Why has my CD developed distortion?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by recordhead, Aug 10, 2017.

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  1. recordhead

    recordhead Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Kentucky
    For my ride to work I pick a CD at random. Today it was Shooting Star - Touch Me Tonight - The Best of...
    Issued in (looks like 89) on Enigma. I haven't played this CD in maybe 10 years. On each track i hear static distortion. Some worse than others but its there. I've ruled out the player, speakers and the disc isn't warped. I see no spots or pinholes. Any thoughts?
     
  2. Veni Vidi Vici

    Veni Vidi Vici Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    If the player is working fine, the speakers are working fine, and the disc is working fine, by a process of elimination it must be a problem with your ears.

    First rule of debugging: when you find yourself stumped, something you are sure is the case, isn't the case. So, to begin, how did you eliminate the disc as the culprit? It's not warped, but is it bronzing or some other defect? Are other CDs affected in a similar way?
     
    dmckean and snipe like this.
  3. snipe

    snipe Forum Resident

    Location:
    Jonesboro, AR
    Yep. Throw it in another player and see if you hear the same thing. On the same hand, throw another CD in your car player and see if it does it.
     
  4. Holy Diver

    Holy Diver Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Sorry to hear that. That's a great album, too.

    [​IMG]
     
  5. recordhead

    recordhead Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Kentucky
    Zero disc discoloration. I tested 2 other CD's I had with me and that played fine.
     
  6. recordhead

    recordhead Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Kentucky
    Did all that. Same issues in home and work player. Other disc i tested played fine.
     
  7. curbach

    curbach Some guy on the internet

    Location:
    The ATX
    Who manufactured the disc? Some discs were not manufactured well. . .
     
    dmckean likes this.
  8. reb

    reb Money Beats Soul

    Location:
    Long Island
    Try and rip the cd and check for errors. If no errors, burn a cdr copy for yourself.
     
  9. Veni Vidi Vici

    Veni Vidi Vici Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    Not a bad idea and worth a try but in my experience CD players are more forgiving of errors than optical disc drives and this disc sounds like toast. I see a couple of near-mint copies in Discogs for $14.
     
  10. lv70smusic

    lv70smusic Senior Member

    Location:
    San Francisco, CA
    I have had a few discs that sounded like that where there were no obvious signs of deterioration, though this happens far more frequently with cdrs I burned myself than with manufactured cds.
     
  11. recordhead

    recordhead Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Kentucky
    You are correct. I tried several times to rip CD but no luck.
     
  12. recordhead

    recordhead Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Kentucky
  13. Runicen

    Runicen Forum Resident

    This may be far-fetched, but is it possible that your memories of the sound of that CD are rosier than the reality? I've pulled stuff off the shelf now that I have a reasonably decent playback system and cringed when I had to face the sonics of what I thought were ok sounding CDs...
     
    dmckean likes this.
  14. recordhead

    recordhead Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Kentucky
    Shooting Star Sample
     
  15. tin ears

    tin ears Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland UK
    Your CD is dying. I came across the same thing recently with one of my old CDs from '91. It looks almost perfect to the naked eye but sounds very similar to your sample, with static from beginning to end.

    All these people with collections in the thousands could be in for a nasty shock if they ever try playing them. Visual inspection isn't enough.
     
  16. snipe

    snipe Forum Resident

    Location:
    Jonesboro, AR
    I saw a thread a while back on cd rot and it seemed to be narrowed down to one particular plant of manufacture.
     
  17. therockman

    therockman Senior Member In Memoriam

  18. Adam9

    Adam9 Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй.

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    I have some CDs with static which is audible through 2 identical players. On a third player, no problem.
    I think most of these had the problem from the beginning but at least one has developed the problem.
     
  19. Adam9

    Adam9 Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй.

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    That sounds pretty well exactly like the distortion in a few of my discs:
     
  20. noahjld

    noahjld Der Wixxer

    When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
     
  21. marcb

    marcb Senior Member

    Location:
    DC area
    The laser could be dying. When they do, its often starts with just one or two discs.
     
    John Buchanan likes this.
  22. Majestyk

    Majestyk Rush Resident

    Location:
    Vancouver
    Given the information he has provided, I don't think this is the case.
     
  23. Steve Martin

    Steve Martin Wild & Crazy Guy

    Location:
    Plano, TX
    When you buy lots of old CDs, you come across a few like you describe. To the eye they look perfect, but some kind of "bit rot' or such has occurred and they just won't play or rip cleanly any more. Usually gets worse on the higher number tracks. Nothing you can do if they are so bad they sound staticky but try to find another copy.
     
    Dynamic Ranger likes this.
  24. head_unit

    head_unit Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles CA USA
    I played mine a couple months back and it sounded fine, so yeah maybe you have a bad disc.

    I wish Burning had come out on CD, though I have a vinyl rip somewhere. I like how the opening instrumental leads into "Straight Ahead"-which is how they opened their great ChicagoFest show.
     
  25. This Heat

    This Heat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    I discovered this problem on a MCA Art Blakey cd I bought. Very peculiar. Nothing wrong with disc visually and nothing wrong with my Oppo. Yet, the disc starts developing more distortion as it goes along. I am trying to securely rip it now and it's taking forever. I am curious about the results.
     
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