Bullets 'n' Babes

hurry ends at midnight tuesday enter SUNDAYMAIL into the code box.

http://www.play.com/campaign.aspx?campa ... ource=9593

Nice one thanks Salty. I should maybe starting reading the Mail .

Here's what mine said:

Thank you! Providing you have applied correctly we will email you your unique £2 Play.com Voucher code by 23:59:00 Friday 25th April.

The T&Cs say the voucher has an expiry date. You've basically got a week to use it!

And the T&Cs:

* Unique Promotional Voucher Codes are subject to availability.
* The Promoter accepts no responsibility for lost or damaged Unique Promotional Voucher Codes.
* A maximum of one Unique Promotional Voucher Code can be redeemed per person.
* The Unique Promotional Voucher Code entitles the consumer to £2 discount at Play.com.
* To redeem your Unique Promotional Voucher Code you must enter it on the 'Pay & Confirm' screen during the Play.com 'Checkout' process. Click the 'I have a promotional or discount voucher code' button and enter your code when prompted.
* To redeem your Unique Promotional Voucher Code you must be registered with Play.com and have a Play.com account.
* All Unique Promotional Voucher Codes are single use only and will expire upon use.
* The value of Unique Promotional Voucher Codes redeemed against orders that are later cancelled will not be refunded.
* If the full value of the Unique Promotional Voucher Code is not redeemed no credit will be given.
* Unique Promotional Voucher Codes can not be used in conjunction with each other or with any other play.com promotional offer.
* Unique Promotional Voucher Codes are not valid for redemption against PlayTrade transactions.
* Acceptance of your Unique Promotional Voucher Code is deemed acceptance of these terms and conditions.
* All Unique Promotional Voucher Codes must be redeemed by 00:00 on 03/05/08
* Play.com reserves the right to refuse any Unique Promotional Voucher Code application or Unique Promotional Voucher Code redemption if there is any suspicion of fraud or malredemption. Our standard Privacy Policy and general Terms & Conditions apply. See website for details.

Play's prices stink

Their £7.99 HD-DVDs are cheaper at HMV even with the £2 discount. They have "Notes on a Scandal" on SD DVD for £3 after discount but it's not one I really want to see.

Are there any new SD DVDs not likely to get an HD Disc release any time soon worth getting?

There are some cracking FilmFour Films unlikely to get HD Discs soon, cheap here:

http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/3-/141511/0 ... dpr=141511

Poltergeist remastered £3 with voucher

http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/3471621/ ... dpr=110800

Thanks.

I thought there was a HD Disc of that. I guess not.

I'll probably use the voucher to get the new Portishead album when it comes out. Cheers Salty.

Portishead's album is cheaper here than Play with £2 off:

http://www.music-wow.com/shop-item_deta ... UNI%207670

And Duffy's album (which interests me) is cheaper too:

http://www.music-wow.com/shop-item_deta ... NI%2054324

Music WOW are decent. I've used them twice. You pay using PayPal.

That's cheap, but I'd imagine they sell foreign CDs, which I don't want.

Instead of imaging you could just ask

CD WOW sell foreign CDs too. They're as foreign as CD WOW if that's what you mean. All English covers. They do also sell Chinese and/or Japanese stock but it clearly saying on the listing if that's the case.

CDs from CD WOW used to come from HK but now come from Eastern Europe. They've never sold UK CDs.

CDs from Music WOW arrive in the normal period too and are new/sealed.

Yup that's why I never buy CDs from CD-WOW.

Where do you buy CDs from?

Seriously they no different except very rarely the cover is different. Why would you pay more for the same product? It's not like they have foreign text. You buy foreign DVDs

CDs are expensive from e-tailors which source from the UK.

Because I fear they will have inferior sound quality lol, I have a foreign CD phobia.

I get mine from HMV mainly. I use student discount so it's not too bad. Oh by the way, I buy American CDs as well, but I don't class them as foreign when the band is American . I use Import-CDs and Caiman on the Amazon.co.uk zShops for them.

gasteropod wrote:Because I fear they will have inferior sound quality lol, I have a foreign CD phobia.

Are you being serious?

A redbook CD is a redbook CD (PCM, 44.1Khz, 16 Bit, Stereo). It wouldn't play in your CD Player if the sound quality was inferior . Of course the Master could be different but we all know they love to put a BIG remastered tag on albums so it's obvious if it's a new Remastered job. An album is an album no matter where it's bought, save for the odd "exclusive" extra track and cover art difference (the latter being rare). The cover always always in English too, why? Because it's the same product

gasteropod wrote:I get mine from HMV mainly.

No matter how good HMV/Amazon Market Place are they never beat these cheap stores (well Amazon Market Place does sometimes). Have you bought CDs from CD WOW? What put you off? I'm just wondering, when they're the same. They're even more the same as we get than DVDs are. I just find it weird when you do import DVDs, that's all.

