[soundbitten1]

I'm discovering more and more of my cds are falling prey to cd rot . Anyone else having this problem ?

[richidoo]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD-R#Expected_lifespan

Apparently they are only designed for limited lifespan, 1000 reads, which suggests that the reading laser itself can affect the resin pits.

Commercial CDs are made of aluminum, so they don't "rot." If they are damaged, get a geiger counter - QUICK! 

[ajzepp]

All the more reason to upload your CDs to a hard drive, throw your CDs in a box, and get a squeezebox! 

[ecramer]

Not till you pry it from my dead cold hand 

All the more reason to upload your CDs to a hard drive, throw your CDs in a box, and get a squeezebox! 

[andyr]

Not till you pry it from my dead cold hand 

All the more reason to upload your CDs to a hard drive, throw your CDs in a box, and get a squeezebox! 

You have confused me, ecramer!    Your system details list you as having a "Paris" headamp - so you obviously know that vinyl delivered through a LOMC and an active step up delivers the best sound! 

Yet you'd prefer to listen to CDs straight vs. CDs stored on a computer disk?    IMO (and I must admit, I don't listen to CDs much at all), hard disk storage is the digital way of the future in terms of ease of use ... CDs are already on their way "down & out"!    (Whereas vinyl continues its resurgence!  )

Regards,

Andy

[ecramer]

Didn't mean to confuse you. I will  stick my head out and say that to my ear i find hard disk delivery of music in most cases to be missing something, it always seems lifeless to me sterile .  I heard 3 or 4 hd setups that i liked the sound of At RMAF.  Wayne's setup at Boulder cable being one that sounded good, and there was a lot of them there. now i don't mean they were gag me with a fish fork bad but not as good as a decent cdp  I have heard lots of cd / cd dac combos that i liked over the years. I have all my cd's burnt to mp3 (almost 200 gig)  so i can take music on my zen v to work. Til i find that its equal to my cd rig i'm not switching.

ED

Not till you pry it from my dead cold hand 

All the more reason to upload your CDs to a hard drive, throw your CDs in a box, and get a squeezebox! 

You have confused me, ecramer!    Your system details list you as having a "Paris" headamp - so you obviously know that vinyl delivered through a LOMC and an active step up delivers the best sound! 

Yet you'd prefer to listen to CDs straight vs. CDs stored on a computer disk?    IMO (and I must admit, I don't listen to CDs much at all), hard disk storage is the digital way of the future in terms of ease of use ... CDs are already on their way "down & out"!    (Whereas vinyl continues its resurgence!  )

Regards,

Andy

[enjoythemusic]

Agred, the CD has a limited life span PLUS in the mid to late 80's they had a problem with the CDs themselves due to the polymer being corrosive with the metal used on the writing layer. Have a few from that time period and yes, you can easily see large bits missing inside the disc.

Agree, burn them lossless to and NAS with raid backup and you are all set

[rockadanny]

burn them lossless to and NAS

??
I am sorry but I do not understand what you mean here.
Can you please explain this?
Thank you.

[mcgsxr]

He is referencing PC based audio storage.

Lossless could refer to FLAC or AAIF formats.

NAS refers to network attached storage.

I have my whole collection of cd's ripped into FLAC on my PC, and serve it via ethernet cable to my Bolder modded SB3.

I have that data backed up locally, and offsite, AND still have the discs.

Lots of backup, in case any of the disc drives fail, or the house burns etc!

[soundboy]

Agred, the CD has a limited life span PLUS in the mid to late 80's they had a problem with the CDs themselves due to the polymer being corrosive with the metal used on the writing layer. Have a few from that time period and yes, you can easily see large bits missing inside the disc.

What you are referring to only happened to CDs manufactured at a certain CD plant.  I have plenty of CDs, dating back to 1982 when CD first became available to consumers (in Japan), that are still in pristine condition.

[Scottdazzle]

I have not had any problems with cd rot, but I have hundreds of cd's I haven't listened to in years.  If anyone has experienced it, would you kindly tell us some specific cd's so we can check our copies of them?

[soundbitten1]

I have not had any problems with cd rot, but I have hundreds of cd's I haven't listened to in years.  If anyone has experienced it, would you kindly tell us some specific cd's so we can check our copies of them?

Talking Heads - Sand In The Vaseline
The Cult - Pure Cult : Best Of
Flamin' Groovies - Groovies Greatest Grooves



It looks like this .

[woodsyi]

Oh, oh.

I have that Talking Heads' album.  I better go check them out.

[richidoo]

That's corrosion of the aluminum from air/moisture/acid getting in under the topcoat.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD_rot

From playing trumpet, I know that people have varying degrees of acidity on their skin. Some are acid enough to dissolve the silver plating off of a trumpet in a few years of daily use. That acid would greatly speed up the corrosion of the aluminum in a CD - IF the protective layer is compromised. I have thousands of CDs, never seen one rot. But I don't melt trumpets with my bare hands either.  Maybe washing hands before handling CDs and/or eating more veggies to raise the pH of sweat? 

[Scottdazzle]

Thanks Soundbitten1. Let's put out an AC call for other members to tell us about any cd rot cd's they have, too. We may want to get them on our HD's fast!

[Rob Babcock]

I've had little to no CD rot.  The only case I can think of was one disc I bought back in the 80's.  I got a dozen CDs from a buddy and he'd written his name on the top of them with a Sharpie.  I used a dab of acetone wiped off very quickly to remove the marker but on the AC/DC "Back in Black" I wasn't quite quick enough and took the top layer of plastic off, exposing bare aluminum.  Later I bought a new one but I've kept the original to this day, mainly to track the corrosion over the years.  Glad I saw this thread, haven't checked in a couple years to see if it will still play.  That will give me something to do tonight.

[Bob in St. Louis]

 That will give me something to do tonight.

That's just sad Rob. Sad, sad, sad...... 

I've got a few from the mid 80's and so far, none have rotted.
I wonder if leaving them in your car with drastic temperature changes will speed up the process?
But I'm in the "harddrive camp" too.

Bob