Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I love the radio series of Hitchhikers...REALLY love it, both series of it. I owned them for years on cassette tape and used to listen to them regularly. Then, recently, fueled by the news of the new Tertiary Phase (which will be broadcast in Sept. 2004), I decided to upgrade my cassettes of the Primary and Secondary Phases to CD. And I saw this wonderful sounding "all on one CD" mp3 release, going for a cheap price, and thought, "What a great idea!". Although slightly dubious about what the sound quality would be like, I ignored the other negative reviews here which criticised it and bought it anyway. Bad mistake. There is a constant barrage of crackle and popping going on in the background, which ruins the programme for me. The radio series is so reliant on its sound and sound effects that having a constant popping in your ear is not only irritating, but downright insulting, and I am shocked that the BBC actually allowed this to be released. The fact that SIX CDs are compressed onto ONE (with LOTS of room left over if you look at the burn markings on the CD) should be warning enough, but I did not heed it and paid the price. Quite a large price, actually, because I instantly went out (in quite an annoyed huff) and bought the original CD releases of the Primary and Secondary Phase. Which sound beautiful. Do yourself a favour and do NOT bother ordering this mp3 CD; spend the extra dough and get the decent original releases. Or perhaps wait for a DVD-Audio of it...really THAT is what the BBC should have done. You may end up spending double what you would if you got this mp3 CD, but believe me: the Hitchhiker's radio series IS worth it.