Disc rot

[jembers]

Hey all

I've been mooching around for threads on disc-rot and can't find anything later than around 5 years ago...

Recently I've been sorting through my 500-odd disc CD collection. Until recently I've never had a major issue with disc rot; to my best recollection, 1 CD (Original pressing of REM's Out of Time) developed a fault on the last track about 2 years ago; previously one other disc some time ago (I forget which).

In order of severity, I've come across: some PDO Pressings (bronzed and pinpricks developing), MPO France (Several with significant pinholing), an early 1990s Fleetwood Mac Pressing (bronzing and pinholing - forget pressing ID) - and - several EMI Swindon discs from the late 80s/early 90s with evidence of pinholing beginning.

Now (ignoring hard to replace discs) although not ideal most of the discs still play OK and so I am not overly fussed (I mean, what other product works 'normally' after 30 odd years?) - having said that, the EMI pressings are a bit of a surprise to me (I've far more unaffected discs) but there doesnt seem to be any particular reason why some discs are affected and others are not (PDO issues acknowledged)...

Anyone else noted any similarly effected discs recently? Is it only about now we'll start getting a true idea of CDs longevity?

 

[Al ears]

Hey all

I've been mooching around for threads on disc-rot and can't find anything later than around 5 years ago...

Recently I've been sorting through my 500-odd disc CD collection. Until recently I've never had a major issue with disc rot; to my best recollection, 1 CD (Original pressing of REM's Out of Time) developed a fault on the last track about 2 years ago; previously one other disc some time ago (I forget which).

In order of severity, I've come across: some PDO Pressings (bronzed and pinpricks developing), MPO France (Several with significant pinholing), an early 1990s Fleetwood Mac Pressing (bronzing and pinholing - forget pressing ID) - and - several EMI Swindon discs from the late 80s/early 90s with evidence of pinholing beginning.

Now (ignoring hard to replace discs) although not ideal most of the discs still play OK and so I am not overly fussed (I mean, what other product works 'normally' after 30 odd years?) - having said that, the EMI pressings are a bit of a surprise to me (I've far more unaffected discs) but there doesnt seem to be any particular reason why some discs are affected and others are not (PDO issues acknowledged)...

Anyone else noted any similarly effected discs recently? Is it only about now we'll start getting a true idea of CDs longevity?

Obviously nothing lasts forever and will depend a lot on how said items are stored.
I have bought CDs since there inception. Most kept in the house and some in the car.
Have I seen such evidence of rot... ?
No.

 

[jembers]

Yip. A proportion of my CDs are (have been) subjected to severe neglect and despite extreme scratches play no problem; others stored side by side in the original jewel cases look as good as new and from those the odd one as mentioned before have signs of rot. Ironically none are the discs that've clearly been in the car; on the floor or at the bottom of a drawer

 

[nads]

Had a Roxy Music disc that went on me. Lots of Warner HD DVDs were poorly made and rotted out faster than anything.

 

[JDL]

Yip. A proportion of my CDs are (have been) subjected to severe neglect and despite extreme scratches play no problem; others stored side by side in the original jewel cases look as good as new and from those the odd one as mentioned before have signs of rot. Ironically none are the discs that've clearly been in the car; on the floor or at the bottom of a drawer

I've had no problems as yet. Started buying CDs in 2007. I will admit to being obsessive about looking after CDs and making sure they're absolutely clean before I insert them into my player.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

Had this problem with CD-Rs, but not CDs proper.

 

[twinkletoes]

It’s pretty easy to google

“Preservation and storage. CDs and DVDs are not suitable for long term archival use.”

Depending on the type of disc and if properly stored you can except to see discs starting to break down at about the 50 year mark if not earlier with early examples of the format. CD-Rs and rewritable discs from as little as 20 years.

So people with large collections with early discs from the 80s I’d be making digital copies of those right about now.

 

[matthewpianist]

I've seen it on a handful of CDs, including cover mounted discs from BBC Music magazine around 20+ years ago. It appears to have been a smaller problem than was originally predicted and I have CDs that are now 30 years old and absolutely fine.

 

[JDL]

I've seen it on a handful of CDs, including cover mounted discs from BBC Music magazine around 20+ years ago. It appears to have been a smaller problem than was originally predicted and I have CDs that are now 30 years old and absolutely fine.

I am certainly reassured by your post. My Oldest CDs were purchased about 24 years ago and so far they seem to be fine. I wonder how long CDs can last.
I don't know how others clean their CDs. I use baby wipes then I carefully dry them with those soft tissues that come in a box. Believe it or not I have noticed that microfiber cloths and cotton cloths do actually scratch CDs. I buy a fair number of secondhand CDs, but only when they're listed as "Very Good", although that seems to be meaningless with one particular large seller who I will refrain from naming. When CDs have badly dried on fingerprints I add 40% strength white vinegar to the baby wipes. They do leave a few fibres but they're easily removed with the soft boxed tissues. This might seem rather long winded but I don't like to spend unescessarily large sums on special CD wipes.
I'd be interested to know what some of the CD cleaning/restoring machines available are like and if they're a worthwhile purchase.
What I do certainly believe, is that if one makes the effort to keep CDs as clean and dust free as possible, it helps to prevent dirt from entering the CD player, thus helping to keep it running well for longer without problems. My CD player is 30 years old. It cost over £3000 in 1992. It really is a wonderful machine and the sound quality of CDs played on my system is absolutely superb in my opinion. Furthermore, I spoke to the "Tech Guy" in Cambridge and he will do a complete service including re capping, new lasers and whatever's needed for £550. Slightly off topic I know, apologies I just thought it might be interesting for anyone that wants or needs to know.