Romero mode on "You must love to throw money away"

I can certainly understand why you buy CDs though. I still like "owning the product" and only download rare tracks and the odd few singles. I tend to have a clear out once a year and sell/give away CDs I no longer want. unlike DVDs I have no problem getting rid

Anyway I'll shut up 8)

p.s - Do Play always sell UK CDs?

Brad, do music-wow ship to NZ?

The quality might be inferior?! What Bradavon said is right on the money, get a fucking a clue.

Japan has a higher quality of mastering, and I've seen a visual comparison (i.e. graph) of a CD released in the UK and the USA, and one of them had more compressed mastering than the other.

One time I bought a HK CD, which was an HDCD, and between each track was a short pause. This interrupted songs which flowed into each other, and the pauses aren't present on the UK version. SO THERE!

Play? Yeah I think they just do UK ones Brad, unless specified.

EvaUnit02 wrote:Brad, do music-wow ship to NZ?

Yep:

http://www.music-wow.com/index.php?page=16

Free delivery worldwide too. I bet they saw an opening in the market, now CD WOW have grown so big and were forced to source their discs from Eastern Europe.

It's well worth checking their Bargains section. They have new(ish) CDs for £2.99. I "think" these ones are CDs meant for the Chinese market (so Chinese characters), like it matters. I've not bought one yet though as I've not come across a title I want, that I don't already have:

http://www.music-wow.com/shop-listCat.php?catId=17

My last order for some reason the PayPal transaction went through but the order on their system didn't (I've had it at CD WOW too). I just forwarded them the PayPal e-mail and they took that as confirmation.

Like CD WOW you should get an Invoice (PayPal) e-mail and a Music WOW confirmation e-mail.

gasteropod wrote:Japan has a higher quality of mastering

I did say the Master could be different . Not that's it's "that" relevant, we're not talking about Japanese CDs. I'm not surprised to hear the Japanese in particular go that one step further. Many Japanese DVDs beat the International DVD.

That said, even Japanese CDs have to adhere to the same fundamental specification, so if the same Master is essentially the same (i.e - Not a 20th Anniversary job) I seriously doubt you could tell the difference.

gasteropod wrote:One time I bought a HK CD, which was an HDCD, and between each track was a short pause. This interrupted songs which flowed into each other, and the pauses aren't present on the UK version. SO THERE!

Well you're now comparing Apples with Oranges

An HDCD is designed to be played in an HDCD Player and while it happens to work on a Redboook CD Player it is not designed to be played in one. HDCDs are encoded at the higher 24-Bit bit rate.

I owned one once too and couldn't tell the difference (using a Redbook CD Player). I wasn't able to Bitstream it over Optical to MiniDisc Player though. The resulant recording was useless. That isn't a fair comparison because the media isn't the same. Obviously by today's standards HDCDs are anything but High Definition

gasteropod wrote:Play? Yeah I think they just do UK ones Brad, unless specified.

Thanks.

Seriously you should give albums from CD WOW, Music WOW, Bang CD and the like ago. I always pick those three above Play, who're expensive for CDs in my experience. I bet you'll find the audio quality is the same.

Anyway enough discussion, fair enough you want to buy UK or USA CDs only

Has anyone come across any Play bargains?

I do hear "Notes on a Scandal" is excellent, not that I really feel the need to own it. I already own the FilmFour DVDs I want.

Kingdom of Heaven 4 disc would be £4.99 with voucher (I think).
StreetFighter Trilogy is £7.99 with voucher.

bradavon wrote:An HDCD is designed to be played in an HDCD Player and while it happens to work on a Redboook CD Player it is not designed to be played in one. HDCDs are encoded at the higher 24-Bit bit rate.

They are designed to play on any CD player, but you just don't get the extra sound resolution. That one in particular had gaps between tracks, which has nothing to do with HDCD encoding, as I own other ones too.

Mastering makes a great deal of difference in sound quality, actually. Ever heard Californication? The sound quality is a stinking piece of shit which I despise to this day, it's a great album ruined by ultra-compressed mastering.

gasteropod wrote:Mastering makes a great deal of difference in sound quality, actually.

I never said it didn't. I said the Master is generally the same or 99% identical (as in not technically the same Master). Not that you'd know as you've never bought from cheap stores

I thought Californication was okay. Life is so much easier when you're not an AVphile. It must stink to be so picky you can never enjoy anything (that's a general comment).

grim_tales wrote:Kingdom of Heaven 4 disc would be £4.99 with voucher (I think).

That's an excellent price. I already own it though.

Nah, Californication is the album which non-AV philes pick up on, I've seen people posting on Amazon asking why the music is 'crackly' and stuff.

I received the £2 voucher today, and used it on the upcoming Portishead album

I received it too. I've no idea what I'll use it on. Play's prices are mostly rubbish.