What is "CD rot"???

I put up a thread a while back, but I was busy and lost track of it. Now when I do a search, I get nothing. So let's try it again.

What is "CD rot"?

Thanks.

 

In my understanding, when a CD isn't manufactured properly, the adhesive that glues the two layers of plastic together may come loose in places. This allows oxygen and moisture to get to the aluminum layer in between them, causing it to oxidize, and affect play. I think it happened more to laser discs than to CD's, especially early on.

Over time, the term "CD Rot" has pretty much become a generic term used any time a CD goes "south" and won't work.

Personally, I've never had a CD "rot" in over 20 years of buying them.

Anybody else?

 

Anything by Madonna etc.

 

Gang Twanger just set the record for most new threads started in one day.

 

The record is 4???

 

On second thought the guy that used semi-colons in every sentence is still #1. I can't think of his name. I think he disappears for 6 months at a time and then returns with a vengeance.

 

Do you remember Doonie? It was like it was his mission to get to 1000 posts as quickly as possible and then he just stopped posting

 

Here's a thread about "CD Rot":

http://stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=152945

The two main things discussed there are pinholes and bronzing. There's an unresolved disagreement over whether pinholes are "rot" (I still say no), but bronzing unquestionably is.

 

Try this link complete with a photo:

http://music-gear.blogspot.com/2006/09/ewww-you-have-bad-case-of-cd-rot.html

 

I have seen CD's that have absolutely no visual markings that register all kinds of errors on EAC, and simply will not play in some players, while playing in others. I am not sure if this is rot, but it is scary.

 

The photo on that page reminded me of two CDs of mine which, over the years, had a bit of their metal layer just flake off the disc. One was a WG pressing of Queen's Jazz, and IIRC, it was manufactured by Sonopress.

This kind of thing isn't usually what one thinks of when speaking of "CD Rot", but I guess it's in the same league. After all, it IS a CD going bad undoubtedly due to some type of flaw in the manufacturing process. Thankfully, it seems to be pretty rare - even bronzing seems to be more widespread. And bronzing isn't exactly common, in the grand scheme of things.

 

I had bronzing on my then VERY EXPENSIVE Voo*oo Br*w cds. Man, that really hurt my pocket!

Otherwise, knock on wood - 24 year old cds, still GRRRRRRRRRRREAT!

 

Sorry dear, the food has to come out, I have to protect my music.

 

I've read about this here in the past. And one thing I can tell you is that the idea that a CD with pinholes is always a manufacturing defect is FALSE.

CD'S CAN DEVELOP PINHOLES. Lots of them. I'm unclear about how this happens, but I suspect that there are certain "jukebox" type car CD players that are very rough on the discs.

I'll go on further to say that it is my theory that a CD changer that uses a "sucking" mechanism to lift the discs is prone to sucking off little bits or "flecks" of aluminum (a CD is like a CDR in this respect; the reflective coating is on top, and suceptable to the coating being scratched or sucked off, leaving pinholes.

It is also my theory that CD's that are left in the CD changer of a very, very HOT car have these "pinholes" grow and get worse, where instead of small pinholes they look like little "blobs" that appear black to the naked eye, but when you hold the CD up to a light, it just shines right through - or even become elongated like a tiny "pinhole snake", where you hold it up to the light and you can see little "pinhole trails" where the reflective coating has obviously, somehow been "scratched" away (although these look more "fluid" than a regular scratch.)

 

Does bronzing affect play?

 

Oh YEAH.

The surface is no longer completely reflective, so the laser can't read the information. A sad state of affairs.

There is some "mystery oil" that can fix it, but I believe it's only temporary. I fortunately had made CD copies before it set in - but the originals are still ruined.

 

What wrong with the semicolon? It's a very effective way of putting two independent clauses together without using a coordinating conjunction; everybody should try using them more.

Your Friendly English Teacher.

 

Sorry, but it's not pinholes which you are describing. If something happens to the CD's surface - which indeed IS susceptible to damage - that is not a pinhole. Pinholes reside within the metal coating, and are an inconsistency resulting from a certain manufacturing process. Pinholes are not introduced by the metal layer being damaged from the outside. As I stated in the other thread, I've bought MANY brand new CDs which had pinholes right out of the box, and these have neither gotten worse or more numerous over time (as many as 20+ years) nor disrupted playback in any way.

 

I don't think pinholes are from CD rot. Many early CDs had pinholes when they were new. I kept noticing this, and as this was a new medium I was not familiar with I suspected that they were defective. I still have many of those discs and not one has developed more holes or started rotting...

Bronzing is CD rot but before you go getting rid of a CD you have to make sure you did not get one of those odd older CDs to which they added some kind of goldish color. There was an early Smiths CD like that, plus many classical CDs on the Hyperion and Pearl labels.

Joe

 

So is this CD rot?

I have a David Sylvian & Robert Fripp limited edition two CD set, and the CD's look like this after 15 years.

They still play, but the snowflake looking delamination is creeping its way towards the center as time passes...

 

That's the weirdest thing I've ever seen!

Thanks for all the info, guys; BTW, I didn't realize I had put up so many threads today; I guess I've been busy; semi-colon research and all.

You guys should see what The Gear Page is like. People go thread-crazy over there.

I had done a search earlier, and couldn't even find the original thread I did.

 

Oh well, I take that back. It no longer plays the last tracks... I guess the rot (if it is rot) is creeping...

That is a drag, especially since this was the only place these tracks were released.

Better burn a copy of whats left before it completely goes away.

 

Your thread must be archived. I recently located my second copy of this sampler and it is rotting as well.

Here's the pics I posted then: