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I've had no problems due to the CD-R going bad, but I have lost a few due to rough handling (scratches on the label side damaging the metal layer). After losing a couple of orignal CDs (store bought), I've decided it's better to lose a copy than to lose the original that I paid the big bucks for.

My oldest CD-R,from August 1997, has gradually become unplayable. I hope this is not the start of a trend!

Spend the big bucks and get the gold CD-Rs. They are supposed to last five times longer. By then you will be able to put all of your media on your 500 Jillion byte hard drive.

Longevity is my concern if it's for a backup copy. It must be able to out live me. Once I'm gone, I don't care.

If the CD-R is correctly recorded in the first place, I've never have any problems.

no problems so far, but i have always used higher quality cd-r. the cd-r has to degrade very badly to become unreadble.

I only use CD-R AUDIO, and from well known companies like (TDK,MAXELL,ETC.). ONLY BECAUSE IN THE PAST I BOUGHT CD-R AUDIO FOR THE CHEAPEST PRICE, AND SOME WENT REALLY BAD.

Haven't noticed any problems yet.

I have had problems with poor quality laser assembly/CD transports that will not play some CD-Rs I bought for .03¢ each. They have become my "benchmark" for CD players to purchase. There are a number of highly respected, expensive CD players that will not play them due to low reflectivity. There is no reason for this in 2003. If it will not read these discs, it will not make my "recommended" list. There are many Stereophile Recommended Components that will read them.

Thanks to the public library, I've made hundreds of music CD copies on CD-Rs using my iBook or a Philips recorder for music CD-Rs. (Come and get me RIAA.) So far, none has degraded. I keep them in jewel cases and immediately put them away after listening. I wonder, though, how long they will last, even with careful handling. I don't buy the most expensive CD-Rs because quality control of even the name-brands is sketchy. But as long as the public library is allowed to lend CDs, I can always burn them again.

I have had a couple go bad for no apparant reason. They were fine, then I stored them for a while and, surprise, they had pops and ticks when played about a year later. This has bad implications for the use of CD-R as a archival tool. I transfered my MFSL LPs to keep them from being played to death. Glad I kept them around. I know people who didn't keep their originals.

I use CD-Rs for all uses outside the home, and the only ones that have gone bad are usually for scratches. Some others may have degraded, but the number is small.

I have a number of home-burned CD-Rs of music and .wav files archived with the lossless compression tool Shorten (mainly live performances of the Grateful Dead—no copyright infringement there) and have had no problems with my discs. Of course, I probably just jinxed myself.

I lost two cyanine CR-Rs in the glove compartment of my car on a hot day. All the phthalocyanine discs survived without loss.

Mainly problems with computer/sofware at the moment of recording but never after that.

Originl source CD's sound bad enough. A burned copy of them only offer convenience of listening to the tracks you like, in the order you want them. If they are 80% faithful, it isn't good enough for me.

I don't use CD-Rs; however, a few of my colleagues swear by the format. Having borrowed many of my associates' CD-Rs, I can say that I have experienced no physical problems with them, but I have noticed many (not so subtle) sonic degradations across the board in playback.

PNY CD-R's suck!

I've had some gold CDRs from a respectable company where the top surface layer just flaked off. It rendered the discs useless. I was really surprised since this particular company's tape products are highly respected. Aside from that, I've had decent results with most of the CD-Rs I've used, regardless of brand.

I find cdrw to be more reliable.

I don't use CD-Rs, I use reel-to-reel. I use and endorse only analog formats: LP, RTR, and cassette.

If I have ever had a CD-R go bad, it was a couple of batches of Fuji blanks I recorded five years ago. I recently had several TDK blanks that would not play in certain Sony CD players, but I now attribute that to the burner I was using to make them. I have recorded almost 3000 CD-Rs in five years and aside from the few I mentioned above, I have not had one single moment of grief! I have 10-year-old yellow-dye TDK blanks that still play perfectly. As long as they are recorded well and reasonably well cared for, they should outlast your children.

So far trouble free!

No degradation problems, but my older Alpine cd player in my car has a hard time reading them.

The faster the recording speed, the higher the error rate. Remember the old saying: "Haste makes waste."

What, in God's name, is a CD-R?

Audiosaurus

sun/heat

I've had problems with several CD-Rs that I've recorded. Some refuse to play in my truck player, others play partial tracks, or skip tracks entirely. This happens on my Sony SACD player at home, my Koss desktop player at work, and in my truck. Not to single out a single CD-R vendor, but most of these have been Verbatim disks. Some others have been bulk purchases.

They vary quality wise just like Hardware certain recorders will play certain colored Cdr's and they all don't sound the same either.(Please No Lp vs Cd again)Lp's still sound better than 16 bit 44khz sample rate idon't care what the experts say.