I tend to think that CDs do not have such a long lifespan, say in comparison to Vinyl. Assuming storage is done well, for how long can a CD record be intact?
There have been estimations of up to 200 years for recorded CD-Rs. However, this will obviously vary depending on the raw materials used to manufacture the layers that a CD is comprised of.
gofar99 Messages: 1949 Registered: May 2010 Location: Southern Arizona
Illuminati (5th Degree)
Hi There was considerable hype on this issue some years back. It seems that some CDs that individuals recorded on cheap disks were not plyaing back well later. I suspect that in addition to the cheap media, their recorders were not so great either. The lifespan of factory disks could be variable, but your disks will probably outlast you and your kids (if you have any). I have been collecting and recording disks from the beginning and none are exhibiting any issues to date. A key to this may be proper storage, not too hot, not too cold, not in direct sunlight and so on. Just like I do with my vinyl collection.
I always thought that this had more to do with storage than the quality of the disks themselves. I have few CDs from way back and I have never experienced any issues whatsoever.
I'm not sure. I have vinyl that my grandparents owned that still plays, but there have been a few CDs that gave up the ghost after a couple of years, despite being stored the same way as the rest of my CD collection. It seems to depend on how well-made the CDs were.