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Thread: Age and condition of CDs

  1. #1
    Join Date: Oct 2017

    Location: Fenland

    Posts: 125
    I'm Bob.

    Default Age and condition of CDs

    I am currently ripping all my CD's to .flac, I have got to about 100 so far and just got my first error, the first track on a best of the Doors cd wouldn't rip.

    I bought the Philips CD 101 the first week it hit the shops in 1983 I think, I know I was the first one to buy one from the Hi-Fi shop I used in Streatham.

    Then I had to spend lots of time and money on bus fares going up to Covent Garden to the only shop that actually sold CD's in London at that time.

    Anyway back to the thread, I have to say I have lived in a couple of building sites since owning the CD 101 and had some very drunken and loud parties, not every CD was put back in its case in pristine condition, I know wine and beer spillages have been wiped off with all sorts of clothing items, and I am sure some have been trodden on. For the last 8 years they were all in cardboard boxes in a very damp house in Orkney (About 30ft from the high tide line).

    So some of these well abused CD's are now 34 years old and this is my first failure. The rest still sound the same as the day I bought them.

    EDIT: I do look after them much better nowadays :-)
    Last edited by bobvfr; 06-11-2017 at 19:15.

  2. #2
    Join Date: Apr 2017

    Location: Cheshire UK

    Posts: 843
    I'm Martin.

    Default

    I have hundreds of them and some are twenty five years old with no reported problems so far. I wish I had some of my earliest 198Os cds to test them today but Im pretty sure most of them would be fine if looked after well.

    I sold my first batch of cds due to financial problems and a looming bankruptcy. I probably would have kept my first cd player to compare until it was non repairable.

    What sums this up for me is I recently brought a bin bag full of used cds home and many of them were scratched to hell. Amazingly I managed to get the ripping data off them with no audible flaws....try that with badly handled vinyl. I chucked some of them but only after getting the data ripped without error correction going crazy

    I think people were very harsh on the cd with all the raspberry jam and syrup nonsense.

    I did have one game disc that looked fine on the surface but must have been corrupted on the data layer. Its only happened once in over a hundred purchases and it only cost me a couple of quid...shop were messing me about wanting membership for a refund so I chucked it.

    I hear about disc rot and degradation so it must happen. So far I have generally been experiencing perfect sound forever
    Last edited by Minstrel SE; 06-11-2017 at 20:55.

  3. #3
    Join Date: Feb 2011

    Location: South Wales

    Posts: 7,487
    I'm the'greatunwashed'.

    Default

    I've bought CDs in charity shops that are in dreadful condition, they wouldn't play audibly without skipping and wouldn't rip to FLAC either, with a number of different applications. EAC is often the best with scratched discs.

    Solution: a lot of elbow grease and T-Cut (or Brasso) and I've never yet not managed to obtain an error free rip

    Often the disc still doesn't play in a CDP, but if it's ripped I don't need it to.

    Happy days.

    Sent from my XT1580 using Tapatalk
    "People will hear what you tell them to hear" - Thomas Edison

  4. #4
    Join Date: Sep 2017

    Location: Northampton

    Posts: 177
    I'm Chris.

    Default

    Had some for over 25 yrs. Presto by Rush was my first CD. Had a couple of probs, literally. One I had to buy again, second-hand, the other one was sorted with a mild abrasive (T-Cut I think).

    I think their biggest problem is the layers coming apart eventually but not had it yet. "Bit rot" or something

    Don't clean them in a circular motion!

  5. #5
    Join Date: Oct 2017

    Location: Fenland

    Posts: 125
    I'm Bob.

    Default

    Been looking through my collection for what I consider my first CD,s, so I just ripped Regatta de Blanc by the Police, I know its an old one as on the back page it has a list off all the A&M CD's available and it's less than 20.

    Now playing from my Surface Pro 4 via my Xbox One, the Pioneer receiver and the Tannoy speakers that are only 8 years older than the CD.

  6. #6
    Join Date: Oct 2017

    Location: Fenland

    Posts: 125
    I'm Bob.

    Default

    Clean them, I didn't realise you had to clean them ;-)


    Having said that, I have just opened Queen "The works" from 1984 and that one is filthy so it is going for a bath under the cold tap.

  7. #7
    Join Date: Apr 2017

    Location: Cheshire UK

    Posts: 843
    I'm Martin.

    Default

    Well you can take them to a game chain store and get them polished on the pro machine for £2. The only reason I use one game shop is they will polish it up for free if the purchase is too marked or wont play...too right they should offer peace of mind as the discs that are traded in are often a disgrace

    Not many used cds I chance are worth that. I would just chuck them before spending ages trying to polish them. If it was a beloved cd I would pay that but Ive never damaged one of my cds enough to cause problems

    The pro machines polish a tiny surface layer off which is hopefully deeper than the scratches

    The bin bag episode was as many as you can pile in for a fiver. I wouldnt normally buy cds at any price with bad marks on them

    Im quite a stickler for surface condition and most cds Im really after are bought new. I can pick cds up for 10p 30p etc at charity shops so as long as they are cosmetically good enough I will pick them up.

  8. #8
    Join Date: Nov 2008

    Location: North Down /Northern Ireland/ UK

    Posts: 19,484
    I'm Neil.

    Default

    Looked after CD should never need cleaned
    Regards Neil

  9. #9
    Join Date: Feb 2011

    Location: South Wales

    Posts: 7,487
    I'm the'greatunwashed'.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by bobvfr View Post
    Clean them, I didn't realise you had to clean them ;-)
    You don't 'have to' clean them, only if they don't rip.

    Good point too, I should have mentioned that, rub across the CD surface in one direction only, not in circles. Rinse under warm running water, dry with a soft cloth and you're good to go.


    Sent from my XT1580 using Tapatalk
    "People will hear what you tell them to hear" - Thomas Edison

  10. #10
    Join Date: Feb 2011

    Location: South Wales

    Posts: 7,487
    I'm the'greatunwashed'.

    Default

    That's not what we're talking about DL, we are talking about ones that don't rip or play, or scratched ones.

    Obviously if they are looked after they don't need it. Did you only read half the thread?

    Sent from my XT1580 using Tapatalk
    Last edited by Tim; 06-11-2017 at 22:03. Reason: [QUOTE=Dalek Supreme D L;915740]Looked after CD should never need cleaned[/QUOTE]
    "People will hear what you tell them to hear" - Thomas Edison

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