Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsMis-leading purchase prompt
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 17, 2021
I had purchased the compact disc first Sandman audible release last year, was extremely pleased with it, and was a shoo-in to follow up when all additional volumes were released. As release date for Sandman Act II approached, I received the expected e-mail that suggested that I buy based on my previous purchase, and I promptly placed an order thinking I was getting the exact same format as the first volume. When it arrived, I learned that though it was recorded on 'Audio CD' as per the description, the CDs contained MP3 audio of the story on two discs, not the more conventional CD's that spread the first volume over a twelve disc set. When I ordered the first one, I very specifically wanted it to be playable on my existing devices that I used to still enjoy my extensive compact disc music collection. I didn't want to download it, I didn't want to stream it from a subscription service- I wanted to be able to enjoy it on my stereo, my blu-ray player, and most importantly, my portable disc-device, so I could enjoy Neil Gaiman's fantasy opus at my leisure while doing other things. None of my devices except my desktop computer has the capacity to play MP3 audio directly off the discs. I don't recall that an MP3 audio option was even available for the first volume, and find it very misleading that the MP3 version of Act II is the default 'physical' option offered on the main page via a button that identifies it as an 'Audio CD', while the multi-disc physical media version is only visible via the 'see all formats and editions' link. I appreciate the 'because you bought this, you should buy...' attentiveness that Amazon puts so much effort into, but I guess I was wrong to assume that they would solicit the sequel to one of the products I purchased in the same format that I got the first time.
