How Can One Tell If a CD is Bootlegged? Options

[Shpongled]

How can one confirm that a CD is a bootlegged copy of an original CD? I have just received a copy of Shpongle's Nothing Lasts...But Nothing is Lost, And I am %99 sure this is a fake.

The original CD has a 3 page booklet, this one has 2. The original CD has the song selection around the edges of the CD, this one has CD title around the edges. The CD is also yellow and lime green, whereas the original CD is orange/brown with neon green. The backside art work (artwork under the spot where the CD goes, has an EKOmusic www.ekomusic.ru) label on it. It is not a sticker, is is part or artwork, meaning someone else made this. There is no mention of Twisted Records on the back, CD, spine, or any part of the CD or its case. ALL CDs have their record label's identification. ALL the artwork is either darker or lighter than the original. The CD spine also the font and color positioning are different. The bottom of the CD is supposed to say Twisted records and contain a bar code and other identification numbers like every other CD in my CD collection, which it does not.

I have even taken it up with Twisted Records in their forum, and everyone is %99 sure, by description, that this is a fake.

But in order to make this %99 a %100, are their any tests I can run to see if the CD was in fact copied straight from the original, like seeing a signature of some sorts on the CD or looking at the files on the CD? Just so that if in the futire I receive a CD that looks %99.9 like the original, and doing something like this would be the only way to tell. Like a counterfeit dollar that has to be scanned to someone to know its a fake.

[Fandango]

First off: Looking at the artwork will certainly give more and better clues about the authenticy of the CD than scanning the Audio data. Your case is a good example for that - you noticed it by looking at the artwork and not by listening to or scanning the music.

But to give you an answer to your question in the way you've expected it: 1. there's a tool for checking whether a CD was created from lossy encoded music files. It's called "Tau Analyzer" and you can get it at www.true-audio.com. 2. in case the CD was not authored from lossy files (e.g. MP3s) but it's indeed a direct copy from a the original CD directly, chances are that they didn't do a perfect rip. You can use any AccurateRip capable CD-Ripper for checking the checksums of the tracks, if they mismatch with what they have in their database then the CD is not a original pressing.

But as I said in the first paragraph: the easiest way is to have a close look at the artwork. The "technical" detection is not 100% bullet-proof. Many bootleggers can make perfect copies of the original, for example when they have stolen a master CD stamper from a CD-fab. The artwork is more complicated to fake, even when the original DTP layout data was acquired, offset printing the labels will never result in a perfect copy of the artwork in contrast to using digital CD stampers.

[greynol]

Even still, some legitimate record companies actually use lossy sources to make CDs. I don't think the big-label companies have stooped to such a low level, yet.

I also don't think that AccurateRip is in any way reliable in determining a bootlegged disc from an original. I have plenty of real releases that to this day still do not exist in the AccurateRip database. RHCP's Blood Sugar Sex Magik, a popular title which I bought the week it came out from a reputable record store is an example of such a pressing.

Judgement based on the artwork is your best bet.

[kanak]

Have you tried aucdtect? in my limited tests it was quite accurate when it came to finding lossy sourced wavs.

google aucdtect.

[Societal Eclipse]

I had an early Kraftwerk bootleg that was quite obvious because the album had never been released on CD at that point. It was well worth the money though...even cost more than a regular album. I love it regardless. The only other bootleg I have is a live Misfits recording at the very beginning of their "Resurrection" (reunion) tour. The sound quality is so abysmal at whatever Czech club they played that it's only real use is for collectors.