Playing CDR's

[Petrushka]

I've noticed when I play a CDR (and this includes Presto CDs) for the first time I get drop-outs, mistracking, jumping etc but they are fine on a second, and subsequent, play through.

Are they in some way different from a 'normal' CD and my player has to get used to them or something? I probably need to play them for the first time by running through the CD player with the sound off but I'm finding it annoying!

Any ideas?

[richardfinegold]

I never had that problem. What CD player do you have? Does this happen with other players? Are you making some of these CDs yourself or are they all purchased commercially?

[Petrushka]

I never had that problem. What CD player do you have? Does this happen with other players? Are you making some of these CDs yourself or are they all purchased commercially?

I have a Panasonic CD player that's probably a little old in the tooth now (like its owner). I've not experimented yet with playing on my DVD player but the next time I try one first time round I'll play it on that. The CDR's are a mix of off-air broadcasts obtained from various sources and commercially produced ones (Presto CD). Not every disc misbehaves first time but most do. All I can think of is that my CD player needs to 'recognise' them in some mysterious way.

[richardfinegold]

Well, if it is happening with both purchased and self made CD-R it is probably the player. Try your plan of using another player and see what happens

[Dave2002]

You can use a cleaning CD - which I think typically has a brush to clear dust etc. from the laser lens.

If you can access the CD player, take it out of its location, and turn it on its side. [Bump it a bit, then, turn it upside down, and repeat the process. When I write "bump" I don't mean use a sledge hammer like blow, just a gentle tap - well, perhaps just a bit more than that.] Don't do this process - see below. ***

The idea of this is to dislodge any dirt which might be getting in the way.

I once had a brand new player which I was intending to give away as a present. I thought I'd test it first, but then it wouldn't play. For some reason I then tried playing it with the front lifted up - perhaps at a 30 to 45 degree angle, and then it started to work well. After that I really enjoyed it for a while before I packed it up as the gift I indended - it was excellent. I figured that most likely some dirt got in which was dislodged by this process.

Worth a try, anyway.

However this process might not always work. Another possible issue is if the tracking arm comes loose in some way. Then this bumping process will make things worse, and recovery could be impossible.

*** On reflection, don't bump the deck - just tilt it up, and run it with a CD in. That will be a gentler approach than trying to dislodge dirt by bumps and bangs. Turning the deck upside down and sideways might also work - but without any bumps.

I'm not claiming any responsibility for damage to your equipment. Good luck with it, though.

PS: If you really like the deck, it could be worth asking a repair man to look at it. Sometimes these things can be fixed (assuming the problem persists - and if there are parts still available that might be something to try. OTOH, modest decks are quite cheap to replace nowadays, though if it is a top of the range model, the repairs - if possible - do make sense.

[ChrisBennell]

I make a vast quantity of my own CDs using Flac files from Audacity, or downloads from Presto Classical. I play them on an old Technics CD player (bought in about 1990) which is still going strong. The only problem I have experienced has been spits and pops occasionally in the CD - which were not present on the original Flac files (proved by playing the file on my PC).

I have pretty well eliminated the problem now by burning the CDR s at a very reduced burn rate. I now use 1200 bps - it takes much longer of course, but I seldom get any errors now. I couldn't recount the number of wasted CDs I used to have before I discovered the solution. I believe the make of CDR can also have an effect in some cases. I used to use Sony, but now use Verbatim. I use Nero Burning ROM on my PC for producing the CDs by the way.

The last thing you can try is to play the CDs on another player - a PC will do - and see if the problems are consistent. In my case, the spits and pops also occurred when playing on my PC.