I found this:
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0603/audiodesk.htm
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I have some German made compact discs of the band
'Yello', and the outer ring is coated with a white/grey material...right @ the edge, looking from above and from the side.
They sound good by the way, I don't know if it's because they look well made, much better than most Canadian made CDs.
Japanese CDs are also better made.
CDs coming from Europe (ECM record label), Germany (Mercury), Japan (XRCD), USA (
FIM, Channel Classics, Reference Recordings), are better made and sounding than all the average crap made in Canada and USA...in vast general.
The green/black markers (sharpies) are for the all the poorly pressed compact discs made in North America...roughly 98%.
Those discs I don't listen to them anymore, I tend to support music record labels that care for their customers with better sound quality from better pressings.
It's the exact same thing with vinyls...it's depressing all the crap they are pressing out there. How can the new young generations of audiophiles appreciate vinyls and CDs when the vast majority of them are simply unacceptable?
And that, is the reality we all live in.
What to do? Stop buying crap and only buy the best music pressings...in both analog (LPs, tapes) and digital (CDs, SACDs, Blu-ray Audio).
Yeah, Germany and Japan and Sweden and some parts of the USA are worth our precious music time. Most physical music medium are a disgrace. Those need alkl the help they could get...including more jitter, green pens, black markers, red glue, putting them in the freezer for few weeks, heating them in the oven between two marble plates @ 200° and for approximately 33 minutes. Or! You van simply trash them all; that way your life is easier and happier without the complications imposed upon you because of companies that are not into the business/passion of audio music quality but only maximum financial gains from inferior and poorly manufactured music recordings.
No wonder kids nowadays are opting for fiber optic audio transmission. I listened to kid's iPhones, the music downloads they have on them, and it is 155% superior to all the crappy record vinyls and CDs out there. Plus it costs less money.
Sure, if you know your products, where to get them, have the $$ to purchase them, if you are a high class music lover, then you already know what and what not to buy.
And if you need a green pen to help you out in this DNA age, then you're in the wrong music business/fire passion.
That's my take. Green pens or the trash bins? ...The later is much simpler and it permits people to discover the brighter side of life with newer and better music recordings.
The music we love we buy the best pressings; we keep re-buying it. And if we don't we play with green pens and black sharpies...perhaps 0.0000000000000000000000001% of us. Most likely less.
The day most music manufacturing plants are going to make good sounding quality products...that'll be the day.