CDs giving up the ghost

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It is I, Leclerc
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CDs giving up the ghost

Unread post by It is I, Leclerc »

I've been collecting the wee silver things since they went on sale in the uk. They were touted as indestructible, certainly compared to those wierd and potentially noisy vinyl records or self destructive cassettes.
Indestructible? Nah, I now have a few unplayable CDs and others look like a starmap when I shine a light through them. Admittedly some are more than 30yo but some of the duffers aren't much over 20. I should think almost my entire collection will be landfill in another 20-25 years (not that it'll make any difference to me!). Crappy old vinyl, on the other hand, is and will be largely unaffected by the passage of time.
Anyone else noticing any CD rot yet?

Karnevil9
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Re: CDs giving up the ghost

Unread post by Karnevil9 »

no because i scrap them when a new edition comes out

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karatestu
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Re: CDs giving up the ghost

Unread post by karatestu »

I have had one or two that are about 20 years old but not a noticeable amount. One was Cheryl Crow cant remember the other.
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Hemmo1969
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Re: CDs giving up the ghost

Unread post by Hemmo1969 »

I haven’t Stu as with my collection and new bought I rip (ripped) to my NAS then discard the case and store the CD and sleeve away. I did if anything have a few tray wouldn’t rip due to surface damage from days when I have them in the car (glovebox gravel rash)
Have you tried searching for the ones that are failing to repurchase?

John Rackham
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Re: CDs giving up the ghost

Unread post by John Rackham »

I only ever bought CDs to play in the car when travelling. Never really considered them for home hifi, just put off by the inferior mastering that I personally found between the CD and vinyl of the recordings that I wished to listen to.

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Re: CDs giving up the ghost

Unread post by Fretless »

I have one disc which has a definite case of 'CD Rot' ('Faith' by The Cure).

The disc begins to turn a brownish/bronze colour from the outside rim and although the first few tracks may be playable, the later ones will not be and it slowly gets worse (CD's playing from the centre outwards as opposed to LP's). This was apparently due to production faults in specific pressing plants and should not be very common.

I have also been collecting CD's since the mid-80's and have had no problems with ageing discs - except that they sometimes need to be cleaned when I rip them onto HDD.

What is noticeable from the mid-90's onward is a marked improvement in mastering quality. Replacing favourite albums with newer versions can be a revelation. I recently acquired a copy of the Bob Ludwig remaster of The Police 'Synchronicity' which had me reeling with the amount of new detail I heard. Suddenly all of Andy Summers subtle effects and Fripp-like inflections (they had just done 'I Advance Masked' together) were fully revealed.

Image

'Synchronicity' was the very first CD I ever bought - plucked out of a small Sale rack in WH Smiths who were selling off the little silver things as nobody was buying them and they were expected to die out in the same way as Betamax video tapes.

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Re: CDs giving up the ghost

Unread post by Fretless »

PS - There is a 'New Wave' of remasters that need to be approached with caution as they have been EQ'd for the Spotify Generation - for instance the latest round of Jean Michel Jarre CD's (not the Scott Hull / Masterdisk edition - they are superb!).

These albums have been made LOUD - really loud. boosted treble and bass to sound dynamic from compressed audio files and crappy air-buds or Beats phones (yuk).

A couple of the re-issued Saga albums I got earlier this year have been done this way and produce a very bright, in-your-face sound.

Upstairs:
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NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
Downstairs:
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HP: HifiBerry Digi+ PRO + Sabaj A10d
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Karnevil9
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Re: CDs giving up the ghost

Unread post by Karnevil9 »

Its always the re masturd from the original master tapes that attracts me

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It is I, Leclerc
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Re: CDs giving up the ghost

Unread post by It is I, Leclerc »

I remembered after writing the OP that we were looking for a way to archive files at work back in the '90s. No blank CD supplier would guarantee their products for anything more than 25 years for that purpose, so we stuck to paper. I can see why now. I have a few LaserDiscs from back in the day that I didn't move on and most of those are suffering from the creeping brown discolouration as Fretless describes above. Perhaps it's just a general optical disc problem rather then CD specific. LaserDiscs are handy for checking azimuth I find :)

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Re: CDs giving up the ghost

Unread post by Fretless »

Got Another one - a set of Suzanne Vega's 'Close-Up' series where she revisits her own back catalogue and re-records her favourite songs with a stripped-down backing.

The set is the Amenuensis pressing from the USA and Volume 3 'States of Being' has arrived missing the central section of the silver data layer. You can see right through to the label:

Image

Excuse the reflected hands - I made this photo to prove to the supplier that the disc was mispressed - luckily it will be replaced at no extra cost.

Because the index data for the disc is contained on the first strip around the central hole, the CD will not load or play at all.
Never seen this before. :snooty:

Upstairs:
Vinyl
Pro-Ject 1.2 + Grado Sig Jr + Cambridge Alva Duo
DigiVolumio PC + Kiss DP-500 + Sabaj A20d
NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
Downstairs:
Vinyl
Logic DM101 + Syrinx LE1 + Grado Sig MCX
DigiDenafrips Ares II + Volumio PC + Cambridge CXC
NVA: P50 - BMU+ Aiyima A07 MAX (x2) + Arcam One
HP: HifiBerry Digi+ PRO + Sabaj A10d
Office:
Allo DigiOne SIG + SMSL M300se + Douk G4 (x2)
Mission 760 + Monolith THX AAA 887
Headphones: German Maestro & AudioQuest

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