Another CD-Player vs. PC question:

Most of CDP play in real time. They have ability to error correct small amount of unreadable sectors or interpolate larger gaps but at one point they will start skipping. Computer CDP is under control of computer program used for playback. This program can spin CD much faster and place data into buffer. Basically it can read CD as data, recreating timing later. It can access each sector multiple times until proper checksum is obtained.

Could it be that those who claim their CD players skip don't handle their CDs with sufficient care? That is, skipping may be a user problem, not a problem endemic to the device. I remember being warned as a kid to avoid touching the surface of records and to instead handle them by the edge. I apply that warning to all discs.

db

Kijanki,
Thanks for the brief and precise technical answer!

Dbphd,
I'm of the same nature as I collect records since I'm 8 and also CDs.
I apply ALL means of careful handling of an art products. Same certainly applies to collectible books, postcards, posters, paintings etc, etc... Some of the records I have placed individually onto the glass frames mint and untouched.

I didn't have large array of CD-players(even given the fact that I also DJ-d), but even with professional CD players such as Technics, Numark the misreads or skips happened even with perfect CDs. I had to mask that skip with effect of the same bpm and than switch to the next song. I didn't reach computer audio DJ-ing, but would certainly prefer it over the CD-player.

In my home audio I had Marantz CD63 that had been replaced with CAL-alpha(?). Both had an ability to misread or skip even perfect CDs for reason or no reason. Using CD with brush or going directly onto the mechanism to clean did only temporary releif.

Well, skipping is not a good thing, obviously, but the real question is whether the sound is degraded during the normal course of events, even on clean CDs and error correction notwithstanding. Anyone else besides me find CDs to generally sound very generic, bland and extremely uninteresting. I'm referring to out of the box untreated CDs.