Using CDBaby and similar - Page 2

jim1960 · #16 10-13-2021, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeBmusic

300 CD minimum is usually for CDs, not CD-Rs.

If you look at my post again, you'll see I was referencing what was available twenty years ago, not what's available now. Twenty years ago, there were only two companies that were well known and performed the gamut of services from duplication to mastering to embedding metadata... Oasis and Discmakers. Oasis was the less expensive option at the time.

There were also some smaller companies offering shorter runs but those short runs were expensive and brought the 'per cd' cost up significantly compared to what Oasis and Discmaker were charging at the time.

FrankHudson · #17 10-13-2021, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeBmusic

300 CD minimum is usually for CDs, not CD-Rs. CD Replication vs CD Duplication. Not that that should make a difference these days. In the "old days" (i.e. 10 years ago), many CD players could not play CD-Rs, that's really not the case any longer.

Another inexpensive place to use for CD-Rs is Kunaki.com - you can get as few as you want, but they only offer jewel box cases, no digipacks.

I used to think CD Replication was needed because otherwise you can lose all the metadata, but that's not true. I know someone who had CDs done (guessing by Discmakers) and the metadata was incomplete/missing on many tracks.

Early this century, I used to do short runs of CD-Rs myself which I mailed out to friends and family. I burned the CDs with Adobe Audition 3.01 which did add the CD text of the song titles which would show up on CD players that had an LCD screen and supported that. CD Text is not the same thing as the metadata that you get when you rip a CD back to digital files however as I recall. It didn't take long to run off 30-50 of them. The best looking ones over the years was when you could get the CD-R disks that you put in the right computer CD player/writer upside down and they etched a faint but sharp design into the top of the disk. That took longer to do that the audio write, but eventually those disk blanks became unavailable anywhere.* I did one last year after that, using a inkjet that printed on printable CD-R blanks and then gave it up.

Nowadays, fewer people have CD players anyway -- or at least that's how I think about it for my purposes -- no aspersions cast against the OPs desires.

*the technology I liked that died out was branded "LightScribe." Inkjet printable was a bit dodgy in that some CD-Rs labeled "printable" didn't hold the ink from my home printer. At work we had "professional" CD ink printers that worked well enough, but for a once a year job I never wanted to invest in one of those.

rick-slo · #18 10-13-2021, 10:35 AM

One of my home made CD disc label and tune list:

Glennwillow · #19 10-13-2021, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rick-slo

One of my home made CD disc label and tune list:

That looks great!

I can see why the OP wants a physical package to leave to his kids and grandkids.

- Glenn

MikeBmusic · #20 10-14-2021, 08:36 AM

There are still many people buying CDs - so-called 'super fans', and other musicians, mostly.

Glennwillow · #21 10-14-2021, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeBmusic

There are still many people buying CDs - so-called 'super fans', and other musicians, mostly.

I buy CDs. Of course, I'm getting to be an old guy these days so I imagine I am out of touch.

I use high bit rate mp3 files all the time, but I rip them from my CDs. I have 3 CD players in various parts of the house and one in my studio. I play my mp3 files through my CD or Blu-Ray DVD players and then through big sound systems. I work out every day to different music playing back mp3 files. I usually find that CDs these days don't cost much different from downloading an mp3 album.

- Glenn

DupleMeter · #22 11-03-2021, 06:56 PM

Something no one has mentioned about CDBaby.

You can send them higher resolution masters to qualify for the “mastered for iTunes” program. You just need to work with a mastering engineer who works with them for this service. I’ve mastered 24/96k files for them for several of my clients. You just can’t use their upload service. There’s a special procedure for that.

The other thing I will say is that they are very particular about artist names & capitalization. I had to fight with them to get my name spelled correctly because I have a 2nd capital in my last name & their system doesn’t like that.

A number of years back I was talking with the founder of CDBaby (we went to college together) & said “Derek, it was so much better before you sold it to DiscMakers”.