2. amps-preamps
  3. 128687-32

The awful truth about CDs, do they have the same shelve life as LP's ?

The answer is properly not. Recent studies have shown that the chemicals used in their manufacture of CDs have reduced their life expectancy to ten years, not all but many, as per Paul Mcgowans email. The suggestion was given that if you have suspect CD's they should be re-copied. But my question is how do you identify these? I can tell you that I have a great deal of LPs and I can play anyone of these with great success and some are 40 years old. This no doubt would give some audiophiles another good reason to hold onto their belief that LPs are the way to go.
phd
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Be sure to always store all Cs are stored vertically for best sound.  Ditto LPs, DVDs, what  have  you. 

Cheerios

jl35
4,036 posts
 
I have had a few go bad (out of thousands). was curious if the initial statement meant that current CD's are being made much differently than the older ones...
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,432 posts
 
The main difference between LP and CD longevity to me, is that damaged or worn LP cannot be repaired, while less than perfect CD can be recovered/renewed by ripping software and recorded onto CD-R.
Longevity of CD-R depends on the photosensitive dye used. Taiyo Yuden CD-Rs have 100 years warranty. It is also possible to make backup of CDs on HD. Backup for LPs is not possible.
jbrrp1
423 posts
 
Having ripped ~2,000 CD's using dBpoweramp with its Accurip comparison tool, I have had very few that were not bit-perfect matches to everyone else's out there.  That seems like pretty good preservation.  When one does run afoul, it almost always shows some mistreatment damage to the surface (I have purchased a lot of used CD's from a wide variety of sources).

I'd say the news is way over-hyped, possibly even misleading with an agenda?  
pokey77
1,269 posts
 
Have had over one thousand CDs through my collection and currently 700-800. I've run across one CD that didn't want to play but I ripped it to my drive and burned another copy and the CDR plays fine. It was from Monty Python's - The Final Ripoff. The other was the Subdudes - Lucky. I've heard several different copies and they both had pinholes in different places. Just get a skip here or there but they play fine.

All that being said, this talk of a shelf life seems very overblown. All my other CDs play just fine and none of my friends have reported CD failures. If you don't use them for coasters you should reasonably expect them to last well beyond your life. I have plenty of CDs from the beginning and they play fine. I don't believe the hype, seems some have an axe to grind or an agenda to put forth. Don't waste your time worrying about this topic, is should be dead; the topic not your precious CDs. Now, go buy some more CDs.
More to discover