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Older CD Players not playing CD-Rs.

mitchalee

mitchalee

Active Member
Older CD Players not playing CD-Rs.

I've gotten a lot of conflicting info on this from web searches. Does anyone know why older CD Players won't play CD-Rs and CD-RWs? Several people who seemed very sure of themselves have insisted that it is all just a matter of correctly adjusting the read circuits. Others insist just as strongly that CDs and CD-Rs are different enough that newer CD Players had to be re-designed to play CD-Rs.

I have several players, the Technics Technics SL-P1000 is a good example, that sound great with CDs but flake out with most CD-Rs. Any ideas about this compatibility / adjustment issue?
 
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CD-R and CD-RW even more so require higher reflectivity to read. Older players are not made for this job. And do not mess with the laser power either. You don't want to burn out the laser.
 
I don't know why either but am curious. I had a Sony player that I bought new in 1995 that wouldn't ever read a CD-r or rw. I also had/have an HK HD400 that plays them all no issues and that's from at least a decade before CD-Rs were common.
 
I have CDPs going back to the dawn of the era and they all play CDRs; Sony, Denon and Nakamichi.
 
i always understood it to be the laser itself ... i changed one once for an upgrade and it would play cdr afterwards ...it wouldn't play much before that though .
 
Sometimes all it has taken is to give the laser a good cleaning, though they do get tired eventually.
 
Hmmm.

Well, my old Sony CDP-110 plays them OK. That player goes back to the mid 80's.

I also picked up an older Pioneer PDM-430 six CD player at a garage sale earlier this year and that plays them as well.
 
CD-RW uses a different principle of reflectivity than does CD-R and commercially stamped CDs.
It is very unusual - and quite understandable - that CDRW will not play in a unit that pre-dates the invention of erasable discs.

The CDRW does not change very much in reflectivty between a pit and the land area, so the player may not be able to distinguish between the two. It is to do with the photo-diode array, not the laser itself.

CD-R fairly closely mimics a conventionally stamped CD, albeit with lower overall reflectivity (albedo?). Here there is an enormous difference in quality between different brands and different dye types used by the various makers.

The Sony 101 and Philips 100 (the first two players ever made) with both play CD-Rs quite happily, but neither will play CD-RW.
 
Try this.

Try burning the CD-R at the lowest speed (X1 if it will go that low) and see what happens, I had to do this for a neighbor that had an old SONY boom box that had trouble reading my "faster" burns. :scratch2:

Mark T. :music:
 
Thanks for all the great information!

Thanks especially to KentTeffeteller, steerpike2, and botrytis for the interesting info and advice. If I have drawn the wrong implications, please correct me!

It sounds like CD-R compatibility involves both design and adjustment. A badly adjusted CD player might have more trouble with CD-Rs than commercial CDs. But also, some CD players might be designed in such a way that they are less forgiving of the lower contrast in CD-Rs and especially CD-RWs. It also seems likely that even within the same brand and model players, some individual units would prove more and less forgiving. And this might not correspond well to overall sonic quality with CDs.

Here's a basic sketch of the Technics SL-P1000 http://audio-database.com/TechnicsPanasonic/player/sl-p1000-e.html

My Technics SL-P1000 is a great player from 1987. I know it was still made in 89. Its specs, features and PRICE were incredible. And it is still right up there with my best Nakamichi player and my beloved SONY 508ESD for getting the best sound from CDs. Of the 3 only the Technics has trouble with CD-Rs. Long weird pauses, odd distortion, speed anomalies, misjudged track boundaries, etc. I've had a number of very early but nice sounding SONY players that do not see CD-Rs or CD-RWs at all. I've also had innumerable portable clam shells and boom boxes that only saw commercial CDs.

Of course, not being a dealer, I do not have multiple units, same brand and model, to test against each other for compatibility with CD-R & RW discs, but years ago when I posted a similar inquiry and added a list specifying which of my players would and would not play CD-Rs and RWs I got a number of somewhat insulted replies indicating that that there MUST be something wrong with my units because theirs played everything fine. At the time I was skeptical, but perhaps my reaction was not well informed.

I find petehall347's reply especially interesting. He had a defective laser replaced on a player that had worked fine but never recognized CD-Rs. After the repair it did. I'd love to get some of my great early SONYs and the Technics SL-P1000 too see CD-R discs. Does anyone have a SL-P1000 that plays CD-Rs OK? If so, I might take a chance trying to get mine adjusted to do so. Thanks again for all the great info and interest!
 
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OR.. just buy a New $50 DVD player that can handle CDR's (most do and some have downloadable software Upgrades)
Likely sound a Heckuvalot better than a Geriatric Early design CDP too :thmbsp:
 
bare said:
OR.. just buy a New $50 DVD player that can handle CDR's (most do and some have downloadable software Upgrades)
Likely sound a Heckuvalot better than a Geriatric Early design CDP too :thmbsp:
Click to expand...

If you run its digital output into an external DAC, maybe. If you use the analog outputs, probably not. I've found very few cheap DVD players that come anywhere close in sound quality to my geriatric Magnavox CDB-650 with its TDA1541 DAC and digital filter. The old Magnavox also plays CD-Rs perfectly, though it can't handle CD-RW discs.
 
I feel like the cowardly lion, "I DO believe in ghosts! I DO believe in ghosts! I DO believe in ghosts!" At 62, after going through the SS craze and the ribbon tweeter craze and the CD craze and the surround sound craze and the high definition digital format craze all the other measurably better hifi revolutions, I am mostly back to listening to vinyl through tube amps with Peerless tweeters and Mirage woofers. Why? There's less chalk and more silk. And, "I DO believe in ghosts!"
 
Of Course Silly Me!
How can some semi Moderne Cheapo Gizmo even Approach the sounds of a geriatric/overpriced CDP from a bygone/unlamented age.

Really gotta get out of the Basement, once in awhile..Mate :D
 
bare said:
Of Course Silly Me!
How can some semi Moderne Cheapo Gizmo even Approach the sounds of a geriatric/overpriced CDP from a bygone/unlamented age.

Really gotta get out of the Basement, once in awhile..Mate :D
Click to expand...

Do you ever listen to audio equipment, bare, or do you just spend your days trolling? Like it or not, the TDA1541 DAC chip still compares favorably with today's best D/A converters -- and has been used in some very expensive new designs -- and it blows away the cheap DAC chips you'd find in a $50 Chinese DVD player.
 
CD-R Brand Matters

dezmond76 said:
Some older units will read some brand of cdr disc but not another.
Click to expand...

I have also found that CD-R brand matters with some players, especially clamshells and boom boxes. And CD-Rs burned with Sound Forge seem marginally better than others. But, sadly, with most players it is all or nothing in my experience.
 
Modern Black Boxes

bare said:
Of Course Silly Me!
How can some semi Moderne Cheapo Gizmo even Approach the sounds of a geriatric/overpriced CDP from a bygone/unlamented age.

Really gotta get out of the Basement, once in awhile..Mate :D
Click to expand...

Speaking of modern black boxes, I do like the sound of my SONY CDP-CX455 and CSD-CE595 OK. But only through the optical. The line level out stinks. Not sure why. Neither is great, but the CX455 will hold 400 CDs, play MP3s, and of course every round thing I have put in other than DVDs. For which I am more than ready to forgive it! It is a CD player, after all. But is it frustrating when great CD players do not play all CD types. And in so far as this can be remedied, I am game!
 
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