CD player plays some CDs, not others.


I need a little advice here. My Denon player (8 years old) will play most CDs just fine, but now and then certain CDs, which played just fine before, will no longer play. The display reads Track 01, and that is all. I can skip to track 02 but it still will not play. If I put in another CD, it will play. Then if I go back to the other CD, it will not read the CD. These are CDs that will play in my Sony Walkman, but for some reason my Denon is not able to read them anymore. They are in good shape, clean, and had played in the past. Is the laser shot?? Need a new player?? ALong those lines, what quality can I get in the $500-$600 range, single play or changer. I like Denon, but will try any other recommended to me. Thanks in advance. Al on Cape Cod
codger
Hey, guys. I have had the problem of "No Disc" on a then new Sony Home theatre system from way back >20 years ago? It played all commercial CDs from big companies but refused all home created audio CDs including limited edition artist-produced CDs (examples being multiple CDs from small commercially produced runs (e.g. a say 100 or 200 CDs) some poetry by a group of poets in UK). I think it was an anti piracy measure - no industrial copyright protection - no play. I have not risked buying Sony since.

The system still works fine on big label CDs but I have to play my poetry recordings on another CD player.
Left to right:
1: Stamped/Moulded retail CD
2: Burnt gold CD
3: Burnt normal CD

You can see why some lasers have troubles with burnt CD's, and why error correction will be higher
https://www.iasa-web.org/sites/default/files/tc05-fig20.jpg

Cheers George

CD player plays some CDs, not others.
Are these burnt/copied cd's or retail cd's?

Because some lasers have problems with burnt cd's, (doesn't mean they're bad lasers) and some will play some but not others, depending which brand of blank it is that was used.  

Cheers George
Michaelrc990,  Is dead on the spot!

I had a Carver TL-3200, would play some CD's but some not.

Almost threw it in the scrap heap, until I read his blog.

Turned the pot CW just a little and WA - LA now plays all CD's

I am so thankful for this very accurate info.

Thank you!!
This applies to all CD's and DVD Media. There is a kick ass Product called Quick Shield on the manrket from cdplayright.com. The product has been tested and endorsed by Warner Advanced media Operations Toshiba and HP disc labs. Thos Quick Shield places a protective coating that is 100% laser neutral and keeps the disc scratch free. It costs $28.99 in a package called Trio. Darn good. The Repair kit in this package is the most effective in the market bar none, they own the patent for repairing optical media. Be careful with all Laser lens cleaners that have pig hair, they dry out and can break off, when brittle they cause more problems than they help. good luck
Same problem as yours,my player is a Denon DCD-1420,all i did was to tune a small little potentiometer that is just below the laser mechanism,i was at my wits end before this even thought of throwing away my player,it works fine now just tried about 20 cds all work fine,previously if i could get 5 out of 20 to play it would be a miracle.Also don't forget to clean the laser with a cotton bud and a bit of alcohol.Good luck.
Get a Jolida CD player if you must stick to CDs only. Otherwise a Pioneer DVD 414 will play CDs better than most megabuck CD Players. It will also play the current crop of DVD audio discs which can sound much better than CD.
Does your denon use pioneer's stable platter mech? I just recently had the same prob. with my Audio Alchemy DDS-Pro and what I did was of course clean the laser mech. and then I played a CD with the top off and noticed that the laser pickup was ever so slightly slanted but I couldn't adjust it anymore with its screws so I got a semi-soft piece of rubber and cut it to size so that the top plate was level. After it was all said and done mine now sounds better than I ever remember it sounding. Good luck!
Been servicing for 22 yrs. , depends on model but most likely dirty lens as stated , use a moistened q-tip with pure water 1st. , then a moistened q-tip with isopropyl alcohol , 2nd. most common is the spindle motor , try LIGHT machine oil in a small hypo to the shaft (under the hub that cd rides , look for getting under a very small plastic washer that is sometimes present ). If you've adjusted those pots. prev. mentioned ....good luck , they set your vert. and horiz. bias coils in the laser block to focus and track the disc as well as the free run freq. reference to control the disc speed from 500-200 rpm from out to in on disc and must be set very accurately to spec on a freq. counter , usually after bridging certain pins on plug to set service mode . Do not remove the spindle hub as the distance to objective lens of laser is critical to focus , just like playing with the pots. Regards , Richard .
I have no experience with Denon CD players but I had the same problem with a Luxman 12 years ago - it would display "Track 1" but wouldn't play. A repairman examined the unit and told me I needed a new laser, for $270.00. I balked. I took the cover off the unit and found three potentiometers - nickel-sized wheel-looking things that you can dial with your finger. I started playing around with them and whadda ya know fixed it. I had no idea what I was doing (perhaps adjusting some sort of tracking), but it worked. At 8 years old your unit's out of warrany anyway and from what you said you can't break it 'cause it's already broke. Worth a try?
Try a product such as Allsop carbonedge cd driveclean to clean your lazer lens.Even if this doesn,t cure your problem it's still good to use.A product called SonicBlast CD Sound Enhancer from 303 Products Inc. Helps Correct skipping and improves sound.If you truly enjoy good sound consider auditioning some new players against yours.There are some exceptional units within $400.One is a H and K FL8550 carousel that can be had for $349.Check reviews at Audio Review site.Also talk to repairmen at different authorized Denon repair centers about your problem.
Well, First try a cleaner cd. then if no improvement, try very carefully to clean the lens manually, by a drip of pure alcohol 96%. let it dry and make sure no particles is left. Remove every dustparticles you can see from the other moving parts. Try to play the cd's in vertical, horizontal and other modes, if one mode is better you have a mounting or balancing problem. If nothing works... Burry it in the garden and fuhgeddaboudit ! :-)
I was in the same trouble (7 years ago)and decided to change. What about the California Audio Lab? Here possible to get at 700$ and sounds good. [email protected]
Treat yourself to a new player, and send you Denon to get cleaner or fixed. If you have a lot of CD's get one of the 200 CD carrousel players. The inexpensive Sony is just fine, and you can daisychain three for a total of 600 CD's playable with one remote control. Cost about $250 each. Of course I have some other single play CD players, but I only use it for new releases until I get "over" them enough to stick them in the carrousel. AND they'll never get borrowed, dirty or stolen again!!!!!!!!! For a single CD player, the Sony XA20ES uses the same system as the $3000 XA7ES, fixed laser with moving disk, but you should be able to purchase it for around $600. None better at that price range. Period.