CD age 14 years?

[KoThreads]

Last night I dug out my Stranger in this Town CD by Richie Sambora, it must be about three years since I last played it and as I took it out of it's case I noticed that the back of the CD was a browny gold, and the area wher there is no recording was brown.

It struck me that it looked just like some old no-brand CD media I bought years ago that destroyed itself in the same way.

So thinking that couldn't be the case with a 1991 official CD ignored it. Everything was fine up to track 5 then skippy skip and eventually it got stuck. I've three players and the PC drives and nothing wants to know, it's even beyond EAC.

The playing side is clean with no marks and still silver, but if I hold it up to the light I can see holes through it, some bigger than others.

Any other members have CD's which have died sooner?

 

[MarkE19]

Last night I dug out my Stranger in this Town CD by Richie Sambora

Good CD

I've not played my copy for about a year or so, so got it out to have a look. I can't see any holes in it when I hold it up to the light but it is definately discoloured on the printed side. The other side still looks fairly clean though.

I don't think this is piracy, as you have already bought the CD, so if you want I'll do you a copy and send it to you. Let me know.

Mark.

 

[russ123]

I recently tried to play a Brian May cd single from about the same period. The playing side of the disc was covered in circular marks and looked like somebody had been at it with a knife . There was no way it was going to play. I've got cd's that date back to 87, including many that have bronzed nicely but this was the first one that deteriorated to the point it would not play. Picked up a replacement on Ebay and it is as new. Guess you just get the odd bad batch.

 

[karkus30]

CD rot is what that is...........some albums did suffer from it in the same way a DVD had a problem. I know exactly what you talking about as my Terminator SE suffered the same fate Let no one complain about vinyl.

 

[KoThreads]

Cheers Mark, really kind of you but luckily one of my friends has it and i've borrowed it to copy.

His is also discolouring on the printed side as well, but not as dark as mine. And his still sounds fine.

I wonder if there will be loads of these going faulty in years to come? I bought mine when it was released, my friend Mark got his around 95.

 

[KoThreads]

CD rot is what that is...........some albums did suffer from it in the same way a DVD had a problem. I know exactly what you talking about as my Terminator SE suffered the same fate Let no one complain about vinyl.

I've heard a lot about CD rot but this is the first time I've had a disc that has gone beyond the grave.

I started with CD's back in 85 with a black Sansui PCV-1000 (I think that's the letters) and only started getting a decent collection after 87 but how many of the 700 or so I now have will end up in the bin.

I still have around 500 albums, and I agree Karkus30 i may only have a lower end TT but at least they all make it from the edge to the run out on both sides.

 

[huwg]

The only one I've lost is Meat Puppets - Forbidden Places, the silver just bubbled, then peeled off .

One of my Led Zeppelin discs from the 4cd set has minor damage - cant see any scratches, but it skips through a couple of tracks (inc rock and roll), shame as it is a great boxed set (£40 new)

I have a few 'gold' cd's (eg Hardware OST), but I think these are supposed to be that colour rather than ageing.

 

[gearguy]

Assuming you find a gold disc that is actually gold rather than being choroded aluminium then you can be thankful that that CD will last for a very long period of time thanks to gold being near indestructable.

I have a few sega saturn games from many years ago that are absolutly filled with holes, although this was due to me keeping my discs in poor conditions when I was a kid rather than actual oxidation; amazingly they still play with the only fault in one being an avi file that doesn't play all the way to the end. Shockingly, my copy of shenmue II for the Xbox has a brown rim around the edge and it's only a few years old for crying out loud!

 

[KoThreads]

So I take it that it's still a problem that CD/DVD manufacturers refuse to admit? Or do they blame storage conditions?

 

[huwg]

Assuming you find a gold disc that is actually gold rather than being choroded aluminium then you can be thankful that that CD will last for a very long period of time thanks to gold being near indestructable.

no idea what i'ts made from (Made in France, on the Milan label??) - it is an even pale gold in colour; looking at it now, it has a few dots in the surface, so will probably be on its last legs soon.

Worth noting that as CD's can suffer this fate, those with digital cameras who have stored photos on CD, may need another medium as backup.

 

[KoThreads]

Worth noting that as CD's can suffer this fate, those with digital cameras who have stored photos on CD, may need another medium as backup.

Exactly. I've had loads of CD-R's fail over the years and now I keep photos on many CD's, the hard drive and a 160Gb Lacie ext drive as I have become paranoid about losing data. I won't use DVD as a long term backup medium as they are very iffy and I've already had 2 year old good media fail on me.

I just didn't think the 'rot' stories were that true for genuine product, be it CD or DVD.

So what's the answer? Can you coat them with anything before they die?

 

[huwg]

So what's the answer? Can you coat them with anything before they die?

Ronseal?

