Help needed - Swarb's "Flittin" on CD

[red max]

Hi

This one and Smiddyburn have long been favourites of mine, so the other day I was dismayed to find that my 2 on 1 CD has developed some kind of fault. Smiddyburn plays fine, but the last few tracks on Flittin have developed a strange clicking noise. I've tried several CD players, the fault seems to be on the disc itself. Has anyone else had any problems like this?

thanks

[Chris]

Discs do deteriorate after time (years usually)....they certainly won't last a lifetime.

[Nick]

CDs play from the inside to the outside of the disk (the opposite to a vinyl record). Smiddyburn/Flittin is a 2-on-1 disk so it's pretty full; the last few tracks will be right at the edge of the disk which is the part most vulnerable to physical damage. Check the rim and see if there are any cracks, prints or other junk.

The bottom side of a disk is the playing side but surprisingly, damage to the top surface can be more likely to cause playing problems. Check the label side too for any signs of damage.

Some makes of disk used to go bronze around the edges over time. Tracks that fell into the bronzed area would fail to play properly. This bronzing was found to be due to a fault in the manufacturing process and for a while it was possible to get these disks exchanged. (I had this bronzing problem with various John Martyn and Nick Drake CDs - though ironically by the time I got my copies replaced the albums had all been re-issued in re-mixed/re-mastered form so I went and bought them all again anyway!) If your disk has gone bronze around the edge then this page should give you some more detail.

Cheers

Nick

[Jules Gray]

Discs do deteriorate after time (years usually)....they certainly won't last a lifetime.

Some titles are more vulnerable than others though.  Especially budget releases.  It depends on who presses them up, but there is a growing list of titles that seem particularly prone to this.  One example is The Who Rarities vols 1+2 collection which came out a decade or so ago.  If you find a copy that still plays I would advise that you make a CDR of it straight away.  Mine was eaten away before I had the chance and is now unplayable.

Jules

[Mindwarper]

Sometimes if you copy a disk, you can save it. Copy it at the slowest speed and pray. I've got a cd that would skip to play just fine on the copy. It doesn't always work, but it worth a try.

[red max]

Thanks for the advice, but it seems to be beyond help. It's quite annoying to have to replace the thing, as Smiddyburn plays fine, as do most of the Flittin tracks. I might have to see if iTunes stock it, then I presume I could just replace the offending tracks

[Ollie]

PM me with your e-mail address (as I can't reply to PMs) and I may be able to help.

[Jules Gray]

Sometimes if you copy a disk, you can save it. Copy it at the slowest speed and pray. I've got a cd that would skip to play just fine on the copy. It doesn't always work, but it worth a try.

I'll try that.  Thanks!

Jules

[folkfreak (Alexander)]

You could try to copy thet one with EAC. Try the different settings.
http://www.exactaudiocopy.de

[Harbottle (Martin)]

Discs do deteriorate after time (years usually)....they certainly won't last a lifetime.

Especially that batch made in the 1990s by Philips in Blackburn that were all faulty - including my Fairport "Box" of Rising for the Moon, Babbacombe Lee and others. They've all gone brown - as has my old release of John Martyn's "Cooltide". All replaced by remasters. Those are the only CDs that have gone this way - I've heaps of others from 1980s that are still fine.

I believe the faulty CDs would be replaced up until maybe a few months back.