i see alot of $7 or $9.90 made-in-china cds. they are flooding the pasar malam and even into sembawang. mainly the popular current range of albums, notably taiwan and HK artistes.

 

but are these china pressed cds worth the savings in terms of sonic difference compared to the usual >$17 cds of the same album (pressed at god-knows-where country)??

I have tried that and the sound quality seem to be the same but they lack of some good stuff like free tickets and other kind of freebies.

 

In addition, if U go to china town U can get these CD for $5-6  instead of 7 or 9.9.

Juz saw this post. I started a similar topic here http://www.xtremeplace.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=38514.0

 

In gist, do check the contents properly if they tele with the hongkong/local presses. Make sure you are not shortchanged on content.

Not much experience on the Chinese songs,

but I bought a few CDs (Laura Fygi, Il Divo, Lisa Ono..... etc.)for for the sake of comparing with the CD pressed in either Malaysia or US. All the Chinese pressed are sonically inferior. I think this is due to the higher quantity of the CD pressed using the same "press-mold" in China.

This phenomena was demonstrated in 2005 Hi-Fi show. The earlier pressed CD sounded better than later pressed one.

 

That said, I still bought the Chinese pressed CD for the kind of music not intended for critial listening (mostly played in living room set-up while reading or doing other stuff), as they are cheap.

 

Btw, in Chinatown, you can get a CD as low as $4, but titles are limited. Better selection is at Bugis (abt $7).

Of course best selection can be found at That CD shop, but the price is also the highest (abt $9.9).

I have tried many china cds, and compared to us/uk/german/local pressings, I can't hear much of a difference, except for the very inferior BMG china English cds, very poorly mastered. On the other hand, audiophile MIC cds (typically priced at $15-19) sound really good.

 

Tried Il Divo and Lisa Ono also, but in my case, I can't hear the difference through headphone setup or speaker setup. In fact, they sounded pretty good. Maybe not having golden ears is a good thing!  ;)

 

But I must comment that there are many MIC cds that are very 'thin'...comparing the plastic disc in thickness to the us/uk/german/local ones.

Yeah, not having a golden ear is a good thing. I would never buy any MIC Mandarin/English pop recordings because it sounds like mp3 on my system.

i bought the Phantom Of The Opera OST (China Press) for $10.90

great sound can't tell the diff  ;D

yup, me bought a few too when i am in china. i can't tell the diff.

Btw, in Chinatown, you can get a CD as low as $4, but titles are limited. Better selection is at Bugis (abt $7).

Of course best selection can be found at That CD shop, but the price is also the highest (abt $9.9).

which part of chinatown?  the foodcentre/market?

People's Park basement, not that far away from Larry Hi-Fi.

On the other hand, audiophile MIC cds (typically priced at $15-19) sound really good.

 

Now this is totally different products, and I probably should have mentioned them in my previous post.

They are indeed very good recording especially those by ABC recordings or TUYA.

 

The only problem I have with these recordings is most of the singers sing those oldies popular songs, not their own originals.

After a while I get a bit tired listening to the same song sung by different those superstar "wannabees".

Btw, this also applies to those western audiophile singers (mostly from Premium Recordings) e.g. Selena Jones, Jheena Lodwick..etc.

 

 

I think the chinese pressed English CDs are inferior. I have Il Divo and Sarah Brightman La Luna. Imaging is pretty bad I am say on my non-audiophile ears.

 

Having said that the chinese CDs on vocals and instruments are pretty good. Those are not 8 dollars one but slightly more. They are usually in those hard cardboard packaging. Some of the chinese vocals are marketed as audiophile series. I think they are much better than the Hugo CD series.

 

My 2 cents.  

I think the chinese pressed English CDs are inferior. I have Il Divo and Sarah Brightman La Luna. Imaging is pretty bad I am say on my non-audiophile ears.

 

Having said that the chinese CDs on vocals and instruments are pretty good. Those are not 8 dollars one but slightly more. They are usually in those hard cardboard packaging. Some of the chinese vocals are marketed as audiophile series. I think they are much better than the Hugo CD series.

 

My 2 cents.  

 

Can consider yours as audiophile ears already ;D....I have Il Divo MIC version and it sounds wonderful through my system or headphones setup...no imaging problems at all. Unless there is more than 1 version of Il Divo MIC? MIC audiphile cds indeed sound better than some hugos, at least to my ears.

The only problem I have with these recordings is most of the singers sing those oldies popular songs, not their own originals.

After a while I get a bit tired listening to the same song sung by different those superstar "wannabees".

Btw, this also applies to those western audiophile singers (mostly from Premium Recordings) e.g. Selena Jones, Jheena Lodwick..etc.

u r right!  the typical 'snow rose' kinda selection for english and Sam Hui/Paula Hsui/CaiQin for mandarin/chinese.

they all sound more like test disks, don;t they?

There's a saying.........

 

CHEAP THINGS NEVER GOOD, GOOD THINGS NEVER CHEAP ;D

I have 4 MIC CDs,

 

Tracy Chapman Collection $10 at That CD Shop Tanglin

Norah Jones' Come Away with Me $9 at Sembawang Music Plaza Sing

Norah Jones' Feels like Home $7 at Sembawang Music Plaza Sing

Nat King Cole at the Movies $12 Sembawang Music Plaza Sing

 

I find that these are all fine pressings.

Definitely better than local pressings in general

and better than many non-MIC import CDs

For Come Away with Me, I've compared it with my girlfriend's UK pressed

CD and found that the MIC one is actually a little better resolution-wise.

 

I don't think I can safely recommend all MIC discs, but Come Away with Me and the Tracy Chapman

Collection are very good pressings from Jingwen Records, and I will

not hesitate to buy more CDs from them.

 

I also suspect that Sembawang Music and That CD Shop would probably do some QC of the parallel imports they buy.

 

 

2 cents,

 

Mindfield

I'm also interested to hear some feedback on the condition of such CDs after some months or even years ...

 

 

I'm also interested to hear some feedback on the condition of such CDs after some months or even years ...

C'mon!  Some of them so dirt cheap...$5-6 also have.  If anything wrong after a few yrs, just write-off and buy new ones lah! ;)

C'mon!  Some of them so dirt cheap...$5-6 also have.  If anything wrong after a few yrs, just write-off and buy new ones lah! ;)

 

Hmmm ... come to think of it, I guess I'll not get such CDs then ... afterall I'm buying the CDs to collect,

wouldn't want to risk doing a mass replacement after a few years should there be anything 'wrong' with the CDs ...  ;D

 

 

Got the Bananarama china made disk last week!  Very retro!

Got the Bananarama china made disk last week!  Very retro!

 

Erm ... OK ... it's Bananarama that's very retro not bcos it's MIC that makes it very retro yes?  ;D

 

 

Well, being MIC, it's cheap at $8.90 and can just buy for the fun of it ;)

Anybody stay around redhill? Can bring some of your MIC cds and compare with US or EU equivalents. Interested to "hear" if MIC cds have improved or that I have choosy ears. IM me.