CD deterioration: What causes pin-holes? Will gold cds wear out? etc...

Have you guys ever taken any of your prized early pressing cds and held them up to the light? I have and I'm shocked. 90% of them are full of pin-holes. What causes this?

Are gold cds less likely to wear out than aluminum?

What causes cds to wear out?

Will gold cdrs last longer than standard ones?

Lets discuss cd degredation in general......

 

Check your gold CDs for pinholes. See any? I think that's one thing that WAS claimed for gold CDs that has some truth to it.

 

CD rot, not!

Basically, in the olden days of cd manufacturing, from about 1983-1990, a lot of cds had pinholes in their aluminum/reflective layer. It's caused when cds are sputtered improperly when they receive their reflective coating. First the information (1s and 0s, binary code) are stamped into the polycarbonate layer, then they receive a reflective coating, usually aluminum, silver or sometimes gold. Then the disk is sealed on top with a lacquer layer (the label side), then silk- screened with artwork/track listings. Pinholes don't usually effect playback, unless there is a large area that wasn't coated well. I've had cds with tons of pinholes, and they all played fine. Now if air was getting at the reflective coating, you'd notice the cd starts to look foggy and oxidized. But I really think your problem with the cd was it was just made that way. Hopes this helps?

 

...many of my early polygram/polydor discs have pinholes. All still play fine.

 

Not to worry about the pinholes. They have been known to exist for many years and the vast majority are well within the error-correction capability of even modest CD players. As polod points out, your main concern regarding longevity is whether or not the CD itself is sealed properly around the edge to keep corrosion from gaining a foothold on the reflective layer.

 

I have only found pinholes on CDs from the 1980s, mainly Polydor/Polygram, and the Kinks PRT CDs. Only one CD causes some problems for playback, and these problems could very well be due to other damages like small scratches.

In all those cases, the pinholes were always there. I have not seen a CD develop pinholes over the years.

 

I think you'll find that these CDs have always had pinholes, not that they have developed over the years.

 

The CDs with pin holes most likely came out of the factory that way. As long as they play there is no cause for alarm. 15 years ago, some people ran around like it was the end of the CD era just because of pin holes.

Let's put this last question to bed right now before this thread gets derailed into tons of misinformation and fear-mongering. CDs do not wear out. Nothing touches them during playback.

No one knows about the true longevity of the CD-R. I have seen 15-year-old CD-Rs still play just fine.

 

I've not checked any Gold cds, but I believe you. So does this mean that it would be intelligent to use gold cdrs to make copies of older discs because the gold cdrs will likely last much longer?

 

Interesting. So it's not a cumulative problem that develops over time?

 

They are right. All the CDs that I own that have pinholes have had them from being brand new. Some of them are 16 years old now, and still play perfectly.

 

That's right, the sky is not falling!

 

My CD wallet that I had actually caused my CD's to have pinholes.

 

I thought I remember hearing about a problem at the PDO plant when it first started producing CDs. That is why, I believe, that the Polydor/Polygram CDs are the ones you mostly find with pinholes.

 

Usually aluminum, occasionally (because it's more expensive) gold, and no longer Silver. Silver was only used for a short amount of time in the '80s by PDO manufacturing in Europe. I don't know why they used it, as it was a big mistake: Silver easily oxidizes, changing its ability to reflect light. Many of the discs made with silver have oxidized to the point of being unplayable.

Aluminum and gold do not suffer this problem. IMHO, gold is just a marketing gimmic and either substrate is good enough. The pinholes are, as mentioned above, due to improper sputtering during manufacture.

Kwad

 

CD pinholes

I thought I remember hearing about a problem at the PDO plant when it first started producing CDs. That is why, I believe, that the Polydor/Polygram CDs are the ones you mostly find with pinholes.
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David Schwartz

Yep, those are the ones that have the most pinholes and they were like that the day I bought them. The worst one I had was a W.A. Mozart, Requiem cd conducted by Christopher Hogwood, on the L'Oiseau-Lyre label from 1983-84.

 

I've had a similar problem with CD's causing holes in my wallet....

 

How so, or do you mean completely through the CD?

 

I know that problem too!

 

What is happening when the cd looks like a tiny insect has burrowed into the disc and has eaten little trails toward the center of the disc? My Led Zeppelin box set (the first one) has this and the CDs are unplayable.

What the hell is that?

 

the two worst one I ever got were two of the earliest: Bryan Ferry's 'In Your Mind' (Polydor) had a bunch of gaping holes (one a full HALF-INCH in diameter!). it looked like there may have been air bubbles in the aluminum. Kate Bush's 'Lionheart' (EMI) had so many small holes it was almost see-through. both discs played perfect well on any of the players I ever had. and made nice demonstration discs when I was showing off the new-fanged compact disc technology to friends who were still listening to those obsolete record-thingees that people used to listen to years ago.

though, when I bought the new remastered version of 'In Your Mind', I couldn't find a used CD store that would take my old one. had to chuck it in the garbage. such is life.

I have a whole bunch of PDO-pressed discs that have turned so brown you can't even read the label copy any more. but al; of 'em still play perfectly.