CD Players
 

Ok, so my dvd player in my room plays dvds (obviously), reg. music cds, cd-r's, cd-rw's, and mp3 cd's. but lately it has been tempermental as to which cd-r's it will play. Alot of my cd's are burned and its really annoying, it has trouble reading them or something im not sure. any ideas? this hasnt happened since ive owned it around xmas time. im confused!:confused:

The most likely culprit is simply the brand of disk. I've used two different types of disks recently, Phillips and Memorex. The Phillips play great in anything. The Memorex, however, either won't play or sound like crap in the same players. If it's doing it to disks that used to play fine, it's probably either the disks are scratched, or the player is going to crap. CD-R's are much more sensitive to scratches than regular CD's. If the player is a cheapo, like Apex, then it's not suprising that it's doing this, and will probably only get worse.

you know what i think you're right with the brand of cd's, because i was using Sony's that worked really great, then switched to some things i found in my closet....its interesting though because they all play in my car and in my mom's car too....*shrug* oh well, i guess i just cant listen to certain ones
thanks!

Another possibility I just thought of. I don't know if this is the case with all burners, but when I used music type CD-R's to burn a music disk in my computer's burner, it doesn't play right. It seems those are specifically for stereo system CD recorders, and you need to use data CD in a computer burner, regardless of what your putting on them.

As far as I know, there is no such thing as a CD-R which is specifically made for music or data. They may be advertised as such, but there's no real difference. Why? Because the stuff being recorded (whether Word files or music) is just 1s and 0s. Format is pretty much irrelevant. I would believe it if Memorex, for a random example, packaged two CD-R types and labeled one 'data' and one 'music' and made the 'music' discs more reflective so they'd work in more CD players. But reflectivity would be the only difference.

As for reflectivity, it's likely the source of the problem you're experiencing, Pete. CD-Rs are not as reflective as stamped CDs, so a CD which works in one player may not work in another. Similarly, one brand may work in a given player, but not another brand.

If you're finding that CDs which used to work in your CD player no longer do, it could be a few things. First it might be that your lens just needs to be cleaned. Second, your disc may be scratched. And third, the disc might just be old. They lose their reflectivity over time, especially if exposed to heat or sunlight.

CD-r
 

I agree with what you are saying,

If the discs have been working and now don't it would suggest that either your lens needs a clean or that your CD's could use one, also CD-r is not as stable as normal CD's.

I have also noted that some DVD players are touchy about playing anything that has been recorded at high speed, much more so than dedicated CD players, could explain why they play in the car and not your DVD player

Regards
KennEls

Sometimes there are. When companies first started to make home stereo CD recorders, some of them needed 'special' music CDs that were preformatted to be audio CDs. All the burner did was just add the music, somehow. The reasont they did this was so they could charge people an arm and a leg for SPECIAL CDs.

But yeah, you're mostly correct. :)

- Rob

I'll have to look into it, but I can almost guarantee that, even with early CD recording decks, there was no 'preformatting' of discs. I would believe it if the manufacturers tested the decks and found that they worked best with certain types of CD-Rs, so they sold those CD-Rs as their own brand. But that's about it, as far as I understand it.

CD-R
 

Hi everyone, On a recent "Screen Savers" show on Tech TV, they reported that burnable CD-Rs etc. were becoming unplayable in as little as two years after burning. Something to think about. Take care, BOBB

I've been burning CD's for over 6.5 years and all my original CD's are still fine.

well my problem is intermittent, certain times they play certain times they dont....grrrr

i have found that the slower I burn the CD the better it plays..It resists the skipping as compared to 16x or 32x...it takes longer but that seems to work 4 me

Squiggy