Photos:
Maybe best to stick photo's on CD, then every 3-5 years transfer them onto new ones. - don't trust hard drives.
or (and this may seem like a really wacky and novel idea) you could print them !!
I've taken loads, but only printed about 25 - shocking.

As for Audio, I don't know what the solution is, other than to revert back to the black stuff.
Can we back them up onto a hard drive? - will this affect the quality?

I remember reading a detailed post (Karkus, I think) regarding blind tests of copied CD's burned at home compared to the originals.

 

[gearguy]

Exactly. I've had loads of CD-R's fail over the years and now I keep photos on many CD's, the hard drive and a 160Gb Lacie ext drive as I have become paranoid about losing data. I won't use DVD as a long term backup medium as they are very iffy and I've already had 2 year old good media fail on me.

I just didn't think the 'rot' stories were that true for genuine product, be it CD or DVD.

So what's the answer? Can you coat them with anything before they die?

Verbatim manufacture CD-RWs with dual plastic sides. Ie layer of plastic, layer of aluminium, layer of dye, another layer of plastic.

You might also want to check out TUFF DISC although they have some pretty severe compatibility problems with certain hardware! They remove my CD RW drive from my drive list!

As for coating them; yes you can! just not too thick now... you don't want chuncks of metal protection varnish snapping off and ruining everything!

 

[GW43]

My oldest CDs date from '86, and they all play fine. I have had one problem with "rot", and that was with a CD that had been played in a car CD player. The CD tray is generally over the amp in these situations, and after cranking up the volume, the CD was pretty warm when ejected. The label side had crackled, but it continued to play well. Over a period of years however a grey-ish tinge (looked like mould) spread from the out edge towards the centre, and the last track would skip. Then the second last track, so I burnt a copy and use that instead. It's Bowie's double hits/singles album btw, if anyone else has a problem with this - the double with the red cover.

One or tow other CDs show holes when held up to the light (Oasis - Definitely Maybe), but play ok.

I think a few basic rules apply to use and storage:

Avoid playing them in car CD players - they can get very hot
Store them upright in their case - if stored flat they can "dish"
Don't use them as coasters!

"Perfect sound Forever"? - Hmmm!

 

[PJTX100]

I think a few basic rules apply to use and storage:

Avoid playing them in car CD players - they can get very hot
Store them upright in their case - if stored flat they can "dish"
Don't use them as coasters!

"Perfect sound Forever"? - Hmmm!

Amazing I just stumbled on this thread, yesterday I happened to notice one CD (which I probably hadn't looked at for over 5 years) with this "browny gold" colour and immediately thought "CD rot". I'd probably played it half a dozen times in the 90's then not looked at it since - stored upright etc. I've got 1500+ CDs though, and it's the first time I've noticed this, so I would imagine it's not a common phenomenon...PJ

 

[keiths]

Most of the CDs that suffer from 'CD rot' were made between 1988 and 1991 by Philips DuPont Optical (PDO) in the UK. If this is the case with your discs (you will see "Made in U.K by PDO" near the centre hole), PDO will replace the disc free of charge.

You don't need to send them the CD back, just contact them and give them full details of the disc (including catalogue number etc) and they will send a replacement.

PDO Discs Ltd
Helpline
FREEPOST
BK1080
Blackburn BB1 5BR
FREEPHONE 0800 387063

Fax: 0 1254 54729
Telephone: 0 1254 50 53 54

(I used this in 2003 - hope the info is still current).

 

[overkill]

HI Keiths. I have an EMI and a WB disc that are 'oranging', and the latter is totally unplayable. Is there a similair contact for those two distros?

Cheers.

This whole issue was covered many moons ago, and the CD producers were erm' 'cagey' about CD's probable shelf life. A TDK rep who we used to work with reckoned the cheaper CD-R's and budget discs were liable to run into problems in years rathers than decades as first predicted.

 

[keiths]

The only CDs in my collection that have caught 'CD rot' so far have all been PDO manufactured discs (3 out of about 1,600). All three were replaced by PDO in 2003. I've not come across any info for any other manufacturers replacement schemes.

 

[PJTX100]

Most of the CDs that suffer from 'CD rot' were made between 1988 and 1991 by Philips DuPont Optical (PDO) in the UK. If this is the case with your discs (you will see "Made in U.K by PDO" near the centre hole), PDO will replace the disc free of charge.

You don't need to send them the CD back, just contact them and give them full details of the disc (including catalogue number etc) and they will send a replacement.

PDO Discs Ltd
Helpline
FREEPOST
BK1080
Blackburn BB1 5BR
FREEPHONE 0800 387063

Fax: 0 1254 54729
Telephone: 0 1254 50 53 54

(I used this in 2003 - hope the info is still current).

Top man! Yes it is a PDO disc, and it was probably made in 1991...PJ