CD Blues
Who says CDs last forever? Well, most are ok, but I have already experienced two CDs going nutty...
First to go, my Edmond Leung 1997 out-of-print compilation. The last track (an interesting collaboration between Edmond, Eason and Miriam) kept 'jumping' and could not play at all on the CD player. Managed to salvage it by ripping it and burning onto CD-R with just one or two tiny jumps.
Second to go and not so lucky, my Hacken Lee "Custom Made" 4=CD compilation. Mind you, it is only about one or two years old and I had hardly even listened to it. Recently I found that the last few tracks of disc 2 couldn't play properly so I checked the underside of the CD and noticed abnormalities. Horrified, I looked at the others and found that all 4 CDs had the same problem! So much for an original CD! Thinking it might be a storage problem, I quickly looked through all the other CDs placed together with it but luckily none of them were damaged.
Well, even though I used to listen to Hacken when I was younger, I find that I bought "Custom Made" mainly for old times' sake. Since I hardly listen to it, I don't think I'd buy a replacement.
First to go, my Edmond Leung 1997 out-of-print compilation. The last track (an interesting collaboration between Edmond, Eason and Miriam) kept 'jumping' and could not play at all on the CD player. Managed to salvage it by ripping it and burning onto CD-R with just one or two tiny jumps.
Second to go and not so lucky, my Hacken Lee "Custom Made" 4=CD compilation. Mind you, it is only about one or two years old and I had hardly even listened to it. Recently I found that the last few tracks of disc 2 couldn't play properly so I checked the underside of the CD and noticed abnormalities. Horrified, I looked at the others and found that all 4 CDs had the same problem! So much for an original CD! Thinking it might be a storage problem, I quickly looked through all the other CDs placed together with it but luckily none of them were damaged.
Well, even though I used to listen to Hacken when I was younger, I find that I bought "Custom Made" mainly for old times' sake. Since I hardly listen to it, I don't think I'd buy a replacement.
posted by yung | 11:45 pm
5 Comments:
Hmm...u send me into a panick mode. I bought Custom-made too( First Edition). Anyway, have u tried waxing ur CD? Wat sort of abnormalities? Might have been hoodwinked and bought a pirated copy for all u know...
-mungy
Well, my Edmond CD was stored together with like a hundred others in my living rm which isn't too hot and definitely away from the sun. The rest of the CDs were ok.
The Hacken one i admit, it was an oversight on my part. i had put it in my office and the shelf was near my monitor so it might have been too warm. But every other CD put in the same shelf was in good condition, so it's probably the CD's problem. Anyway I have since relocated them to another drawer.
Anyway, viineon, u remember Ripley's Sammi CD (the extremely mouldy one that was beyond rescue)? That was the ultimate case of CDs going bonkers, i think!
Mungy: my Custom-Made was also 1st ed (the long box version), and i bought it at a reputable store. Can't be pirated!?
I dunno how to describe it...it's like there's abnormal curvy outlines visible from the underside of the CDs. Normally the tracks/grooves watever are in perfect concentric circles, but here there's a weird shaped one...
How to wax a CD? Can it salvage the situation?
I tried waxing some of my CDs that skip when playing. It worked.
Use the Brasso in the normal way. A drop or two is usually sufficient. Use a soft clean cloth to rub the affected area with the Brasso until the mark is almost gone. Polish scuff marks radially. Scratches are best handled by rubbing along the direction of the scratch. With a scratch it usually is not necessary to polish it completely away - just clean it up enough for the laser to be able to see through it.
Finish up by letting the Brasso dry on the surface, then use a fresh soft cloth to rub it off.
When trying to work out which scratch is to blame for a mistracking, keep in mind that ones at an angle to the direction of rotation are not likely to cause problems. Also keep in mind that a CD plays from the inside out, so that a problem on an early track is more likely to be near the centre than the edge.
Just in case, Brasso as in Brasso Metal Polish.
-mungy
thks Mungy! I dunno if your method will work for my case cos the CD isn't exactly scratched...seems like more of an 'internal problem' (ie not on the exterior layer). Anyway, i left it in office, will try to save it when i go back to work...
Hey viineon, good suggestion!
i've a feeling that things are not so bad afterall... i'm trying the CD now on my old discman. The tracks that used to jump like mad on my pc seem ok (yay!), but on the other hand, a few other tracks now got problem...but i think maybe can salvage, pray!
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