CD-Rs That Have R.I.P.

[Cranial Blast]

Have any of you had CDRs that have disc rotted out with time to the point they are pretty much junk? One perticular item in my collection that comes to mind is Grey Wolves - Incaceration CDr released in 1999 by Italian label Blade Records, originally released on cassette by Slaughter. This version was a CDr that was released in this heavy solid metal packaging, that is very industrial looking and great! Anyways this is one that comes to mind for me that often has me in a woe...Has anyone else experienced something similar with a CDr after some years have passed on by?

[Lazrs3]

Never any rot (yet), but one that snapped and I was gutted as I have never been able to replace it at a decent price. Iron Fist of the Sun- The Power of September. I liked the project as a whole, but that debut was my favourite. Somehow the CDr got snapped in the case. There was/is one one discogs for around £50. There's a lot to be said for CD or vinyl reissues sometimes.

[Volcano Queen]

I have a copy of the "3" CDr by Proof of the Shooting from 1997 that has disc rot in the final 5 minutes of the album. I'm surprised there wasn't more damage considering it's well over 20 years old at this point. It's quite hard to play the third track on a CD-player, quite a few places where it gets stuck, but it turned out to be quite rippable.

[Cranial Blast]

I have a copy of the "3" CDr by Proof of the Shooting from 1997 that has disc rot in the final 5 minutes of the album. I'm surprised there wasn't more damage considering it's well over 20 years old at this point. It's quite hard to play the third track on a CD-player, quite a few places where it gets stuck, but it turned out to be quite rippable.

I tried to rip this perticular Grey Wolves CDr, but I got the same result as playing it on the CD player. It's funny you mention that though, I've got a couple other Grey Wolves CDrs that get a bit flickery when played on the CD player, but did turn out better on the rip to iTunes library. It makes one wonder did the CDrs suck that bad twenty years ago and now we've come along better with these newer pro CDrs, or will some of those be doomed too at some point in time?

[tiny_tove]

as much as people talk about decay of cd It happened only with a bunch of recorderd cd-rs who staid in a humd place for 3 years when I was living in uk and when back they were covered in mold. all cd I got since my first is still alive.

[Kayandah]

My copy of the Propergol first album is unplayable, that was due to disc rot amd I had one of the infamous skullflower CDs that has disc rot

As for CDr I dread to think. Too many Richard Ramirez side project CDrs sit in my collection in Asia.

[Submersive]

The only one I have that's visibly decaying is Skin Crime - Genital Modification. It's peeling at the edge and the end of the last track is unplayable.

I do however have some with no visible defects that don't play at all. The player doesn't recognize them, and they're not blank as I can tell there's audio written on the clear side. They're quite old and all have those white inkjet-printable labels, which may have something to do with it...
https://www.discogs.com/release/1027957-The-Digitariat-I-Created-Over-One-Million-New-Jobs
https://www.discogs.com/release/901952-Metrocide-Metrocide
https://www.discogs.com/release/1232694-Metrocide-Analog-Weapon-Metrocide-Analog-Weapon

[Cranial Blast]

as much as people talk about decay of cd It happened only with a bunch of recorderd cd-rs who staid in a humd place for 3 years when I was living in uk and when back they were covered in mold. all cd I got since my first is still alive.

Mold! That's crazy, haha. That's total R.I.P. overkill. I can say the same for all of my CDs too, that I have not experienced any disc rot or similar failures to playing. I've heard about some of the early versions of some of the Whitehouse CDs having some issues with disc rot. I believe it was the first CD pressing of Great White Death, the original black cover. I've got this version, along with the yellow special edition, however my original Great White Death last time I checked played through just fine. Another weird thing I've noticed before was when I had purchased a sealed copy of The Japanese / American Noise Treaty double CD comp, that was released by Release/Relapse. I had purchased the double CD new and as a sealed copy a few years ago and once I cracked it open, some of the plastic from the case on the tray side had actually stuck to the discs, like little flecks of paint/plastic, it's hard to describe. I thought I was going to have a problem with them, but both discs actually played through with no problems. I had mentioned it to the seller, who I believe was the Release records guy and he was sitting on some more copies and after I had told him about it, he was like WTF, seriously? He was telling me how he was nervous to open one up and see what I had described, Haha and how he was on the fence about cracking one of his sealed copies open to see. I never did follow up with him to ask him if he did indeed open one up to check and who knows maybe it was some weird one off thing with my copy, or perhaps all copies from sitting so long ended up like this, who knows! Weidest thing ever though.

[burdizzo1]

Had a bootleg live DiJ/ Blutharsch release that was two CD-rs, and pulled 'em out the other day and NEITHER of the discs would play. Also had trouble w/ the "Bead to a Small Mouth" CD, which was definitely worth replacing, but - SO FAR - no problems w/ disc rot in the early WS CDs.

[Zeno Marx]

A solid argument for file sharing.  Rip your CDRs and share them everywhere possible.  Use the public domain for your backup.  The more people who have it, the better.

I seem to remember not being able to play that first Propergol CDR either.  I'll try to remember to look into that.  I think I had problems with even listening to the IDX1274/Haters collaboration in DVD case from the moment I got it.  It's a really good one too (so is the Propergol).  I should check on that one too.  Low quality blanks + 48Xs speed + shitty burning software.  Every ingredient sucked.

