CD Bronzing
Richard S. Sandmeyer
Hello,
I read about CD bronzing in this newsgroup and elsewhere some time ago,
but at that time I had not encountered the problem in my collection.
This evening, I decided to put on a CD that I hadn't played in a while,
and on opening the jewel box I discovered that it was thoroughly bronzed.
That prompted me to check all of the Hyperion and Unicorn-Kanchana CDs
in my collection (Those were the two labels I recall that were cited as
having a lot of their CDs pressed by PDO.)
Of 16 Hyperions, I noticed the following breakdown of alpha markings (all
of them also had strings of numerals as well) on the CDs.
5 DISCTEC
4 Made in UK by PDO (the bronzed one was one of these)
2 Disctronics
2 Made in UK
2 ABLEX
1 Mastered by Nimbus
Among 21 Unicorn-Kanchana CDs I found this breakdown:
14 Made in UK by PDO
5 Made in W. Germany by PDO
1 Made in UK
1 DKP(CD) W. Germany (manufactured by Polygram)
Thus far, only the one CD is obviously bronzed although two others seem to
show a slight yellow discoloration that may be early signs of bronzing. All
of these are "made in UK by PDO" CDs.
This prompts several questions:
1. I seem to recall the bronzing problem occurred only with those CDs
marked "Made in UK by PDO". Is that correct? Or are PDO's West German
pressings also suspect? What about those marked just "Made in UK" on these
labels?
2. What again is the procedure for requesting replacement CDs? BTW, I am
located in the US, in case that makes a difference in the replacement procedure.
I shall at least request replacement of the bronzed one, and keep a watchful
eye on the others.
3. What are people doing about those that are "made in UK by PDO" but have
not yet bronzed? I'd rather not take unfair advantage of PDO by requesting
replacements for CDs that may never bronze. However, at the same time there
is the danger that if one waits until a CD does bronze, one may find the CD in
question out of print and no replacement available!
4. Were there other labels besides Hyperion and Unicorn that I should check
for the "made in UK by PDO" marking?
Thanks in advance for any answers,
Richard Sandmeyer
David Pinkerton
rich...@netgsi.com (Richard S. Sandmeyer) wrote:
>3. What are people doing about those that are "made in UK by PDO" but have
>not yet bronzed? I'd rather not take unfair advantage of PDO by requesting
>replacements for CDs that may never bronze. However, at the same time there
>is the danger that if one waits until a CD does bronze, one may find the CD in
>question out of print and no replacement available!
Richard,
First of all, the address to send your request for placements
is this:
Philips & Du Pont Optical UK
Ltd
Philips Road
Blackburn
Lancashire BB1 5RZ
England
Just send them a letter with the details of your bronzed discs and
they will send replacements (just the disc and not the jewel case or
booklet). It *is* true that PDO may not be able to replace certain
discs because they are out of print, etc.. This happened for two of
mine. They will tell you that they cannot replace them and ask you
for alternate choices. I plan on making cd-r copies of the ones they
cannot replace.
Sincerely,
David Pinkerton
de...@csrlink.net
t...@hyperion-records.co.uk
> not yet bronzed? I'd rather not take unfair advantage of PDO by requesting
> replacements for CDs that may never bronze. However, at the same time there
> is the danger that if one waits until a CD does bronze, one may find the CD in
> question out of print and no replacement available!
>
> for the "made in UK by PDO" marking?
>
> Thanks in advance for any answers,
> Richard Sandmeyer
Dear Mr Sandmeyer,
You will find the answers to all your questions, and other information,
if you have a look at the 'bronzing' page at the Hyperion Web site which
you can find at: http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk.
Ted Perry
Hyperion ecords, London
Peter
It might be of interest to readers of this NG that I have a copy of
Unicorn-Kanchana UKCD2014/15, two CD's, of Reinhold Gliere's Symphony
No. 3 "Ilya Murometz" which has both a (P) and a (C) dated 1988. Both
disks indeed are stamped "Made in U.K. by PDO."
I have had this set for quite a number of years and according to
everything that I have read in the Internet, and in magazines, it
"should have bronzed" by now, but I can see no evidence at all of this,
i.e. the CD's look just like they did when I first purchased them.
Hence I am wondering if PDO perhaps used DIFFERENT lacquers from 1988 to
1993 (the suspect years), i.e. some that caused bronzing and some that
did not.
Can anyone shed some light on this perplexing matter?
Ken Davis
I had understood (probably from previous postings) that the bronzing had
to do with the interaction of the CD with the paper from the booklet. Is
this true? If so, will removing the booklet from the package solve the
problem? - Ken
Richard S. Sandmeyer wrote:
>
> Hello,
Constantin Marcou
I thought it had to do with the plastic coating being defective, thus allowing the
metal core to oxidize.
Ken Davis wrote:
--
Best regards,
Con
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"Mozart is too easy for beginners and too difficult for artists."
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kevin rayburn
Is this "bronzing" a process that can be slowed down by alternative
storage methods?
I've removed my 10 "infected" CDs (and booklets) from their cases and
have put them in plastic sleeves separated from the paper. I would
reasonably assume that the process will continue mercilessly anyway, but
at least I'd like to keep them playable until replacements can be
procured.
Meanwhile, I sent a letter to PDO describing my predicament.
I'll tell the group about their response when it arrives.
--kevin rayburn
Risto Karttunen
kevin rayburn <kpra...@homer.louisville.edu>
<347B2F...@homer.louisville.edu>...
Also I have 10 infected CD:s. I had no difficulty in getting the
replacements from PDO.
When the bronzing process starts (i.e. the sulphur content in the booklet
reacts with the lacquer, which starts deteriorating the aluminium coating),
it seems at least to slow down somewhat if you take the booklet away.
Now PDO uses better lacquer, but what worries me is this: if bronzing
starts within, say, 10 years with bad lacquer, then will other CD:s bronze
in 40 years? 30? Or what?
Risto