Problem CDs

[Dave2002]

I just put on a CD I bought a few years ago - out of a box set featuring Leontyne Price. This was an RCA disc - now distributed by Sony. There is a quite unpleasant background noise on track 15 - Barber: Knoxville: Summer of 1915. It sounds as though it's ingrained in the track, it's as though there was noise in the cables on one side, though it does seem to get better later on. It's pretty disappointing though. Could this be just my copy, or is it inherent in the recording?

Just to check I replayed the start of the track once I got to the end - but the noise was still there.

For comparison I put on the Naxos version with Karina Gauvin and the RSNO conducted by Marin Alsop - hardly any problems there - a really clear recording. I can't honestly say there's much to choose between the performances - though it's a shame that Price's version shows such a fault, as I think her version is good.

Do others have any examples of CDs which are problematic for them?

[Petrushka]

Assume you've thought of trying the CD in another player to see if the same fault occurs in the same place. If it does then it's probably faulty.

I've had two problem discs that resolutely fail on my CD player (sticking) but play fine on my DVD recorder. They are the Lutoslawski Symphony No 2 in the Brilliant set and Shostakovich The Execution Of Stepan Razin in the Kondrashin Melodiya set. All other CDs play without any problem.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Dave, it sounds as though the reflective layer is deteriorating. This has happened to me only once - the ASV Mackerras Handel's Messiah (arr. Mozart). It sounded like a crackly LP.

[Pulcinella]

Is this something other than so-called bronzing, which used to affect some CDs (especially Hyperion) in the early days? Hyperion have recently replaced my copy of JSB Art of Fugue (Nikolayeva) which showed serious signs of deterioration.

[verismissimo]

... I've had two problem discs that resolutely fail on my CD player (sticking) but play fine on my DVD recorder. They are the Lutoslawski Symphony No 2 in the Brilliant set and Shostakovich The Execution Of Stepan Razin in the Kondrashin Melodiya set. All other CDs play without any problem.

An artistic decision of the CD player, Pet?

[Dave2002]

I would be very surprised if the CD player is at fault, but I can try playing on others. Indeed the track sounds like a crackly LP, with one channel much worse than the other. I hope it isn't a problem with the CD player, which has been really good for years.

I assumed that so-called bronzing would show some visible signs of problems - but I noticed nothing special about my problem CD. I have some CDs which, if you hold them up to a bright light, have holes through them. Generally these play without problems, due to the error correction algorithms. One I think had a very faint click - almost inaudible - and not a lot to get worried about.

If you get paranoid you can try holding up some CDs to the light - you'll probably find a few which have small see through holes, but on the other hand, don't worry about it!

It sounds as though some companies play very fair about replacing problem CDs, if they are able to. I'll need to check my Leontyne Price CDs some more.

[robk]

Well here is my list. Problems occur on an Arcam CD 17. This is what prompted me to rip them all to my hard drive.

Composer Piece Label Problem Ripped
Gorecki Symphony No 3 Naxos Clicks on track 1 at 6 mins 4/10/10
Ravel La Valse Decca Legends Breaks up towards the end 1/10/10
Stravinsky Octet Naxos Won’t start 4/10/10
Berkeley Quartets Naxos Won’t start
Rachmaninov PC 2 Deutsche Grammophon Last movement breaks up 30/9/10
Brahms Piano pieces Harmonia Mundi Last track breaks up 3/10/10

Brahms Sonatas for clarinet & Piano Chandos Track 2 clicks 2/10/10

Rimsky Korsakov Scheherazade EMI Classics Humming and clicks on track 1
2/10/10

Korngold Quartets Chandos Won't start
Langgaard Music of the Spheres Dacapo Humming 4/10/10

Smetana Ma Vlast Supraphon First Track won't play

[Beef Oven!]

My Robert Simpson CDs on Hyperion that I bought as they were first released 20 odd years ago, have visually/physically deteriorated, particularly around the edges. They still play, but they look awful.

[MickyD]

I remember Hyperion being wonderful dealing with this problem some years ago - I sent them a whole stack of bronzed CDs and they dutifully replaced them all. The operation must have cost them a fortune, not least for the administrative task.

[Beef Oven!]

I remember Hyperion being wonderful dealing with this problem some years ago - I sent them a whole stack of bronzed CDs and they dutifully replaced them all. The operation must have cost them a fortune, not least for the administrative task.

Yes, bronzed - I couldn't think how to describe it.

They still play, and they are in my iTunes library, so I don't think I need to pursue Hyperion for an exchange.

[Parry1912]

There is a section on the Hyperion website about 'bronzed' discs.

Some ASV discs of the same period suffer the problem. Worth remembering if you're buying S/H.

[richardfinegold]

My Robert Simpson CDs on Hyperion that I bought as they were first released 20 odd years ago, have visually/physically deteriorated, particularly around the edges. They still play, but they look awful.

I would burn them to a hard drive quickly. Even if you currently do not have a satisfactory computer audio playback system you at least will have them saved for when you go that route. Or at the least, you can make CD-Rs.

[Beef Oven!]

I would burn them to a hard drive quickly. Even if you currently do not have a satisfactory computer audio playback system you at least will have them saved for when you go that route. Or at the least, you can make CD-Rs.

Yes, I have done that.

[Dave2002]

Well here is my list. Problems occur on an Arcam CD 17. This is what prompted me to rip them all to my hard drive.

Composer Piece Label Problem Ripped
Gorecki Symphony No 3 Naxos Clicks on track 1 at 6 mins 4/10/10
Ravel La Valse Decca Legends Breaks up towards the end 1/10/10
Stravinsky Octet Naxos Won’t start 4/10/10
Berkeley Quartets Naxos Won’t start
Rachmaninov PC 2 Deutsche Grammophon Last movement breaks up 30/9/10
Brahms Piano pieces Harmonia Mundi Last track breaks up 3/10/10

Brahms Sonatas for clarinet & Piano Chandos Track 2 clicks 2/10/10

Rimsky Korsakov Scheherazade EMI Classics Humming and clicks on track 1
2/10/10

Korngold Quartets Chandos Won't start
Langgaard Music of the Spheres Dacapo Humming 4/10/10

Smetana Ma Vlast Supraphon First Track won't play

I assume you tried Brasso and other tricks first. I have had great success with some very mild polishes and abrasives. Some people say toothpaste is good.

One CD (a charity shop one, Naxos - Idil Biret - Chopin - which I decided I rather liked) took several attempts before I could get it to play one track after which I immediately ripped it.

I will try experimenting to see if that RCA/Leontyne Price disc can be rescued. This CD doesn't have any really obvious faults - so I probably won't try Brasso etc. except in desperation.

I could try Exact Audio Copy (EAC) on a PC - though I tend not to use PCs much at all nowadays. Will EAC work on a Mac, or in a virtualised Windows environment on a Mac?

Otherwise, is there anything similar to EAC for Macs?

[Stanley Stewart]

Re #1, my recording of Knoxville is on a 11CD collection, The Essential Leontyne Price, BMG, 1996, Disc 8, Tk 1. My hi-fi is a modest Technics stacking system with Pioneer CD-R. The Barber recording is New Philharmonia,/Thomas Schippers. The fill-up items are Frauenliebe und-leben and Schumann items with Richard Strauss and Wolf lieder. David Garvey is the accompanist pianist throughout, Tks 2-24.

I've also done a test CD-R and it all sounds fine, strictly for my own use, of course! David, would this copy on 'loan' with my compliments be helpful? A PM will suffice. Otherwise, my preferred recording of Knoxville is by Dawn Upshaw, Elektra Nonesuch, 1989, Orchestra of St Luke's/David Zinman.