American CDs

[Theodoric]

Are there any problems in playing CDs bought in the USA over here in the UK?

[kronas]

not that i know of although some of the new copy protections are preventing some drives from reading them

i assume you are talking about audio cds ?

[Theodoric]

Originally posted by kronas
not that i know of although some of the new copy protections are preventing some drives from reading them

i assume you are talking about audio cds ?

Yes, ordinary audio CDs. Now You mention it, there is this copy protection problem, isn't there? However, it is presumably the same problem both sides of the Atlantic.

[darkangel]

a music CD always has to stick to the set standard/format otherwise the can't call themselves Cd's i.e Cd's that u can't play on your PC's can not display the CD logo and can be returned as damaged

[Lord Nikon]

Speaking as someone who has ordered CDs from the US at times, there should be no problem :D

(Try getting Blue Oyster Cult - Workshop of the Telescopes in the UK)

[darkangel]

Originally posted by morris
???:confused: the music CD has a set specific standard if it deviates from the set standard it can no longer be called a Compact digital disc.

[MikeyB]

I bought a CD when I was over in America, plays absolutely fine.

As morris said, it's not like dvd's with region coding. An audio CD is an audio CD where ever you buy it, and will play anywhere.

[bob_a_builder]

An audio CD is an audio CD where ever you buy it, and will play anywhere

well not quite - some won't play on your PC or some other CD players

"The skirmish began in early January when officials for Netherlands-based Philips, which licenses the compact disc logo for both discs and players, went on a tirade against the recording industry for shipping discs with deliberate errors burned into them.

The errors not only make it harder to burn copies of the music, but also render the discs unplayable on many computers -- and a few stereos -- by violating the "Red Book" standard for CD-Audio established by Philips and Sony in 1980.

"Those are silver discs with music data that resemble CDs, but aren't" Philips representative Klaus Petri told Financial Times Deutschland.

link1 (http://wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,50101,00.html)
link2 (http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/08/05/1059849381595.html)

[Lord Nikon]

Actually, it CAN be called a compact disc.... it just can't be classed as Compact Disc Digital Audio, it becomes a multisession data disc.

Thing is.... the warnings on the new "copy protected" discs SHOULD include the warning that they may kill apple macs so much that they need to be returned to an apple service center to remove the offending disc...

[Lord Nikon]

its true....


they lock the drive closed and crash the operating system, plus prevent the machine rebooting properly..... on a PC they simply eject saying that the media can't be read...

[SMHarman]

Originally posted by darkangel
the music CD has a set specific standard if it deviates from the set standard it can no longer be called a Compact digital disc.

The Red Book is what I believe that standard is called. Different disc formats then went on to be different colours.

But yes American CDs play fine here, and there are some great deals to be had.

{edit - I see someone else has already said this}

[gary_580]

The copy protection you are talking about is the Cactus datasheild protection. These will play in most players however you wont be able to rip the CD to MP3. My understanding is that this is used more in the Japanese market that anywhere else, so beware if you buy from CD WOW. Its does have to say on the box if it has this protection

[duncant403]

Originally posted by gary_580
The copy protection you are talking about is the Cactus datasheild protection. These will play in most players however you wont be able to rip the CD to MP3.

Not entirely true. My CD-writer is quite happy to read these so-called "copy protected" "CDs" and so I can rip them (if I choose) without any problems.
My Sony CD-Walkman on the other hand won't touch them - and this was a Columbia CD (made by Sony) :mad:

Duncan

[SMHarman]

Originally posted by gary_580
The copy protection you are talking about is the Cactus datasheild protection. These will play in most players however you wont be able to rip the CD to MP3. My understanding is that this is used more in the Japanese market that anywhere else, so beware if you buy from CD WOW. Its does have to say on the box if it has this protection

But staying with the topic of this thread - this data protection can be equally used on a UK mastered or US mastered CD and the CD will have problems in players in both countries.

CDs are not region coded like DVDs

[bob_a_builder]

and there are some great deals to be had

Maybe even better bargins shortly

"'Top five' music label Universal Music Group (UMG) is to slash CD prices by up to 31.5 per cent in the US in a bid to persuade punters to start buying them again, the company said yesterday.
"
source (http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/7/32658.html)