what was the last cd you bought?

Posted by: AL4N on 13 March 2004

after a suggestion,i have split up the old topic into this one and what was your last vinyl purchase.I hope it makes life easier.
so to get things off and running
queen--the highlander sound track

Posted on: 14 September 2008 by MilesSmiles

Posted on: 14 September 2008 by u5227470736789524

I must have missed a post somewhere or am just lacking knowledge - what are the cd pictures with no covers ? New remasters ? Imports ? Do they come with covers and you choose to display otherwise ? Where are they being sourced at ?

Help/answers appreciated.

Jeff A

Posted on: 14 September 2008 by Lontano

Jeff - these CD's are "Target" CD's. They are collectible and MilesSmiles spends lots of time tracking them down and buying them. Looks like Ewemon has a few as well.

They are basically early CD pressings that I think came from either a West German or Japanese factory.

They come with covers as per normal but people show on the web without so they can show they have these early pressings.

Here's an explanation below that I borrowed from another website.

"So, my first target CD... When CD's first came out, a bunch of them had a design that looked like a target. Some people think that because they were straight transfers from the original masters used for the vinyl, untweaked and all, they sound better than subsequent pressings. I don't know about that. These target CD's seem to be picking up steam as collector's items and people are beginning to pay up for them. I got this one in a lot I purchased pretty cheap. It's Ratt's Out Of The Cellar. Looks pretty. I don't think I'll be hunting for target CD's, but they look nice. When CD's first came out, I was too young to buy any and did not have a CD player, so I don't have any targets or made in West Germany discs from back then. MFSL discs is another story. There are a couple of hundred of them that have come out, but I think I've got the ones I want so far (yes, my MFSL collection, although small, has come a long way since my last post!). The only one I would really like to have is Rush's 2112. As for other audiophile discs, I would like Metallica's Ride The Lightning, and Master Of Puppets on the DCC label. Those are kind of scarce it seems and go for a lot of money, so I'll just wait to see if one comes my way without having to pay through the nose.

So, here's my Target CD (actual disc):

Posted on: 14 September 2008 by u5227470736789524

Adrian, thank you for the info, I shall explore a little,

Posted on: 14 September 2008 by Lontano

quote:
Originally posted by Jeff Anderson:
Adrian, thank you for the info, I shall explore a little,

You'll often find them on the for sale listings on the Steve Hoffman forum. I have one that MilesSmiles gave me but I have not done a A/B against the current regular redbook.

Posted on: 14 September 2008 by JWM

Neil Young, 'Live in San Francisco' 2CD

Posted on: 14 September 2008 by gary yeowell

The Felice Brothers 'Tonight at the Arizona'.

Devon Sproule 'Upstate Songs'.

Both superb..

Posted on: 14 September 2008 by ewemon

quote:
Originally posted by Jeff Anderson:
Adrian, thank you for the info, I shall explore a little,

Jeff here's a link that will give you a list of the targets that were made.

http://www.ralphscomiccorner.com/cdjwg2.htm

Some of the ones I have are the best sounding versions I have heard.

Think Oliver is a real collector of them.

Posted on: 14 September 2008 by u5227470736789524

Thanks, Ewen.

Posted on: 14 September 2008 by Lontano

quote:
Originally posted by ewemon:

Some of the ones I have are the best sounding versions I have heard.

Think Oliver is a real collector of them.

Ewen - did you get Targets because of their sound reputation or did you just happen to have them/chance upon them?

Posted on: 14 September 2008 by MilesSmiles

Jeff,

Lontano and Ewen already gave you a lot of info. I'm attaching below another link to the web site of one of the most knowledgeable target collectors - Keith Hirsch.
http://www.keithhirsch.com/

Unfortunately except for the fact that these are the very first pressings and you can recognize them easily by the' target design' you find on each one of them, there are no rules in terms of sound quality or scarcity.

Some targets sound fantastic and much better than later re-masters. Many put this down to the flat transfer. However, other targets do not sound that great.

Some targets are extremely scarce to the extend that some are only rumoured to exist and there is no official documentation. Others are quite common. The one I just posted in this thread is supposed to be extremely scarce, taken from ralphscomiccorner :
This disc is very scarce. I am only aware of five copies in the hands of target collectors. This is the only CD release that I know of on the very obscure Finnadar label.

Before you jump into collecting them consider the impact on your bank account.