I am having doubts.

I just don't trust CD players by nature. I rip everything and run it off my computer/laptop. Even my vehicles have USB hard drives/flash drives in them for audio. If you are having issues with CDs, why not try flash based or running stuff off a laptop? Just an idea.

I dont trust laptops or computers for that matter. sera+o is unreliable as well.

I have a professional quality laserdisc/CD/DVD karaoke deck, and it stopped reading DVD's for some stupid reason so I had to rip it out of the rack.

I have another DVD deck that hates burned discs, or at least burned DVD's.

I have 3 DVD units in the same rack by different brands that unfortunately have some infrared programming overlaps. Even worse, this overlap are not the same function. Better than when I had two same brand yet different model units next to each other and those suckers shared the same remote. Impossible to cue since the front panels had limited functionality. Since I use that rack mainly for karaoke playback, I have to change audio channels, which can only be done via the remote. If I forget to block the IR receivers with my hand(which is unfortunately too often), chaose ensues.

I don't trust computers for playback. Too many things can go wrong, including something being mis-routed and causing some headaches(such as beeps). Crashes, glitches, drive access issues, not having a pro interface.... all sorts of issues. I like how people think they can just hand me the headphone out and then whine when it distorts. Give me a line level output!!

I've even had the rare misfortune of having a USB thumb drive fail. Despite no moving parts, these are normally robust, but people often fill them with crappy MP3's.(all MP3's are crappy, there are no exceptions)

Even CD's aren't that reliable. Even been given a CD where it looked like they rubbed it on the street to clean it off? That's what I typically get presented with by clients on-site. I have a cheap CD-R that I made years ago and in one area, the reflective layer has flaked away. It's not a loss, I made the disc so it's entirely replacable, but you can see how cheap media can fail.

Nothing is infallible. Overall, I trust CD's, but I have to have a decent CD player. I trust my Denon 620 unit for playback. It's rack mounted, it's rock solid and has been through hell and back with me and keeps plugging along like a champion. BUT: this is NOT a DJ deck. It's a fantastic unit, but it's just not well suited for DJ-type wor, especially since there is a tiny bit of a delay(around 2 seconds) between playback press and playback start.

There are many things to take into consideration when not only buying but also using a CD unit. One of the biggest design issues is compatibility with as wide a variety of CD-R media, as regular pressed CD's are almost never an issue, or never have been an issue for me. Some decks have preferences. Some may not like blue, green, gold or silver CD-R media. Much older units may not like any CD-R media, but that is rare today if not impossible to run into.

Ventilation leads to dust. Dust can end up on the lens. Lenses need to be cleaned from time to time. Improper ventilation can lead to overheating, which can lead to other issues mainly concerning electrical and mechanical failures. But, with ventilation, you have to allow the gear to ventilate or it (hope you're sitting down) won't ventilate!

Not to slam ADJ or anyone else, but not all gear works best for all people. Maybe American Audio has another product that works for you. Maybe you need to go elsewhere. The bad thing about what you're talking about is that it takes a bit of time before the problems you see crop up. Hopefully a pro audio store will help you by leaving you alone with gear for an extended bit of time so you can give a more thorough test.

I have brands I know and trust. My Denon unit, fantastic. My CD-burning deck for live use? My Tascam 222 MKII. So many good features in that unit. My MD-350 for MiniDisc. DAT? Tascam DA-30 MK II. Yes, I like Tascam, and unfortunately, all these units are also not well suited for DJ-work. For my applications, they rule, but for your application, all the decks I've mentioned would fall flat on their faces. Great gear? Yup, absolutely fantastic. Good for you? No, sadly not at all good gear for what you're trying to do.

I find myself with the need to build a DJ rig. So I do read these threads and learn. It won't be a fantastic rig, but it will be CD based with "scratch" capabilities, 2 decks with a mixer with FX on board and I will teach myself to use it all, although I never expect to be more than basically proficient in the usage of the equipment. Its mainly to ensure I have the gear in case I send out a DJ who lacks gear(unlikely) but also would fall into production gear for creativity.

I'm trying to be lazy though and make long play audio-only DVD's to get me through events. But since I focus on live bands, I don't really need this very often.

We use CDs for back up. Everything is off a computer or off an Instant Replay. Computers are also dedicated to the task. That means they play music or do power point and that's it. No internet connection while doing that, no games, no emails, no writing memos, etc. Failure rate, zero. Although, ironically a show I did about a month ago, the guy was playing videos off a laptop and switching between them(another no in the computer use professional space area) had a brand new Mac Power Book. Went to play a video and crash.

