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Physical degradation of CD's

Hello friends,

Please keep in mind that I am new to the digital world and I'm just curious about something....

I have just recently bought two Dac's.  As I've been trying to break them in, I've had a cd player spinning a cd 24/7 on repeat into the dac.

I'm wondering, does the cd laser constantly going over the same pits over and over again, somehow degrade the physical aspect of the cd layer that is being read by the laser?

I know that I wouldn't want to replay my precious vinyl over and over again, but in that case I'm physically dragging a diamond stylus through the record grooves.  

I have no idea if the laser does anything to the bits it's trying to read when kept on 24/7?

Thank you and best wishes to you all,

Don

no_regrets
ghdprentice
7,179 posts
 

No. Don’t worry, it will not hurt them. I remember the concern was over age and that the integrity of the info on disks was supposed to be only something like twenty years. I have CDs going back forty years without a problem.

 

My CDs like my vinyl no longer gets played since streaming now sounds as good or better, cost a fraction, and gives access to over ten million albums. They look nice covering my walls. Don’t forget to consider streaming before investing in any more physical media.

mlsstl
1,440 posts
 

Sometimes a CD will go bad with age, an issue known as "CD rot."  However, this ties to poor manufacturing practices rather than use.  Poor quality control when the CD was made can result in oxidation of the reflective surface. There can also be adhesive bonding issues or the presence of contaminants. However, none of these problems are caused by how many times a CD has been played.  End users can still damage a CD through scratched surfaces or leaving the CD in hot sunlight, etc., but again, these are not playback issues.

oddiofyl's avatar
oddiofyl
3,962 posts
 

I have lots of titles from 1983 - 90 that still play fine.   I have never experienced a CD that wouldn't play, unless it had obvious damage.

All of my discs look new, I never used them in cars or portables so I think that has a lot to do with my good luck wheni load a disc. 

dekay's avatar
dekay
5,650 posts
 

I usually toss and then replace CD's after that have been played a few times.

I'm all in with the FreshMaker approach.

 

DeKay

no_regrets OP
543 posts
 

Thank you!  I appreciate everyone commenting and sharing their thoughts with me on this.

I kind of figured that CD's could possibly remain good for a long time.  In fact, I have a lot of CD's that are decades old that are still playing fine.

However, my concern was, if I just leave the same cd in the cd player, playing continuously on repeat 24 hours/day, for several days in a row..... could the laser, due to constantly reading the same cd over and over again while being on repeat.... could "that" deteriorate the performance of that one cd?

I'm getting the impression that it shouldn't be a concern.

Best wishes,

Don

 

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