So I've bought several CDs over the past 18 months or so and can't figure out what the damn problem is. I have a 5 or so year old Sony CD player that I use until I get my stereo install done, and it won't play almost any of my newer purchases. It acts like the laser can't properly pick up the tracks. It spends about 30 seconds glitching out making odd noises while the laser tries to lock onto the track, then errors out.

Normally I'd tack it up to the tracking mechanism or laser pickup going out, but I can toss any one of my older CDs in and it works just fine. It's only the newer CDs that it has problems with. Sometimes if I mess with it for 10-15 minutes either by ejecting and reinserting the disc or cycling thru sources it will miraculously work, or if I play an older CD for a while then insert the new disc it will work.....but it skips REALLY easily and if I change tracks too quickly it glitches out again.

I can rip the CD to my computer and burn it to another disc, the burned copy works just fine. But that is a giant pain in the ass since my PC sucks ass.

Any idears? the only thing I can figure is that they changed physically something with the CD itself recently and the older player just can't handle it.

IT's probably a copy-protected disc.

 

They went WAY overboard on copy protection and you see the result.

 

If it does not have the cd audio logo on it, then that's what it is.

 

also, you have to copy them to play them(on those players which can't read them), ironic right?

I thought about that, but I couldn't figure out why they would develop an anti-piracy type of formatting that wouldn't work with a standard CD player yet allow me to rip & burn it with no problem. Seems self defeating and pointless.

Strange, I guess I'd never notice. First thing I do is rip straight the pc/home automation and file the disk away. I love used.