the same title. DSotM has japan-pressed copies, but not ever retailer has these copies---and many other albums are only available in Crest-pressed versions.

Crest has either lied when they claimed they fixed their process, or they knowing sent out previously pressed discs that should have been recalled before street date. Crest also refuses to return multiple return-receipt emails. They have shown utter comtempt for their end consumers. The fact that a store will exchange the disc does nothing to make up for this wretched customer service.

Crest has also produced DVDs that rot. These guys shouldn't even be in the business, and no studio or label that cares about quality should contract production to them.

 

[Marvin]

They don't. All of the retailers are offering exchanges for a new disc.

Isn't that only if you're lucky enough to have your CD crack within 30 days. Then what?

 

[Michael_T]

Isn't that only if you're lucky enough to have your CD crack within 30 days. Then what?

It depends on where you purchase the disc. I have been able to exchange my cracked spindle hub discs at Compact Disc World and Coconuts in NJ after the 30 day period, but I wouldn't be so sure about Circuit City or Best Buy.

I say this because my first 2 copies of 3 Doors Down "Away from the Sun" came from Circuit City. My first copy cracked within the 30 day period, so they exchanged it for me. My second disc cracked 2 weeks after that, and it would seem, as per Circuit City, outside of the 30day exchange period. It seems that Circuit City considers an exchange part of the original purchase, so they did give me a bit of flak, yet they gave me a credit nonetheless - since they didn't have any additional 3 Doors Down SACDs in stock.

I then purchased my 3rd copy of this album at Best Buy, and within 2 weeks it cracked, just like all my previous copies, that is right up to the data area (one long crack, with a few smaller ones all around the hub). I brought it back to Best Buy, and even though it was within the 30 day period, they had about 4 people look at the disc before they told me I could get another one. I asked why so many people had to look at the disc, and they told me that they needed to make sure the disc wasn't abused and intentionally damaged. They didn't have another copy of the SACD in stock, so they pushed for me to take the regular CD (which was the same price), and which I did not want. It was like pulling teeth to get them to let me take a totally different title altogether. My assumption would be if it was this "difficult" to get an exchange within the 30 day period, it must be "super" difficult to get one out of the 30 day exchange period.

I then bought my 4th copy of 3 Doors Down "Away from the Sun" from Compact Disc World, but haven't checked it for cracks since I opened it last week. Regardless, if it cracks it goes back to the store.

Am I a glutton for punishment or what?

 

[Frank_S]

Wow, I've been following this thread and I have to say that I'm amazed that these defects are so prevalant from a medium trying to survive(for lack of a better word).
There is no way in H.E.L.L. I'm buying into this mess, I don't and won't buy SACD discs, just my preference.

How frustrating this must be to basically wait until the disc cracks, take it back and go through it all over again.
If this keeps up, perhaps when the word "vinyl" comes up, folks won't be so quick to bash it as a medium.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Yeah, yeah: Sony and Philips should be beating on Crest so hard they don't know what hit them...

I know, I will think twice before I buy another hybrid...