sun rain and snow won't affect a pressed CD at all.
They're virtually indestructible, and you can eat your dinner off them without any loss of sound quality. They said it on Tomorrow's World so it must be true. :-P
...sun rain and snow won't affect a pressed CD at all.
You are joking, right? :-?
(sorry, can't tell in this case)
If the sun doesn't warp the plastic itself, then it has the potential of stretching/warping the thin metal film, thereby distorting the holes drastically ... or it can even discolour the plastic, etc, etc.
They're virtually indestructible, and you can eat your dinner off them without any loss of sound quality. They said it on Tomorrow's World so it must be true. :-P
it is. As long as you don't gouge into the data they can be cleaned and read. :p
If the sun doesn't warp the plastic itself, then it has the potential of stretching/warping the thin metal film, thereby distorting the holes drastically ... or it can even discolour the plastic, etc, etc.
The data is not stored in the metal, this is a common misconception. The data is stored on the polycarbonate disc and it is *very* stable.
Sunlight does not harm pressed CDs at all. (it's a problem for writeable CDs but they're a different technology entirely)
I've have to 're-write' several of my older, ahem 'collection' CDs after they become 'unreadable' on newer CD players (Have to use an old CD player to read them then re-write on a new burner).
Also I've had a few where the foil has started to peel off .
These are maybe 10-15yr old CDs so the old 100yr thing doesn't seem quite right (I have 40yr+ old vinyl that still plays great).
It's simple really. CD is a lossy format compared to vinyl. It's only 16-bit 44Khz stereo and the digital clipping provides a reduced range of frequencies. Sure it deteriorates over time, but a freshly cut record mastered from 24-bit 96Khz source is higher definition. Obviously the solution, now that we've got downloadable audio, more bandwidth, and more storage space, is to make the online offerings available in lossless compressed formats at a higher bitrate and frequency than CD.
It's simple really. CD is a lossy format compared to vinyl. It's only 16-bit 44Khz stereo and the digital clipping provides a reduced range of frequencies. Sure it deteriorates over time, but a freshly cut record mastered from 24-bit 96Khz source is higher definition.
The output of a CD player will be filtered to a 22KHz bandwidth, a normal record played on a normal consumer turntable is going to be the same or more likely worse. Sure it's possible to play your brand new record in a dust free environment on a really expensive turntable but if you are buying records from car boot sales or charity shops this is not going to be the case :p
how do you mean? if you don't damage the data then it is there and can be read. scratches on the bottom of the disc can be polished out
I mean exactly what you said above (the stuff in bold) ... it's still there as long as it's still readable (i.e. as long as you haven't over-polished, used the wrong cleaning agent (or too much of it), etc, etc.) It's not a given constant outcome due to so many variables that can affect what you're cleaning.
The data is not stored in the metal, this is a common misconception. The data is stored on the polycarbonate disc and it is *very* stable.
Sunlight does not harm pressed CDs at all. (it's a problem for writeable CDs but they're a different technology entirely)
Learn something new (to me) every day! Thanks for the update. I always assumed every CD used foil, and I have always assumed the foil could be corrupted, thereby corrupting the data.
the other thing about a CD of course is that you can back it up. CD audio doesn't need to be on the CD, you can move the bits around as many times as you like and there is no loss of information.
every generation of analogue duplication loses more of the original information (and introduces more noise)
The data is not stored in the metal, this is a common misconception. The data is stored on the polycarbonate disc and it is *very* stable.
Sunlight does not harm pressed CDs at all. (it's a problem for writeable CDs but they're a different technology entirely)
And yes I did send it back and yes they did replace it.
the dye in recordable CDs is degraded by UV but the polycarbonate should be relatively stable. I'm assuming you aren't storing your CDs inside a tanning booth.
Comments
Give it a few decades or leave it out in the sun/rain/snow and then (try to) play it ... same quality still? :razz:
A vinyl record can (usually) still be played even if it's a little bit warped, as the needle-arm has a bit of a range of motion to it.
I'm not coming up with anything witty about lasers and trying to aim them at small holes or distorted plastics, yaddayadda (sorry!)
Mile's WHAM! CD collection for example.
well if you get deep scratches on the CD then you won't be able to read the data but why would you keep your CDs outside? :p
sun rain and snow won't affect a pressed CD at all.
You are joking, right? :-?
(sorry, can't tell in this case)
If the sun doesn't warp the plastic itself, then it has the potential of stretching/warping the thin metal film, thereby distorting the holes drastically ... or it can even discolour the plastic, etc, etc.
it is. As long as you don't gouge into the data they can be cleaned and read. :p
OK, that is true but not constantly so.
The data is not stored in the metal, this is a common misconception. The data is stored on the polycarbonate disc and it is *very* stable.
Sunlight does not harm pressed CDs at all. (it's a problem for writeable CDs but they're a different technology entirely)
On that subject (and the 100yrs thing)
I've have to 're-write' several of my older, ahem 'collection' CDs after they become 'unreadable' on newer CD players (Have to use an old CD player to read them then re-write on a new burner).
Also I've had a few where the foil has started to peel off .
These are maybe 10-15yr old CDs so the old 100yr thing doesn't seem quite right (I have 40yr+ old vinyl that still plays great).
how do you mean? if you don't damage the data then it is there and can be read. scratches on the bottom of the disc can be polished out
writeable CDs are a totally different design to pressed CDs and they deteriorate. Did you cut the vinyl yourself? I'm guessing not :p
No but I've cut many 'indestructible' CDs up with a simple pair of scissors..(see the WHAM! comment).
The output of a CD player will be filtered to a 22KHz bandwidth, a normal record played on a normal consumer turntable is going to be the same or more likely worse. Sure it's possible to play your brand new record in a dust free environment on a really expensive turntable but if you are buying records from car boot sales or charity shops this is not going to be the case :p
I mean exactly what you said above (the stuff in bold) ... it's still there as long as it's still readable (i.e. as long as you haven't over-polished, used the wrong cleaning agent (or too much of it), etc, etc.) It's not a given constant outcome due to so many variables that can affect what you're cleaning.
Learn something new (to me) every day! Thanks for the update. I always assumed every CD used foil, and I have always assumed the foil could be corrupted, thereby corrupting the data.
every generation of analogue duplication loses more of the original information (and introduces more noise)
Not according to the sage:-
http://www.worldofspectrum.org/forums/showpost.php?p=171909&postcount=51
And yes I did send it back and yes they did replace it.
the dye in recordable CDs is degraded by UV but the polycarbonate should be relatively stable. I'm assuming you aren't storing your CDs inside a tanning booth.