ArkivMusic Cds any takers?

I have bought thousands of dollars of CDs from ArkivMusic over the course of the past several years. It is the most convenient source I know for searching out and buying classical CDs.

As for the ArkivCDs that are burned on demand, I have bought at least 30 of these over the course of the past year. While I have not been able to compare the quality of the sound with the original issues, I have been VERY impressed with the sound quality of many of these. As an example, the live 1965 performance of Mascagni's opera, Cavalleria Rusticana, conducted by von Karajan at La Scala in Milan (Deutsche Grammophon # 419257) is stunningly good.

Unfortunately, this particular CD set is of the type that you mentioned with no liner notes or booklet. However, please note, many of the ArkivCDs do come with a high quality booklet and/or liner notes that are a reasonable facsimile of what was issued with the original release. Just one example is another ArkivCD opera recording that I recently purchased: Delius, A Village Romeo and Juliet, Charles Mackerras, Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra, 1989, Decca # 430275. On the web page that provides the detailed information for any given ArkivCD, there is a statement right before the individual track listings indicating whether liner notes are included.

Schipo, in response to your question, why buy these ArkivCDs?, for me, it's just a matter of the unavailability of the original pressings. Arkiv Music is only licensing the right to do these pressings for recordings that are no longer in the catalog of the record company that owns the recording. I am personally thankful they are offering this service, as many of these recordings are nearly impossible to find even if you are willing to undertake the laborious task of scanning the on-line sites for a used copy.

I don't expect that the ArkivCDs offer better sound than the original pressing; however, based on the sound quality I have heard on many of these discs, I do expect that the quality of the ArkivCDs is probably every bit as good as the original CDs issued by the major labels.

Uru975 you do make a very good point about a fool and his money. I also believe you can still have your cake and eat it to and need not spend this kind of cash that equates to nothing more then buying a burnt Cd without a booklet.My library is full of out of print recordings including friends that I can easily loan then rip and burn.Print up some art work place in jewel case and bingo not much out of my pocket. Am I missing something here or am I just a little thick on top?And I don't mean hair.

Schipo, you make a good point, no pun intended. It may be that the added cost of getting the art work into a little booklet may remove the profit margin from getting the CD to you that you seek. Again, am talking about the out of print CD's, and getting the music is what it is about isn't it?

well I enjoyed this tread and at least Audiogon allowed us ao speak our minds. I wish you all a happy holiday and enjoy the music.

I have MANY discs from Arkiv. Many of their discs are not burnt copies and the quality is that of the original label complete with artwork, booklet, etc... Those that are out of print are burnt by a familiar name in the quality CD publishing business; the CD blanks they use are well-balanced, cleanly cut and made of good quality materials. Out the many OOP ArkivCDs that I have, I've noticed the sound quality and the transfer are of the same or in most cases, better quality to the originals I've compared them against. This is particularly true of copies of older Deutsche Grammophone, Phillips and Telarc releases whose originals had a tendency to sound bright and glaring. I've found several hard to find original manufacturer box sets of various composers' works at Arkiv. Overall, I've been extremely happy with the results.