Loud bad noises

Lasers are a little like light bulbs in tnat they evetnually wear out and need to be replaced.

Will do Eldatford. I almost hope it is the CDP. Just bought the DAC used and don't want to think it was faulty or is now faulty.

>>"If I'd been listening to an LP I'd describe it as "skipping". It's extremely random. The CDs are not scratched"<<

Here is a long shot ... When the lubricant on the guide rails that the laser assy. rides on dries and cakes up, it can cause the laser assy. to bind/stick and lose lock momentarily with the CD's flags and skips, sometimes emitting some strange noises

Pop the top, and clean, and lubricate the laser's guide rails ... if this doesn't help ... the capacitor that charges the laser's power supply may be on it's way out and causing this intermittent problem

Once this cap fails totally ... the laser (no power) will not be able to read the Cd and you will get a "NO DISC" or "ERROR" message in the CD display

HTH Dave

I had a similar problem and someone suggested the lens was dirty and buying a CD that has a little cleaning brush on it. I tried it and cured the problem. So you might want to try this cheap possible fix prior to sending in your unit. I think I originally bought mine at a record store.

Or you could try a very soft brush and a can of compressed air on the assembly. It worked on a skipping Sony player I had.