Anyway, we have Denon's for CD players, and they do last, but like all CD players, go bad eventually. Because of that, they are the backup. The Instant Replay is great and the best thing. It does one thing and one thing only, play sounds/music.

So I can see the point of saying a computer fails, but at the same time you are probably doing other things/have other things on that computer which you shouldn't/don't need to do the task at hand. Also, they have professional interfaces if you get the right computer/sound card. And PC DI's are a thing of beauty as well.

With regards to live recording, Marantz Flash Recorders or computer. Marantz can do MP3 or Wav, same with computer.

Those are the industry standards with regards to my end of things.

I have a friend who has one of those Marantz flash recorders. He absolutely raves about that unit. No moving parts means better reliability.

He also has access to an Instant Replay. Another fantastic dedicated usage device.

I find on my MacBook Pro, which is using the same codec set as my tower, when I go to play a raw MPG, that sucker hard crashes every time. tower does fine, MacBook Pro(as a PC with Bootcamp), just ain't liking those files. A tad annoying.

And SerraAva brings up a point that I make repeatedly and can see others ignoring: DEDICATED MACHINES THAT ARE TASK OPTIMIZED!! I see too many people with a "one machine does all" situation and always having problems. I have to say that due to the costs, my MacBook Pro is in that category, but as I know what I'm doing, I have it sail from function to function with no issues. Then again, I ain't loading it up with crapware either.

I would definately consider an Instant Replay with a massive hard drive. That works hand in hand with another device that my friend also has access to, but I can't recall the name of it. I think he does more of the editing on that device before moving it via S/PDIF to the Instant Replay. Both are cool devices.

It is suggested that Medical grade CD's be used for fail-safe (oxymoron alert) files.

Linky to page with following text:

Mitsui created and patented the phthalocyanine (thal-o-sy-a-nene) dye used in their high quality gold-on-gold CD-R recording media. Phthalocyanine is considered superior to Cyanine dye because it lasts longer and works better at speeds up to 8X. Mitsui has developed an additional layer of protection called the Data Shield Surface (DSS) which is applied on top of the lacquer layer. Extra coating provides an extra measure of protection against light, heat, moisture and rough handling. Mitsui's longevity complies with the Orange Book Standard for Block Error Rate (BLER) set by the industry for CD-Recordable media.

Cheers!

The thing is this. I could take my other cd players, or my laptop and im sure that if something goes wrong, i have a back up. the point is to not have anything go wrong to begin with. I cannot have that at all. my bro. has a cdn88, and it works great, but has had issues with it before. My unit is about two years old, and i dont think it is considered old. these things cost alot and i dont want to keep buying players every one/ two years.

I wish you well.

If you transport electronics, lifetime will be diminished, generally. How harsh their commute is will be a BIG factor.

A good bet to improve that would be to place a rack mount CD player in a shock mount rack.

Shock Rack

Thanks Google Translate for this ¡Advertencia! Muy caros.

In English

SubTekkX
Good write up about the CD-R's

I have preached in quite a few posts the virtues of the Mitsui Gold discs....You wouldn't pee in your gas tank, so why would you put low grade media into your precision tools?

The only problem with "medical grade" or, as we call them "archival quality", is that, quality or not, price or not, it's still a chemical process, same as with any other CD-R.

It doesn't matter what you do, those are going to deteriorate at some rate that we are flat out not aware of. IT is entirely possible that a cheap CD-R could theoretically outlast an archival quality one, but there's no way of knowing at least not now.

The other issue is costs. Those suckers can be expensive, up to $6/disc or more(seen them as high as $25/disc). If you're spending that kind of money, you best be doing a 1X burn too. This LONG and HOT burn will provide the best method of recording that should allow the fewest number of errors.

Short of this, you can use a quality brand name, and be prepared to make a new CD every couple of years or so for safety purposes. If you're planning on transporting, this is a good idea. Use your archival discs for masters/mothers in order to make your production discs. Also, avoid using stick-on adhesive labels. Using a printable CD-R with watershield and a disc printer is a much better method than the write-on due to the lack of contact.

The only other sure-fire option is stamping/pressing. But, on a one-off basis, this is an insanely expensive option.

The super mega cheap CDR's I bought for a project(media only needed to last a week, sweeps radio commercials for TV shows) were just absolute crap. The polycarb layer, a practically see-through chemical layer, followed by some sort of plastic film later. If the top of the disc gets wet, forget it, you're hosed as the plastic film layer turned out to be liquid permeable. Hey, 100 for like $10 back in 1998, what a bargain!

Too many people use cheap media. Just as many don't take care of their media, sadly including many DJ's. One should always use a good quality media, and test it prior to usage.