DVD players - difficulty with regular CD's? (1 Viewer)

[Jason Kent]

I have been hearing that there are often frequent problems with DVD players playing simple CD's - these DVD players are usually the cheaper 'off-brand/Brand X' type players.

The 'symptoms' have seemed to be clicking (continuous), distortion, etc.

Is this 'ringing bells' with anyone? ('pun' intended)

 

[KeithH]

Jason, many of the "off-brand", sub-$100 DVD players are fraught with problems. Disc reading errors are just one problem often encountered, and these errors often occur with DVDs and CDs. Reliability is definitely a problem with these cheap models.

 

[Allan Jayne]

I would avoid playing CD's in my DVD player, especially a good progressive scan model.
There is a finite lifetime of motors, lasers, and other internal components and I would not want to waste it on CD's.
Video hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/video.htm

 

[KeithH]

Allan, that's a fair point.

I don't know if there is reliable data, but I wonder if a laser mechanism in a DVD player is susceptible to earlier burn-out than one in a CD player. My guess is that a DVD player is susceptible to earlier burn-out. For one thing, many DVD players serve double duty, playing both movies and music. Also, when playing DVDs, a DVD player's laser mechanism is used continually for a longer period than is a CD player's laser mechanism typically. CDs are often less than an hour in length, while, of course, most movies are at least 90 minutes. Furthermore, people often listen to a few songs or just one song on a CD, whereas people usually watch an entire movie, or at least most of it in one sitting. Does anyone know if developers of the DVD-Video format and manufacturers of subsquent equipment have taken this different usage pattern into account as they developed equipment standards?

 

[Robert Woods]

Well I myself have heard of some players that are new and still do not play CD's - and have these clicks - continuous - and are in the $100-200 range - eg Apex.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Hmmm... IMO, Apex makes poor quality players. "You get what you pay for."
I have been playing CDs on my DVD players since 1997. (Sony and Pioneer.) Never had a problem with laser, transport, motor lifetime. That's roughly 2 hrs a day, 5 days a week, and then another 8 hrs over the weekend. Week after week, month after month, etc.
I would think that the only reason to play CDs on a CD player vs a DVD player, is if somehow you got better sound out of the CD player. But it's just like anything. There are DVD players out there with better CD sound than some CD players, and vice versa. IMO, there are more important things in life to worry about.
Like when are more companies going to put out universal players...

 

[KeithH]

Kevin said:

IMO, there are more important things in life to worry about.

What, are you kidding? Name one thing that really is more important.
You certainly have gotten your money's worth out of your DVD players. What models do you have? I got into DVD after '97, but from most accounts, Sony's first-generation players were built like a rock.

 

[DaveLenhert]

Correct me if i'm wrong, DVD players and CD players don't use the same frequency laser source (or pickup) due to the narrower tracks of the DVDs. Therefore, how would you wear out the DVD portion of the player (short of the mechanism)??

-dbl

 

[KeithH]

Dave, I am talking about the relative lifespan of the laser sections in DVD and CD players. Yes, the wavelengths for lasers for CD and DVD are different (DVD is shorter).

 

[Steve Owen]

The 'symptoms' have seemed to be clicking (continuous), distortion, etc.

Could this be the effect of copy-protected CDs? There are many copy protected CDs on the market and those CDs can have some odd behavior. In fact some of those protections specifically mention that DVD players might not be able to play the CD.
Sigh.
-Steve

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Different wavelengths for DVD and CD players: That's why Pioneer uses "twin wave pickups." It's a dual laser system.

Lasers in DVD/CD players don't eally "burn out". They are solid state devices. I think the transport or motor would go first.

 

[KeithH]

Kevin, hard to say. I know that SACDs spin faster than CDs. Do DVDs spin faster than CDs too? If so, then I wonder if a motor on a DVD player is more susceptible to burning out than one on a CD player. Motor quality probably varies as a function of price, so it's a difficult thing to evaluate. I guess what I am driving at is whether designers make parts more robust in DVD players because there is the possibility for more "abuse" (wear and tear).

 

[Mark Tranchant]

I've had two budget Kiiro DVD players (both returned failed within 12 hours) and now own a Philips DVD-762, which has dual lasers (one CD wavelength, one DVD wavelength).

I've noticed on all three players that some audio CDs, particularly older ones, vibrate to varying extents when played. This doesn't happen in any CD player. The vibration varies with track, so is clearly rotation speed related.

Examples of problematic CDs include Willy DeVille's "Assassin of Love" (really violent, too scary to play), Level 42's "The Early Tapes" (borderline) and Eagles' "Hotel California" (gentle vibration).

Burning CD-R copies eliminates the problem. Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon?

 

[Steve Meskell]

I was just gonna start my tread concerning the fact my Sony player(DVP 5330) is having a hard time playing CD's/dts CD's. It seems to start alright then it will stop playing then it will start again then start skipping. It NEVER happens when playing DVD's,DVD-A's. I have had this player since Dec.99. I use this machine alot. The problem started about 9 months ago. I have a lens cleaner and use it regularly. I love my collection of dts CD's and it will piss me off to go out and buy a new DVD player so I can play my collection. I have a "newish" CD player without a digital output. Any other suggestions???

 

[PaulKH]

My Toshiba 4700 DVD player plays CD perfectly, and isn't expensive. I find it highly unlikely I'll 'wear out' the DVD player by playing CDs anymore than playing DVDs.

Next people will be worried about trading off alleged (but unnecessary) 'burn-in' requirements vs. burn-out possibility!