Submitted by darascal on Sat, 12/05/2009 - 22:53
Hi y'all,
I'm wondering what people think of buying used CD's? I buy at least half my CD's used from Amazon partners. I haven't very few problems with obvious defects (scratches that rendered the CD unreadable or imported with break-ups). I've always figured that (major scratches/gouges aside) normal use of CD's shouldn't degrade audio quality - either the data is there on the disk and gets imported or it doesn't. But I wonder if I'm getting the same quality as when buying a new CD, perhaps inferior sound quality that isn't obvious.
Also, though a lesser concern, I wonder if buying used CD's significantly increases the possibility of buying pirated material, or things like non-remastered disks sold as re-mastered.
Also, should I be cleaning my used CD's in some way before ripping? Are there any recommended cleaning products?
Thank,
Rascal
I haven't bought a new CD in 10 years. Ebay is your friend.
49 out of 50 CD's I've bought have been just fine. As you said, the CD either gets imported or it doesn't. The couple lemons I've gotten have been no big deal-- most people will simply refund your money on such a small purchase-- any that don't are no big deal because you're only shelling out a couple of bucks at most (OK, $5 at most including shipping).
I have not had any problem with pirated material on Ebay purchases. Every disc I've bought has been legit.
I always try to buy used. I have bought used from Amazon several times with good success. I have a used CD store near by that sells most CD's for $6.99-$7.99. Some of my best finds have been at garage sales and craig's list. I bought 40 cd's at a garage sale for $10.00. Then I sold about 10 of the 40 that I did not want to the used CD store for $21.00.
Do you guys clean your used CD's or apply any kind of treatment before ripping?
I've mostly had fine results, but just wanted to make sure I wasn't losing any sound quality on some subtle level that wasn't obvious.
Sounds like ebay is cheaper than Amazon for used ... prices are pretty good on Amazon, but it's always $3 shipping.
Thanks,
Rascal
Most CD's I've purchased arrive in pretty decent condition. I've had to attempt cleaning on maybe 4 or 5 out of hundreds.
My understanding is that if I rip using something like EAC and it reports a successful rip with no errors, that means it's extracted all the bits that are there to be extracted and cleaning would serve no further purpose. Am I correct in this assumption?
If you know how to use ebay searches, you can limit the price. I usually set a ceiling of $3 on any CD I'm looking to buy and will pay no more than $3 for shipping ($6 total). Most CD's I end up buying are for $1 or less-- depending, of course, on how badly I want that particular disc and how in demand it is (most CD's I'm buying are not particularly in demand).