Olympia CDs deteriorating

[visualnickmos]

Just thought I'd mention that recently I've found that some of my Olympia label CDs are becoming unplayable - they don't 'start' properly, or then get stuck and jump forward or back randomely, sometimes culminating with the CD player coming up with "Error!"
It is only Olympia CDs that have started to do this - not all of them (so far!) I don't have a huge numberof them, but the ones I do possess are rather special - eg Shostakovich syms with Rozhdestvensky)
I think it musr be the CDs and not the player for the reason mentioned above...

I wonder if anyone else has had, or is having the same problem, and what the cause may be.... the CDs look absolutely fine - no scratching, no discolouration - just normal-looking CDs....

Thanks for any advice or guidance.

[richardfinegold]

Have you tried burning them to a hard drive?

[johnb]

The first thing I would do is either copy the affected CDs using a computer, or rip them to your hard drive (personally I would do both).

Computer hard drives operate slightly differently to those in CD players - so that, depending on the state of the CD, they will often read CDs that CD players have difficulty with.

[pastoralguy]

I have quite a few Olympia CDs including Rozdestvenskey's DSCH. One of my favourites is Igor Oistrakh playing the Elgar violin concerto so I'll dig them out tomorrow and check.

[visualnickmos]

Many thanks to you all for your (as always) invaluable advice. A friend suggested that maybe it could just be that the the CD player "workings" needs a blast from an air duster. Apparently some CDs are more prone to give trouble if there is a potential issue with the CD player reading them - dust, for example.
I have ripped a couple of them to my HD - no problems encountered in doing that. I'll try the cleaning of the player route first..... Thanks again, all.

[jayne lee wilson]

My various Olympias haven't been troublesome (yet...) they include the Rozh DSCH, some Richter, Enescu, Kancheli Symphonies etc....

How old is the player? Ever serviced?
You could try a laser clean, but air might not do it, some older deposits may adhere; only option then would be a very gentle caress of said laser with a cotton bud + isopropyl alcohol. (Yes, the very thing most manuals advise against...). So have a close scrutiny of the laser first...
If it's clear, then...

With some mistracking CDs one of those green discs or mats, placed atop the CD with the theoretical aim of sonic improvement, can sometimes work - got one in a spares draw anywhere? Try that if the transport can take it (most standard Philips/Sony efforts can).
You may well feel the sound is changed (not necessarily for the better...)...

[visualnickmos]

Jayne - thanks for the informative reply. Very much appreciated.
The player is a Marantz, 25 years old. Never been serviced.
However - this evening I tried the air-duster (aerosol) and seems to have done the trick! I'm very happy with the outcome...
Essentially, I sprayed it into the open drawer around the general mechanism. Just a couple of quick bursts.

[richardfinegold]

Jayne - thanks for the informative reply. Very much appreciated.
The player is a Marantz, 25 years old. Never been serviced.
However - this evening I tried the air-duster (aerosol) and seems to have done the trick! I'm very happy with the outcome...
Essentially, I sprayed it into the open drawer around the general mechanism. Just a couple of quick bursts.

Glad it's fixed. It would seem that you got your money's worth from the Marantz.

I have actually kept my previous CD player that I was going to sell off when I bought an Oppo 105 to replace it, because at the time Computer Audio was on the ascent and there were dire predictions that no CD players were going to be had. That of course has not been the case. I have discovered that the external drive Optical disc player that we had to purchase since
Apple no longer puts disc spinners in laptops will play CDs as well. Of course this requires a computer for playback but the drive is relatively inexpensive, plays DVDs, records CDs, etc I think we fans of CD replay will be set for a while

[Ferretfancy]

This is slightly off thread, but some CD releases, especially older issues, have extra packing in the jewel case in the form of a sponge plastic square.
This can deteriorate alarming, and in severe cases sticks to the CD surface in a gooey mass. It's well worth sifting through your collection and junking this unsavoury extra before it causes trouble.

[visualnickmos]

This is slightly off thread, but some CD releases, especially older issues, have extra packing in the jewel case in the form of a sponge plastic square.
This can deteriorate alarming, and in severe cases sticks to the CD surface in a gooey mass. It's well worth sifting through your collection and junking this unsavoury extra before it causes trouble.

Interesting you should mention this; I read something to that effect a few years ago, and went through all my CDs and junked the foam! Luckily none were damaged. However, I did find for 1€ in junk shop here, Bernstein's Mahler 7 NYPO/DG which had the foam well-and truly stuck to the 2 CDs! I took a gamble and bought it, thinking that with care, I'd be able to clean it all off. I did, and although the CDs look a bit bedraggled, they play like a deam.

I have a couple of ASV CDs (no foam) which are useless - totally unplayable on any machine or computer. They are the most extraordinary colour!

[pastoralguy]

This is slightly off thread, but some CD releases, especially older issues, have extra packing in the jewel case in the form of a sponge plastic square.
This can deteriorate alarming, and in severe cases sticks to the CD surface in a gooey mass. It's well worth sifting through your collection and junking this unsavoury extra before it causes trouble.

Yes, excellent advice! I had a couple of those foam inserts deteriorate and a bloody horrible mess they caused too!

[Bryn]

I have a couple of ASV CDs (no foam) which are useless - totally unplayable on any machine or computer. They are the most extraordinary colour!

Look at the information around the centre off the CD.

Probably some of the notorious PDO stampings with substandard lacquer.

[MickyD]

...and I remember Hyperion being kind in replacing all their PDO discs. You sent them off in the post and in time, back came new replacements. I have never forgotten their generous gesture.