[Mauricio]

I have in my collection a couple of CDs that no longer sound good.  They sound scratchy, as if the tweeter or midrange unit on the speaker were damaged.  No, it's not the player, or the speakers as 99% of my other CDs play and sound just fine.  What exactly is going on?

 

[khaos974]

Rip them and try comparing the rips with the AccurateRip database.

 

[Mauricio]

Same scratchy sound on the rips.  The scratchy sound is not subtle or low.  It is is overwhelming, to the point that the CDs are not listenable anymore.  I've had to throw them out.

 

[khaos974]

Did you compare the rips with the accuraterip database?
 

 

[Mauricio]

Why should I compare it when my ears plainly tell me that the rips sound just as bad as the original CD?

 

[stv014]

Maybe the CDs were just badly mastered, and now you hear that more in comparison to better ones. I have also experienced this "CD sounds worse than before" effect, but it is really just placebo.
 

 

[Mauricio]

No, you misunderstand.  The CDs once sounded perfect.  Now, several years later, they sound bad, really bad.  So bad that I threw them out.  The scratchy noise is loud, all-encompassing, overwhelming, and has nothing to do with the mastering.  The sound is similar to that of a speaker with a damaged driver.

 

[stv014]

If the problem really exists, you should be able to prove it by ripping. You can use the AccurateRip database, but the ripping software should also be able to inform you of any problems encountered. It is hard to remember how something sounded like years ago (especially if it was with different headphones/speakers), so I still think it might be an imagined difference.
 

 

[Mauricio]

You fail to understand the severity of the problem.  What I am experiencing is a problem where 100 out of 100 persons would say, "the sound is terrible", as in the speaker driver is busted or something, as in I threw the CDs out!

 

[stv014]

Why don't you try ripping the CDs then, and upload some short samples to show the problem ? It is difficult to comment on it without actually having your CDs.
 

 

[Mauricio]

I will, when I get back home in about a month...

 

[khaos974]

Are you purposely trolling, why do you refuse to check against the AccurateRip database? That should prove once and for all if your CDs were damaged or not.

 

[Mauricio]

Let me see.   When I play the CD through the CD player, it sounds awful.  When I rip the same CD on a different transport, the resulting rip file also sounds awful.  What am I to gain exactly from checking the rip against the database?  If the database says the rips are good, the CD and the rip files still sound awful.  If the database says the rips are bad, the CD and the rip files still sound awful.  So, over to you:  what exactly do I gain by checking the rips against the database?

 

[skamp]

You asked, "what exactly is going on". If the rips are bad, maybe the CDs were damaged, that one possible answer. That's what you can hope to gain from checking your rips. Also, you throw away the CDs first, and then you ask the question? What do you hope to gain from that? Also, you leave your home for a whole month, and that's when you decide to ask the question, when you can't go back to your CDs/rips in order to try possible solutions? Again, wth?

Upload a 30 second sample somewhere (I find dropbox to be very convenient) as either FLAC or 320 kbps MP3, and upon hearing the distortion we might be able to assess what's causing it.

 

[Mauricio]

The CDs are damaged?  You think?
 
Of course, they are damaged!  The questios are: why is it that they play this horrible, shrill noise, rather than not playing at all or skipping like mad?  How did they get damaged by simply sitting there without being used?  It's digital after all.  It plays, it skips or it doesn't play at all.  Except in this strange case.  What do I hope from asking the question?  I hope to understand what is going on.  I hope to see if anyone else has had the same problem.  No, I am not expecting for the CDs to sound good again based on advice gotten here.  I am not asking for solutions.  I am hoping to understand what happened to the CDs and an explanation for the screeching sound.  Yes, I asked, "what's going on?".  I didn't ask, "how do I get my CDs to sound good again?".
 
I still have one or two that are like that.  Joni Mitchel's Blue for some reason simply went bad.
 
Can I not ask this general question unless I am at home?  I didn't know there was a residency requirement in this forum.