CD's and pinholes

How common is it to have cd's that go bad over time?

I've got an original CBS issue of Pipes of Peace that now has a small pinhole in it. It's a small black dot that is visible on the non-label side. The laminate is still in place and there is no mark or hole visible on the label side. I used to play this all the time and just stored it for a while as i moved on to other cd's. I first noticed the pinhole about 5 years ago. It totally ruins The Man!

 

Hello primejive,

I wouldn't worry about it. I have a CD by Ramases called Space Hymns on Repertoire Records 1990 (Germany), and it has a pinhole in it. The pinhole is pretty big so it looks like a black spot on the playing surface side. The label is black as well, but the pinhole is not visible on the label side due to the black color of the label covering it. Does the CD play OK? My CD plays fine. No issues. I would bet that the pinhole was on your CD from the time you bought it and prior. A manufacturing defect that shouldn't cause any problems. If you were to look at your CD collection, you would probably find more CD's with pinholes. The myth about pinholes is that only older CD's from the 80's had these defects. Some believe that certain labels as well only have this issue. It's universal! I have bought CD's in this decade brand new and sealed and they have pinholes. The pinholes are just more noticeable on non label CD's as to CD's with a label since the label covers the pinhole, but on non label CD's you can hold them up in the light to see them easier. As long as the CD plays I wouldn't worry. I know it sucks, but your error correction on your CD player should compensate for the pinhole, and the music should play fine. Here is a couple more threads on the subject of pinholes:

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=110647&highlight=pinholes

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=44412&highlight=pinholes

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=252&highlight=pinholes


Hope this helps,

Anthony

 

I think I may have heard of that CD.

 

Unfortunately, my Pipes of Peace doesn't play fine all the way through. The man is unplayable, but I can skip around and all the other tracks play fine. This cd used to play fine all the way through.

 

I bet you have!

 

Hey primejive,

I'm sorry for the misunderstanding! I don't know much about Paul McCartney's solo work. I thought you meant by "It totally ruins The Man" was slang for being bummed out that the CD had the pinhole (cosmetic disappointment). Some people (mostly collectors) are bummed about pinholes and scratches even if the CD plays OK. I wasn't under the impression that there was a song called The Man since I'm not that familiar with McCartney's solo stuff. Sorry to hear your CD is giving you problems. Did you try another CD player or your CD-ROM drive? I've had some discs play OK on one CD player and not on another. Is your CD rare?

Anthony

 

Anyone here think that MOST CDs (>50%) have some pinholes? I struggle to find any disc w/o them. They're probably on newer discs also - you just cannot see them because of the label side artworks. I really hope these discs don't go bad... I went on a CD shopping spree this past weekend and I'd look at a few CDs under store fluorescent light, they'd look fine - then get home, look at them under incandescent light and be thinking "how the hell didn't I notice these?". I bought the Heart debut this past weekend - NEW - and there's three tiny pinholes, as well as a patchy see through under light part around the outer edge of the disc on one side. I try my best to avoid them but I'm starting to feel it's a pain to go and examine under light, 5 discs of one title in complete mint shape, and pass all of them up because every copy has at least one pinhole.

 

Hello Brian81,

Up to 50% sounds about right according to my CD's. Some have numerous small pinholes, others have isolated larger pinholes. Record label, pressing plant, older and newer and country of origin have no bearing on this phenomenon. The only CD's I have that don't have pinholes is my only 3 audiophile CD's:

Santana - Sony Mastersound Gold CD
Queen - The Game MFSL Gold CD
Firesign Theatre - Waiting for the Electrician or Someone like Him - MFSL Silver CD

I would assume that the above would go through more strict quality standards?

Does anyone have any DCC, MFSL, Sony Mastersound, JVC or any other audiophile type CD Gold or Silver that has pinholes? I would be curious to know.

As far as standard CD's are concerned, the worst offenders as far as pinholes are probably WEA, Polygram and all it's various branches. But all labels seem to be affected. Independent labels as well.

