The Left Arm Of the Conglomerate Doesn't Know What the Right Arm Is Doing

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The Left Arm Of the Conglomerate Doesn't Know What the Right Arm Is Doing

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Sep. 20th, 2006 at 9:11 AM

My DualDisc version of the second Franz Ferdinand album, from Sony BMG Music Entertainment, can't play on my portable CD player, made by Sony Corporation in 2004.

DualDisc has been kind of a bust. A lot of the early DualDiscs featured long-form video extras, surround mixes, full DVD-Audio, or better audio quality that can play on a DVD player, but these days it's usually just a few videos and enhanced stereo (which means you get a whopping 10% more bits than the CD version).

And, in practical terms, DualDisc is surprisingly dodgy when it comes to compatibility with CD players. I've never had a problem playing a hybrid SACD (yet another format adopted and then seemingly orphaned by Sony) on any CD player.

Current Music:Franz Ferdinand Eleanor Put Your Boots On

( 8 comments — Leave a comment )

datapanik

Sep. 20th, 2006 01:36 pm (UTC)

My dualdisc version of Talking Heads '77 is a pain to try and play. Sometimes my CD player will spin it, and sometimes it won't. I haven't bought any of the other TH reissues.

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rpkrajewski

Sep. 20th, 2006 01:43 pm (UTC)

That sucks, man. I have a few of those Talking Heads reissues, and I haven't had a problem, but that could be mostly because I play them at home for the video and surround features on the DVD side.

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colinmarshall

Sep. 20th, 2006 05:46 pm (UTC)

What happens when you try? Does the machine not recognize the disc's format, or does the laser not track the data, or... ?

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rpkrajewski

Sep. 20th, 2006 06:27 pm (UTC)

In my portable player's case, it has trouble following the first tracks (which are closer to the circumference of the disc), and the laser head tries to seek and seek until it either works after a gap, or usually, just gives up. This morning it managed to somehow read some of the disc erroroneously, which resulted in the music playing at half the volume with all kinds of weird distortion. Lovely !

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colinmarshall

Sep. 20th, 2006 06:34 pm (UTC)

I've never owned a DualDisc, but after reading about the thinness of their CD layers (and the absolute thickness of the entire disc, though I hear that causes different problems), I pictured Bad Things Happening. My guess was that certain players would screw up reading the surface just like certain players screw up reading the surface of cheap CD-Rs, but a Sony player? Well, damn.

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rpkrajewski

Sep. 21st, 2006 01:33 pm (UTC)

Yep, it's a humble Sony D-NE320 (which also plays MP3s).

This is one DualDisc I thought would interest you ! Heck, it interests me -- New Frontier is a great song with a video to match...

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riotdorrrk

Sep. 20th, 2006 06:13 pm (UTC)

the dualdiscs are like thick slabs of plastic - i don't think my portable CD player liked them either.

i did buy the ltd. ed. version of the last Depeche Mode album, and the CD was stacked on top of the DVD in the same tray - how cheap is that?

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rpkrajewski

Sep. 20th, 2006 06:30 pm (UTC)

Cheap, but I've seen it before -- the European version of the new Goldfrapp album stacks a hybrid SACD on top of a DVD in the same tray ! (That's three formats !)

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( 8 comments — Leave a comment )

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