What makes music CD-Rs go bad?

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Dec 30, 2006
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I have a few CD-Rs that I made maybe 10+ years ago. I transferred some old music cassettes that I'd made back in the 80s from my friend's record collection onto CD-Rs . The CD-Rs used were Maxell. Towards the end (usually the last song on the CD-R) there's this loud constant static that sounds like when you adjust the volume on an old amplifier. The burn format is WAV.

What causes CD-Rs to degenerate like that?
 
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What's weird is that I take impeccable care of them. Always store them in the jewel case,in a box, away from the sunlight. Never touch the playing surface, and absolutely no scratches.
 
When you record information onto a CDR the laser is changing the reflective dye layer used for recording the information. The dye layer degrades due to age and storage conditions. Certain types of dyes are more stable than others so the information on your higher end CDR will last longer. The static you hear are the errors in the recording due to the degrading dye layer.
 
The dyes in CD-Rs are quite volatile and in the cheapest CD-Rs you'd be lucky if they lasted 30 years in ideal storage conditions, perhaps the speed they were burnt at makes them more susceptible to degradation as well as at higher burn speeds the "pits" won't get as deeply burnt into the dye so you get poorer contrast between the "pits" and "lands" in the dye so I would guess that as the dye degrades disks burnt at a higher speed might become unreadable more quickly.
 
This just further reinforces my belief that analog blows away digital. I have 78rpm records from the early 1900s that are still in perfect shape.
 
Taiyo Yuden and Verbatim have been reliable for me. I've had cheap CD-R and DVD-R discs go bad within 5 years. Proper storage makes a huge difference.
 
Originally Posted by aquariuscsm
This just further reinforces my belief that analog blows away digital. I have 78rpm records from the early 1900s that are still in perfect shape.

Not really a proper comparison, a commercially produced 78 would be more comparable to a stamped CD which should last virtually forever just like records.
 
Originally Posted by vavavroom
Taiyo Yuden and Verbatim have been reliable for me. I've had cheap CD-R and DVD-R discs go bad within 5 years. Proper storage makes a huge difference.


Verbatim AZO. The Verbatim Life Series is lower cost/quality.
 
Originally Posted by vavavroom
Taiyo Yuden and Verbatim have been reliable for me.

Taiyo Yuden - I haven't heard that name in 10+ years ! It was always a challenge to buy blank CD-Rs that were made by them. Made in Japan was one of the clues, yes ?
 
Originally Posted by aquariuscsm
This just further reinforces my belief that analog blows away digital. I have 78rpm records from the early 1900s that are still in perfect shape.


Ironic isnt it!?!?!?
Even the record companies and many computer companies know the majority are a "throw away" society and treasure nothing.
 
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Originally Posted by AZjeff
A huge mistake is to transfer vinyl music and paper photographs to digital media then toss the originals.


^^Times a million! I cringe every time I hear those commercials. Again,just like analog music, analog photographs last forever. All you have to do is take proper care of them.
 
The vast majority of blank discs were/are made by a company called CMC magnetics, then they just slapped a brand label on them for that particular company, maxwell, phillips, sony, etc. These cheap discs are rated for about 10 years give or take. There are gold archival grade discs that can last between 30-100 years depending on the type you want, but they are significantly more expensive.
 
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The writable CDR are all sensitive to light and heat. The very durable pressed CDROM and CD are mechanically pressed so they last longer, way longer.
 
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