Hi,

In message , Jim Lesurf
writes

I have some CDs with pinholes. However so far as can tell, these have had
them since purchase, and they have not altered. They seem playable with not
audible problems I have noticed. The Philips Red Book spec caters for quite
large holes in the info layer without this necessarily preventing recovery
of the correct sample values.

I recently read an article by M.S. Rohan entitled "When Caruso went
foggy and started sweating" which describes problems with compact discs,
and their suitability (or not) as a long term storage medium. I get the
impression that there are some in the music industry that do not feel
CDs will last as well as the public has been led to expect. "Perfect
sound forever" is a bold claim, after all. We are probably fortunate
that it is so easy to archive the data; we are unfortunate that it is
currently illegal to do so in the UK.

I've also had a number of the PDO Blackburn 'brown rot' discs, and they
have replaced them all FOC when returned to them. However these don't show
holes. Just a brown discolouration of the metal.

I've never seen this first hand, but I have a number of older CDs that
seem to be deteriorating with age (visually at least - they still play
without problems).

I have bought a CD that had mould though. I'm guessing this was just due
to bad storage, and nothing to do with manufacturing. The surface of the
disc was mottled green. Very odd, as the case showed no signs of it.

--
Regards,
Glenn Booth