[Cranial Blast]

A solid argument for file sharing.  Rip your CDRs and share them everywhere possible.  Use the public domain for your backup.  The more people who have it, the better.

I seem to remember not being able to play that first Propergol CDR either.  I'll try to remember to look into that.  I think I had problems with even listening to the IDX1274/Haters collaboration in DVD case from the moment I got it.  It's a really good one too (so is the Propergol).  I should check on that one too.  Low quality blanks + 48Xs speed + shitty burning software.  Every ingredient sucked.

In regards to low quality blanks stay away from Memorex...total SHIT! I find better luck with Verbatim if you're looking for a better at home CDr.

[Balor/SS1535]

This is less a question about CDrs going RIP than CDrs that don't work consistently.  I've had some experience with this myself, and I recently heard the same from someone I had given a disc to back in August---but has anyone had CDrs that only play in certain CD players?

For instance, from what I remember it wouldn't play in my boombox, but would work with my discman.  My friend said his car wouldn't recognize the CDr, but that he could still probably rip it.

[BatteredStatesofEuphoria]

It seems to be both a question of the CDR quality AND the player usually. I have some that will only play on the external CD drive of my Mac of all things, which at least allowed me to rip a few, but not on any other players, a few that will play in my car and nowhere else (including the external drive), some that will play through good until the last 5-10 minutes, and then some that won't play on anything, and some that despite being nearly 30 years old still play fine the whole way through without blemish on any player.

I have that Proof of the Shooting CDR mentioned earlier and I wish mine would even play to the last 5 minutes. Its completely gone. Same with the Wilt/Augur 2CDR on Solipsism and a few others. OTOH, the K2, Azoikum, and Chaos As Shelter CDRs from Solipsism are still going great. I guess it depended on what brand he used. Same with the Knurl Panta Phei CDRs. Some still work great, some are kaput. At least those are all up on his bandcamp.

One that really sticks in my craw is Redrot-Cathedral of Filth. A great release, probably my favorite of all the Redrot material, but this was a case, I believe, where the CDR batch was bad even to begin with and all failed within a few years. But, in my case, I HAD ripped it, knowing it was failing, but then the hard drive I had put them on crapped out! So its lost completely. Incidentally, let me use this to call for a rerelease of Cathedral of Filth for my own selfish reasons, but also a a lot of Mr. Oppermann's material could use some reexhuming for the world. Seriously underrated talent.

Another one was the Azoikum/Lefthandeddecision split CDR that Live Bait put out. That was a case where I kind of forgot about it for a few years, then pulled it out to listen to one day, and I had no luck on any player. Never had a chance to even try to transfer it. I remember the LHD track being pretty awesome too.

[Balor/SS1535]

It seems to be both a question of the CDR quality AND the player usually. I have some that will only play on the external CD drive of my Mac of all things, which at least allowed me to rip a few, but not on any other players, a few that will play in my car and nowhere else (including the external drive), some that will play through good until the last 5-10 minutes, and then some that won't play on anything, and some that despite being nearly 30 years old still play fine the whole way through without blemish on any player.

I have that Proof of the Shooting CDR mentioned earlier and I wish mine would even play to the last 5 minutes. Its completely gone. Same with the Wilt/Augur 2CDR on Solipsism and a few others. OTOH, the K2, Azoikum, and Chaos As Shelter CDRs from Solipsism are still going great. I guess it depended on what brand he used. Same with the Knurl Panta Phei CDRs. Some still work great, some are kaput. At least those are all up on his bandcamp.

One that really sticks in my craw is Redrot-Cathedral of Filth. A great release, probably my favorite of all the Redrot material, but this was a case, I believe, where the CDR batch was bad even to begin with and all failed within a few years. But, in my case, I HAD ripped it, knowing it was failing, but then the hard drive I had put them on crapped out! So its lost completely. Incidentally, let me use this to call for a rerelease of Cathedral of Filth for my own selfish reasons, but also a a lot of Mr. Oppermann's material could use some reexhuming for the world. Seriously underrated talent.

Another one was the Azoikum/Lefthandeddecision split CDR that Live Bait put out. That was a case where I kind of forgot about it for a few years, then pulled it out to listen to one day, and I had no luck on any player. Never had a chance to even try to transfer it. I remember the LHD track being pretty awesome too.

OK, that's interesting to hear.  I have been using CDrs that I bought from a local office supply store, so I imagine that those are not the highest possible quality.  In the future, I'll have to weigh the cost difference of investing in nicer CDrs vs. shelling out some money to get a tape duplication setup.

Thankfully, when mine work, the whole thing seems to play fine.  It seems strange that only some tracks would work, barring scratches on the discs themselves.

[Zeno Marx]

We've discussed this elsewhere...maybe in the format thread?

The blank quality certainly matters, especially longevity wise, but I've long-believed that burning software is the key issue with playback issues regarding playable here, not there, glitching, etc.  A lot of people are using junk software and burning at 64X speed, and that is what is giving most people the headaches.  Using quality software and burning at lower speeds, like at 8X or 16X speed, are good rules to follow.  EAC has quality built-in burning software.  I've used it and ImgBurn for years, and I've never had anyone tell me of playback/data retrieval issues.  I prefer ImgBurn, but it hasn't been updated or supported in a long while. I still use it without issue though.