I own many (approx. 100, most purchased direct from Japan) of these CDs and there's no definitive answer to your question. Many of the CDs are excellent but not all. Most of the Blue Note releases sound superb. The recent Santana CDs sound excellent (Abraxis, III, Caravanserai). The Bruce Springsteens I thought sounded harsh although the second half of Greatest Hits sounds great. The gold Pat Methenys sound wonderful. So to a great extent sound quality on these is a crap shoot. The prices reflect the higher cost of CDs in Japan to begin with plus all related costs to get them here etc.
Japanese Mini-LP Obi CD's -- Audiophile Quality?
Hello all,
My comment/question is concerning with those often called "collector" CDs imported from Japan as Mini-LPs often including an "obi."
Now I have no question that the CD cover & artwork is REALLY nice and almost always above typical & audiophile CD stuff. The "obi" I could really care less about but some folks like and are willing to pay for. And lets not forget that these things are EXPENSIVE, as far as CDs go.
OK, so the real question is are they worth it??? Are they remasters from the original masters? Are they realy considered audiophile grade or is all this just MARKETING junk.
I have mixed thoughts of my own - some are great, some are comparible to Wal-Mart, some are overly remastered to the point of loosing warmth.
So, the next question is: if there is so much difference from one to the next -- what are the realible high quality producers/labels?
Cheers
My comment/question is concerning with those often called "collector" CDs imported from Japan as Mini-LPs often including an "obi."
Now I have no question that the CD cover & artwork is REALLY nice and almost always above typical & audiophile CD stuff. The "obi" I could really care less about but some folks like and are willing to pay for. And lets not forget that these things are EXPENSIVE, as far as CDs go.
OK, so the real question is are they worth it??? Are they remasters from the original masters? Are they realy considered audiophile grade or is all this just MARKETING junk.
I have mixed thoughts of my own - some are great, some are comparible to Wal-Mart, some are overly remastered to the point of loosing warmth.
So, the next question is: if there is so much difference from one to the next -- what are the realible high quality producers/labels?
Cheers