OK, this is a bit weird, and I don’t think I’ve had this happen ever before. Yesterday a CD started to skip right near the start, so I had a look at it and there may have been a vague fingerprint hear the middle, but no obvious blemish, so I did the usual thing of giving it a clean and popping it back in. It did it again, but in slightly different places, so I repeated the above procedure several times, but with unsuccessful results. The odd thing was that it was happening in different places each time I tried it. I presumed now there was something actually wrong with the disc, although I’m sure I had played it before with no problem, so I put it in my BluRay player…the damn thing played perfectly. I now thought my CD player was on the blink (a Roksan Caspian M2), but other discs are playing just fine, so I don’t think it is the player. It just doesn’t seem to like the remixed White Album disc 2 for some strange reason!
Any thoughts or ideas? I’m just curious to see if this is common and if anyone can explain the logic of why a player that seemingly is working fine won’t play a disc that will play perfectly elsewhere.
fentonsteve says
How old is the Caspian?
CD player lasers can get old (the beam intensity lessens, which can cause loss of tracking), dust can upset the lens, the servo motors can get sticky.
I bet you’ll find another CD it won’t play if you look hard enough.
It can be serviced. There are a number of Roksan dealers in the south west.
If I recall, Foxy had a similar problem with his Rega, resolved by a manufacturer service.
Vulpes Vulpes says
Indeed I did – just this sort of behaviour actually, but highlighted when trying to play CD-Rs of dubious origin. After a return to the secure underground laboratories of Rega, it re-emerged in faultess mode, and has continued to perform well ever since. @NigelT I’d be inclined to take yours back to a good main dealer and pay for a service.
NigelT says
Thanks @fentonsteve – It’s around 5 years old I think. If it happens again then I will look at a service.
Do CDs vary in their manufacture..? I guess they must within certain tolerances.
fentonsteve says
Everything in life varies within tolerances – including the reflectivity* of the metal layer in CDs, the laser beam intensity and the sensitivity of the infra-red detector in CD players. It’s a wonder anything ever works!
(*) relative to stamped CDs, off the top of my head, about 50% for CDR and 30% for CDRW
Mike_H says
Disc rot? CDs don’t last forever. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_rot
As suggested above, it could just be dust on the laser. Obviously the disc data’s not being read correctly. There’s a certain amount of buffer memory in CD mechanisms to re-read disc sectors if the information is garbled and to keep the music playing, if possible. Some players are a lot more tolerant of minor disc faults than others, right from new, but I would expect such a high-cost high-quality player to be pretty error-tolerant.
fentonsteve says
Disc rot tends to happen over decades as chemicals slowly react. The White Album remix is only four years old.
Mike_H says
Disc rot? CDs don’t last forever. And quality control at the factory isn’t always that great.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_rot
As suggested above, it could just be dust on the laser. Obviously the disc data’s not being read correctly. There’s a certain amount of buffer memory in CD mechanisms to re-read disc sectors if the information is garbled and to keep the music playing, if possible. Some players are a lot more tolerant of minor disc faults than others, right from new, but I would expect such a high-cost high-quality player to be pretty error-tolerant.
fitterstoke says
A wise man once said: “Disc rot tends to happen over decades as chemicals slowly react. The White Album remix is only four years old.”
You can say THAT again!
Twang says
Time for another box set isn’t it? There must be a few photos no one has seen to be put in a book?
Moose the Mooche says
What happened to CDs lasting forever eh?
It’s like Scotch’s Lifetime Guarantee. That dancing skellington lied to us. For shame!
Jeff says
‘Roll up, roll up! Come and watch the skellington dance to discrot!’
Moose the Mooche says
Let’s stick to “Disc-rot”, please. “Discrot” makes me wince.
Jeff says
Open your soul to discrot, you Rockist!
Moose the Mooche says
It’s too much like “descrote”.
Jeff says
Ah, I see what’s happened here… you’re pronouncing the ‘t’ in ‘discrot’ aren’t you?
In fact, this is a contraction of the French word ‘discrotheque’, in which both the ‘t’ *and* the ‘h’ are silent, and rendered into English by lads in star jumpers in Lancashire as ‘Discr…oh ‘eck!’, when the records were off-loaded as ballast from the mighty freighters lined up in the bustling port of Wigan. And then shortened to ‘discro’, because cooler, and the silent ‘t’ reinstated, for class, like.
It was all in that book, for those that cares to edumacate thereselves.
Moose the Mooche says
…and the opera, Manon Descrote
…..I’ll get me white scarf
Jeff says
‘Man on, Descrote!’ is a warning shout given by your big French centre-back to his right-midfielder as he attempts to salvage poor distribution by the keeper.
hubert rawlinson says
Dear Moosey the opera is Manon, the film is Manon de Source
nigelthebald says
I think you’ll find this is what Moosey was referring to, David 😜
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manon_Lescaut_(Auber)
PS Manon des Sources
Moose the Mooche says
Really, the people they allow in here these days.
Motion pictures indeed!
PS You’re both wrong, as referring to the Puccini.
Auber is just a big RER station as far as I’m concerned.
Sacre Fred…..
hubert rawlinson says
Pedants (ie myself) rush in where fools fear to tread in heavy tacketty boots.
Though there is Massenet ‘s opera Manon.
Sorry @nigelthebald
hubert rawlinson says
Though I see you more in an opera cape Moosey
Moose the Mooche says
Keeps the dandruff off me cardigan.