By Andrew Shapiro
In the past few weeks we’ve discussed DVD Video, Blue-Ray and CD or DVD-ROM. I realized recently how long it’s been since I have discussed, at length, the audio CD format with a client. I’m also willing to bet it’s been some time since you have actually considered the audio CD and what its advantages and disadvantages are, or at the very least, what else it can do besides play audio.
It’s important to remember the audio CD if for no other reason than it is the modern progenitor of all the optical disc storage we use and rely on so often. (While some of you may be asking, “what about the Video Disc?” Actually, the video disc was an analog medium more akin to an LP than a modern optical disc. Later, when Laser discs came along, we had our first optical digital storage for video.) In 1980, Sony and Philips unleashed the phenomenon that was CDs upon the world. A spectacularly futuristic looking disc that could store 74 minutes worth of crystal clear audio on it. Of course unlike tape, consumers couldn’t record on it, but that never stopped them from snapping up vinyl before, and it wouldn’t stop CDs from sweeping through the marketplace as the sci-fi like technology-turned-real that it was.
CDs had no copy protection, but they did offer instant random access, and a track number display. They were smaller and less cumbersome to manage than Vinyl, and they were far more durable and scratch resistant. They also had a larger amount of flat area on the packaging for album art, advertising and brand imaging.
The only possible downsides were that not everyone had a player, and unlike 120-minute cassettes, long programs such as audio books or theatrical tracks had to be split onto more units. (Some fun trivia for you: Rumor has it that some Sony executive held up Beethoven’s 9th symphony as his favorite piece of music, and when conducted properly, it lasted 74 minutes. This reasoning some how beat out Philips proposal of a 60 minute CD and 74 minutes became the standard maximum audio length of a CD.) Of course now, we have 80 minute CDs as standard that can hold 700MB of information as opposed to the original 650MB standard.
Many other changes have cropped up over the 29 years since we saw our first sparkling rainbow across the metallic looking surface of a disc. When software publishers realized that an optical disc could easily hold 217 times as much information as the then standard double sided, double density floppy disc, they went after the medium like ravenous sharks. Simple changes to the red-book standard allowed the disc to be a continuous storage medium for CD-ROM drive equipped computers. This change was absolutely key to distributing high quality audio, video and interactive entertainment to users everywhere. In one example, entire encyclopedias were now easily delivered on 2-4 discs. Prior to the disc they were either not distributed at all, or much smaller versions were distributed among dozens of floppy discs.
I’m cringing right now, wondering how many young professionals are reading this and thinking of this history the same way they would a description of the Wright Brothers’ adventures at Kitty-Hawk. It’s hard to believe we’re approaching 30 years of optical disc storage, which I regard as the coolest invention of my childhood. It’s sobering to realize some of you reading this have never used a floppy disc, and have never flipped over a cassette tape to play the music on the other side. But I digress…
The confluence of two enormous publishing industries both finding a common utility in the optical disc medium made the adaptations of the device come fast and furiously. The specifications and standards agreed upon by Philips and Sony were called “Red-Book” specs. Within less than a decade we would have blue-book, orange book, white book and more. Allowing more flexibility like multi-session discs, mixed media discs, discs with altered table of contents and more gave us copy protection methods, recordable CDs, RE-recordable CDs, data CDs and combinations of all of these.
Today we have the luxury of being able to turn the simple Compact Disc into anything we want it to be. We can put web-links and videos on Audio CDs that play as if they were an audio CD or a data CD depending on which machine you insert the disc into. Most recently we have manufacturing processes that allow us to meld a CD audio layer and a DVD-Video layer onto the same disc so they audio CDs and DVDs can be released on the physical unit. This is ideal for many applications like concert films, or even self-help videos. When you can’t sit at home and watch, you pop it in the car and listen.
Like all media with a wealth of flexibility and features, it can often take a professional to navigate all those choices effectively. I think the only real pitfall of the audio CD these days, is that it has been around so long people treat it as a consumer medium that anyone can make and distribute. That’s true to an extent but when you’re talking about replication amounts, like any disc, it’s a good idea to have a professional create your masters. It’s better to avoid mistakes or errors in the process that can seriously harm your compatibility percentage. It also may be worth your time and money to talk with someone who can point out what new kinds of discs meet the needs of your project.
If I was correct at the beginning of today’s column, that’s been a long time since you have really considered the properties of the audio CD, then I’m also right that you had never heard of at least one of the variants of the CD I have mentioned above. Regardless, when you’re getting ready to publish your next audio content, it probably is a good idea to give us a call. We can double check your masters for quality as well as discuss new options you may not have considered. We’ll talk more about this before we have to wish the Audio CD a happy 30th birthday.