 

[WayneKerr]

I've still got the first CD I purchased in 1985, 38 years old and still looks good and plays perfectly.

 

[JDL]

I've still got the first CD I purchased in 1985, 38 years old and still looks good and plays perfectly.

Wow. A 38 year old CD and it's still playing perfectly. That's very encouraging for those of us with large collections of CDs that we 'love'.

 

[Gray]

I don't know how others clean their CDs.

I don't.
No need.
After buying new, never touched a playing surface of any of my discs.
Always store them in their original cases.
Never, ever cleaned one.
If any one of my discs fails before I do, I will be surprised.

 

[Gray]

Wow. A 38 year old CD and it's still playing perfecty.

With appropriate (minimal) care, really no reason why it shouldn't be 👍

(Think one or two of mine are on 40 years).

 

[matthewpianist]

I am certainly reassured by your post. My Oldest CDs were purchased about 24 years ago and so far they seem to be fine. I wonder how long CDs can last.
I don't know how others clean their CDs. I use baby wipes then I carefully dry them with those soft tissues that come in a box. Believe it or not I have noticed that microfiber cloths and cotton cloths do actually scratch CDs. I buy a fair number of secondhand CDs, but only when they're listed as "Very Good", although that seems to be meaningless with one particular large seller who I will refrain from naming. When CDs have badly dried on fingerprints I add 40% strength white vinegar to the baby wipes. They do leave a few fibres but they're easily removed with the soft boxed tissues. This might seem rather long winded but I don't like to spend unescessarily large sums on special CD wipes.
I'd be interested to know what some of the CD cleaning/restoring machines available are like and if they're a worthwhile purchase.
What I do certainly believe, is that if one makes the effort to keep CDs as clean and dust free as possible, it helps to prevent dirt from entering the CD player, thus helping to keep it running well for longer without problems. My CD player is 30 years old. It cost over £3000 in 1992. It really is a wonderful machine and the sound quality of CDs played on my system is absolutely superb in my opinion. Furthermore, I spoke to the "Tech Guy" in Cambridge and he will do a complete service including re capping, new lasers and whatever's needed for £550. Slightly off topic I know, apologies I just thought it might be interesting for anyone that wants or needs to know.

I'm interested to know what the CD player is...

I have been buying CDs since I was about 11 (1989) and have a huge collection amassed right across the 34 years since. I have never cleaned a CD, always keep them in their cases, store them in suitable atmospheric conditions and handle them with care. I have some big classical sets (Eg. Alfred Brendel's complete recordings, two 60CD RCA Living Stereo sets etc.) that I would be very upset to lose, to put it mildly.

I've experienced issues with only a handful of CDs over the years, and I believe it to be a very hardy format.

 

[Gray]

A mere youngster of 40 from my collection:

You wouldn't know I didn't buy it yesterday.

 

[Al ears]

A mere youngster of 40 from my collection:
View attachment 5065
You wouldn't know I didn't buy it yesterday.

Got to be better than a well played vinyl version..

 

[WayneKerr]

A mere youngster of 40 from my collection:
View attachment 5065
You wouldn't know I didn't buy it yesterday.

Probably sounds better than my remastered version, but is yours an original or a reissue? What's the barcode digits on the back cover?

 

[Gray]

Probably sounds better than my remastered version, but is yours an original or a reissue? What's the barcode digits on the back cover?

A sign of how old - there's not a barcode anywhere in sight.

Should be original
CDEPC 85930.

 

[WayneKerr]

A sign of how old - there's not a barcode anywhere in sight.

Should be original
CDEPC 85930.

No barcode is generally a sign of an original Looks like your one is the early Japanese release. Correction it's the EU one, 1983.

 

[plastic penguin]

Nope. Not had any CD rot, this incl CD-R from the 1990s.

 

[JDL]

I'm interested to know what the CD player is...

I have been buying CDs since I was about 11 (1989) and have a huge collection amassed right across the 34 years since. I have never cleaned a CD, always keep them in their cases, store them in suitable atmospheric conditions and handle them with care. I have some big classical sets (Eg. Alfred Brendel's complete recordings, two 60CD RCA Living Stereo sets etc.) that I would be very upset to lose, to put it mildly.

I've experienced issues with only a handful of CDs over the years, and I believe it to be a very hardy format.

Wow Mathew, it sounds as though you have a very impressive collection of CDs. I'm gradually building a thorough collection of CDs some of which are very rare gems and I too would be distraught to lose them.
My CD player is a Meridian 508.20. All the parts are still available for this wonderful (in my opinion) machine. I've also got a Meridian 206. Russ "The Tech Guy" told me that lasers are no longer available for the 206 but then he said that the lasers on these don't generally fail anyway. The 206 also sounds great, a very 'analogue' type of sound but the 508.20 knocks the socks off it for detail, the feeling of space. It's as though you're in the hall with the musicians. It made sense for me, on my budget to buy the Meridian. It was £500. Once I've had it seen to for £550 I'll have a top class player for just over a thousand. I'm very happy with it.

 

[Shrek]

I thought this was about disc rot lets keep this on track !

 

[WayneKerr]

I thought this was about disc rot lets keep this on track !

Didn't know you'd been promoted to a Mod, Andy

 

[JDL]

I thought this was about disc rot lets keep this on track !

Mathew asked me what my CD player is. That's why I mentioned it.
But you bet buddy, let's get back on track. Disc rot. Looks like it ain't a problem if you store them properly until 50 years is up, then.....who knows. Nothing lasts forever ha ha👍🏻

 

[spl84]

I have seen serious rotting.... mostly on cdRs that have been left in hot vehicles...