# Technical question about CD quality



## Metairie Road (Apr 30, 2014)

My question may provoke snorts of derision and contempt at my appalling ignorance from some of you clever clogses. However, as a subscriber to the theory that there is no such thing as a stupid question, only a stupid answer, I'll dive right in.

I want to purchase the Giulini 1959 complete studio recording of Le Nozze di Figaro. It's available as a 2 CD set or a 3 CD set. The 2 CD set averages seventy-odd minutes per CD. The 3 CD set averages fifty-odd minutes per CD. My question is - Does the amount of stuff stuffed onto a CD make any difference to the quality of the recording?

Best wishes
Metairie road


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

If they're from the same master, they should sound the same. They're digital, not like LPs! The 2-CD set is probably a more recent issue since allowable CD lengths increased after the format was defined. 75-minute CDs (or even 80+ minute ones) are common now and should play fine.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Metairie Road said:


> I want to purchase the Giulini 1959 complete studio recording of Le Nozze di Figaro. It's available as a 2 CD set or a 3 CD set. The 2 CD set averages seventy-odd minutes per CD. The 3 CD set averages fifty-odd minutes per CD. My question is - Does the amount of stuff stuffed onto a CD make any difference to the quality of the recording?
> 
> Best wishes
> Metairie road


Some performances with multiple releases may indicate remastering on the CD back cover. I know the Solti Mahler 8 has that on some of the releases.

You can look at the production date for each one (best on back cover, but amazon will list a date that may or may not be reliable). Usually if there is a CD from the 1990s I will take a newer one, sometimes will take a twenty-teens set over a twenty-oh-oh set too. On the other hand the original set (and older release) may have a full libretto whereas the re-release may not or may have it digitally on the disk or online.

Is there a quality concern with older CDs say from the 1990s? That varies, but certainly technology should have improved since then. You can Google for Wikipedia article on CD rot or something like that. There were certain brands that had issued for certain years with CDs that degraded over time.

I do have some older CDs maybe late 1990s that work fine.


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## Revitalized Classics (Oct 31, 2018)

Metairie Road said:


> My question may provoke snorts of derision and contempt at my appalling ignorance from some of you clever clogses. However, as a subscriber to the theory that there is no such thing as a stupid question, only a stupid answer, I'll dive right in.
> 
> I want to purchase the Giulini 1959 complete studio recording of Le Nozze di Figaro. It's available as a 2 CD set or a 3 CD set. The 2 CD set averages seventy-odd minutes per CD. The 3 CD set averages fifty-odd minutes per CD. My question is - Does the amount of stuff stuffed onto a CD make any difference to the quality of the recording?
> 
> ...


I've noticed with that recording that two, three and perhaps even four versions use the same 1989 remastering but in different packaging. I'm not sure there even is a more recent remastering...

The clue is where is says Digital Remastering (P) 1989 - even though the copyright date next to it changes 
e.g. (C) EMI Records 2006, (C) Warner 2013 etc

It might be worth checking around. If they are all remastered 1989, you might as well pick the cheapest one or the one you like the design best

As you thought, 2 CDs will sound just the same as 3CDs


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Metairie Road said:


> My question may provoke snorts of derision and contempt at my appalling ignorance from some of you clever clogses. However, as a subscriber to the theory that there is no such thing as a stupid question, only a stupid answer, I'll dive right in.
> 
> I want to purchase the Giulini 1959 complete studio recording of Le Nozze di Figaro. It's available as a 2 CD set or a 3 CD set. The 2 CD set averages seventy-odd minutes per CD. The 3 CD set averages fifty-odd minutes per CD. My question is - Does the amount of stuff stuffed onto a CD make any difference to the quality of the recording?
> 
> ...


Try finding the EMI , then you have a booklet.


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

Metairie Road said:


> My question may provoke snorts of derision and contempt at my appalling ignorance from some of you clever clogses. However, as a subscriber to the theory that there is no such thing as a stupid question, only a stupid answer, I'll dive right in.
> 
> I want to purchase the Giulini 1959 complete studio recording of Le Nozze di Figaro. It's available as a 2 CD set or a 3 CD set. The 2 CD set averages seventy-odd minutes per CD. The 3 CD set averages fifty-odd minutes per CD. My question is - Does the amount of stuff stuffed onto a CD make any difference to the quality of the recording?
> 
> ...


In my opinion, no. It doesn't matter the number of CDs. But I would check to see if you're getting the same combination of minutes-the entire performance-on each release, whether it's two CDs or three CDs. Then I would check to see if there might be a difference in the mastering of these performances. Not a stupid question. Evaluating different releases sometimes takes some thought and investigation. The sound quality of the CDs it's not depending on how many CDs there are; it's a matter of whether the performance has been remastered differently on each edition.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Metairie Road said:


> My question is - Does the amount of stuff stuffed onto a CD make any difference to the quality of the recording?


No, it doesn't. As KenOC points out, there are plenty of CD's now that exceed 80 minutes. But I would warn you that if you have an older CD player, it may rebel against such long CD's. My Marantz refused to play Teodor Currentzis' Mahler 6 (which clocks in at 84 minutes or so), but my new Arcam plays it without incident.


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## Metairie Road (Apr 30, 2014)

Thank you all for responding to my question.

I've decided to go with this set. It's the only one that comes with a libretto.









Best wishes
Metairie Road


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