Did anyone else ever find a brand new CD that was perfectly OK, but wouldn't play in his/her player?

My player is still nearly brand new, so I don't think it needs cleaning. I've noticed though that it is very sensitive to unclean discs, it often hangs when I forget to blow at the CD before inserting it (and I keep my CDs really clean). Won't work with the Batman disc, though.

But for the great sound quality the player has, I gladly accept that I have to blow the discs clean everytime. And the Batman CDR works fine.

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Originally posted by Marian Schedenig:
Now I was going to play it again, but no way: The player either writes "No Disc" or keeps checking the CD for minutes. I tried countless times without success, now I've given up and am currently making a CDR copy - the burner doesn't have problems reading the CD.

Did anyone else ever find a brand new CD that was perfectly OK, but wouldn't play in his/her player?

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Happened with two sound systems: a Sony and a Sharp.

Bit by bit they started refusing CDs which they had played without problem before.

Finally, they ended up refusing every single CD I tried to put into them, including the brand new ones.

Usually, problems occured with CDs made in Austria, Germany and Holland. As well as US made CDs from Silva Screen, GNP and Intrada.

CDs worked perfectly every where, except in the Sony and Sharp sound systems.

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Originally posted by wistiti:
Bit by bit they started refusing CDs which they had played without problem before.

Finally, they ended up refusing every single CD I tried to put into them, including the brand new ones.

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Happened with my father's old player, too (a Denon). He used to open it and clean the interiors, but everytime, it helped less.

Jonathan, I may be misinformed about the cleaning discs harming the players, but considering I just paid $1300 for my DVD/CD player, I wouldn't want to risk it.

Is your copy of Batman a CDR? Because most people know that MANY dvd players have problems with cdr's. The fact that it plays on your computer tells you it's fine. I have a top of the line Sony which I got 3 years ago, and I've never really been able to play cdr's in it. I just use my Laser Disc for that.

The problem you descibe is not at all uncommon. I suspect considering the recent vintage of your player that it is probably the CD that is the culprit. However, I suspect that just replacing the CD will not work.

It doesn't suprise me that your CD-R read it fine. CD-R's have extremely fine actuator controls to facilitate the prcise nature of burning CDs and are also built to survive (compared to CD-ROMs and CD player) extreme heat.

It is also true that as a unit gets older, it will develop lesser degrees of fine control and some discs will not play because they fall below the play/fail tolerance standard.

Cleaning can help, as units make multiple passes over the data (oversampling) and compare the results to determine whether a location on the CD is a Fall or a Land. Clean optics are more likely to return accurate results in each pass.

Gradually, the lens can darken or become marred and the laser can also fail to focus steadily, but in general it is the actuator arm that controls the movement of the laser/lens that fails as precise control is essential in any read operation.

Cheaper players tend to fail more regularly for obvious reasons.

CD-Cleaners are okay as long as they are not abrasive. A microscopic scratch on the lens can cause the laser to defreact and not read reliably. I reccommend canned air to blow out built up dust in a unit.

Interesting note: Take a look at a CD. Where do you suppose the data is recorded? The bottom has a relatively thick surface to protect the extremely thin layer of reflective foil that resides directly below the printed side of a CD.

Sebulba: No, it's the original CD that won't play. CDRs work fine (as do mp3s, DVDs, and even HDCDs ). I was careful that I wouldn't buy a player that has problems with CDRs, and this one has read every single CDR I've tried so far.

MW, thanks for some interesting info. I knew about some of these points (e.g. that the printed side is more sensitive).

Generally though, I really don't have any other problems with my player, or the CD for that matter, as the CDR works. What I wanted to know is if anyone else ever bought original CDs that didn't work on their players.

This seems to be a recurring problem as the players age... my previous player was manufactured in 1986. Am not looking forward when the "new" player starts to conk out.

On the other hand, my OLD turntable has far fewer problems with vinyl discs... sometimes with technology, newer ain't necessarily better.