Anthony

 

Hi,

Least pinholes/none: Sony Japan, Sony USA, Denon Japan, Denon USA, JVC Japan, JVC USA, Sonopress USA.
Most pinholes: PolyGram/PDO West Germany, PDO USA, Nimbus UK, Nimbus USA, Discovery Systems, Sonopress West Germany, EMI Manufacturing USA, WEA Manufacturing.

 

Polygram and WEA discs with aluminum to both edges of the disc are the worst offenders I've seen on a whole. I.R.S. discs are to a lesser degree also, from what I've seen. Worst cases I've seen are Rush's "Presto" (mine looks like swiss cheese, and every used copy I've seen is the same - I would actually rebuy one w/o them because that title just bothers me so much) and Belinda Carlisle's "Belinda".

 

Did you spend a rainy afternoon examining your collection?

 

I'm pretty sure that the reason gold is used in audiophile pressings is because (a) it isn't susceptible to "rot", and (b) it can be spread thinly in a much more consistant manner than aluminium, so no pinholes are created. I've never seen one in a gold CD, but then I haven't seen many gold CDs!

 

Hi Spaceboy,

This observation about pinholes isn't a rainy day thing, it is experiences over a 20 year plus period seeing my own collection and used discs considered for purchase. If I see more than 1-3 pinholes on a new/used disc, I look for a better copy if possible and if it is rare/scarce I rip it and burn it for insurance.

 

Many early CDs from all plants had pinholes. Sanyo was one of the worst. WEA's pinhole count was very high when they opened their plant in 1987, but improved a lot and is a not issue.

Audiophile discs are not anything special, unless they are gold coated, they are still pressed the same.

 

Hello ffracer,

Funny you say that! I have the first Van Halen album on CD pressed in Japan by Sanyo and my copy looks fine. No pinholes. This pinhole problem seems to vary in many ways.

Anthony

 

I once lived in a house I block from the ocean, lots of fog, lots of moisture, long months without the sun, and when I moved, I took a lot of my cds in for trade. A lot of them had these little pin holes, so my question is, "does moisture or moldy climate have any thing to do with it"?

 

Sorry - back to the first question quickly... Is this definitely a pin hole and not a little growth or something on the disc? I've not had a audible problem with pin holes myself. - Bronzing yes.

 

Hi,

Here in East Tennessee, no pinhole problems with Sanyo made CD pressings (now Memory-Tech). Occasionally, one of their old pressings might have one or two.

 

my first pinholes

Just picked up a scratch-free used copy of the 80s Verve CD of the Velvet Underground and Nico that has 2 pinholes near the end of the music. Played it through once and no problems. Would I even recognize errors during European Son? ha-ha. No, I would....it doesn't skip.

Do the pinholes ever increase in size?

I love the single voice version of All Tomorrows Parties that's featured on this CD version.

 

caused by heat.

peace

 

so what exactly is happening?

 

Hold any CD you have up against a light and you will probably see pin holes. They do not develop over time, they are there from the manufacturing process.
This is not to be confused with CD rot. That is caused by air coming into contact with the aluminum layer and corroding the exposed piece of metal. These blots will not appear as holes when held up to the light, as they are not holes, but effectual stains.

 

I'm with you (I think). CD's are more or less transparent, if you hold them up to a bright light. That's the way they are designed and not a defect. Some parts (the aluminum) reflect laser light back and some parts don't (the parts that allow light to pass thru).

Unless you are referring to something quite a bit bigger (and it sounds like some of you are). To the original poster, I wonder if your CD has always had that 'defect' but the error correction on your player 'handled' it before - and it could be your player (i.e. the laser) isn't as 'tight' as it used to be and now that same error is out of spec. Not sure, but just a thought.

Sounds like I may be in the minority here but I can't say I've noticed ANY of my CD's exhibiting these problems and I have close to 1000. An occassional CD will have a flaw that may affect playing, but always seems to be user inflicted.

 

I remember a guy who ran a local used CD shop would not accept CDs that had pinholes. I'll tell ya, he tried to show them to me and I could never see them. Kinda funny that they don't seem to matter. I wonder how much money he lost by not taking in and reselling those apparently perfectly fine discs.