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Topic: Do commercial CD repair units work? (Read 14600 times) previous topic - next topic
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Do commercial CD repair units work?

Do commercial CD cleaner, polishers and resurfacers work? I would like to if any HA members have any experience with Commercial CD Repair Units.  Here is a list of some manufacturers that I found on the web: Azuradisc, Replay Disc Machine, JFJ Easy Pro, ECO Disc Repair Machines , VenMill Industries OptoClear™ Technology, Aleratec, Simotech DSR-R1 / ZDAG 101 or any other manufacture you want to recommend.  When CD's were first introduce the Hi-Fi salesmen said that you can not scratch CD's.  So the early part of my collection contains scratches that I would like to remove to obtain more accurate ripping results.

Thanks

Do commercial CD repair units work?

Reply #1 –
My advice is not to waste your time and money on these products. You'd do just as well buffing out scratches with a lint free cloth and some Brasso. (You'll probably also add other scratches in the process, though.)

You'd have better luck finding a service that owns a commercial, dedicated disc polishing machine. Some DVD rental places and some large used CD retail shops may have one. There's a place called Azuradisc that you can mail the discs to; for a small fee, they will run them on their polishing machine, them mail them back to you. I've never used the service, but a couple of people have told me that they got good results this way. This is truly a last resort method to attempt -- and there's no guarantee that it will work at all. If you can rip the discs with no errors, then I'd leave it alone.

But if you can't rip them successfully, I suppose you have nothing to lose (except for the polishing fee maybe).

Anyone hear ever tried Azuradisc or any such polishing service? Did it work for you?

EDIT: I misread your post, and ended up reiterated your original question, without adding anything useful to it. I guess I need sleep.

Do commercial CD repair units work?

Reply #2 –
Quote from: macman4hire on
Do commercial CD cleaner, polishers and resurfacers work? I would like to if any HA members have any experience with Commercial CD Repair Units.  Here is a list of some manufacturers that I found on the web: Azuradisc, Replay Disc Machine, JFJ Easy Pro, ECO Disc Repair Machines , VenMill Industries OptoClear™ Technology, Aleratec, Simotech DSR-R1 / ZDAG 101 or any other manufacture you want to recommend.  When CD's were first introduce the Hi-Fi salesmen said that you can not scratch CD's.  So the early part of my collection contains scratches that I would like to remove to obtain more accurate ripping results.

Thanks


I wouldn't bother with the 'home' units but I had a bad software disc that got polished out at a game store. Cost $3 and recovered a $70 disc.

G²

Do commercial CD repair units work?

Reply #3 –
I have a Disc Repair Pro and I'm not overly happy with it. However, I've been able to restore a disc so scratched that I never thought I would get an accurate rip of it.

I used grinding paper of 1500 and afterwards 3000. Then the disc is very milky from the dust. I cleaned it and it didn't work - Wouldn't read it at all. But after a run in the Disc Repair Pro with the grinding wheels and then the repair wheels with buffing compound, it worked - Well not like a charm, but with a little patience and EAC+dBPA I ended up with an accurate rip.

I would like to create my own wheels for the disc repair pro, because the official ones are quite expensive and not effictive enough.
Can't wait for a HD-AAC encoder :P

Do commercial CD repair units work?

Reply #4 –
I've used toothpaste before on discs getting read errors and while it did leave fine scratches, I was able to get an accurate rip with EAC afterwards.  I only had to go to a friend who has some pro setup to fix a disc once, and even then its still not perfect.

Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.
foobar 0.9.6.8
FLAC -5
LAME 3.98 -V3

Do commercial CD repair units work?

Reply #5 –
Quote from: macman4hire on
Do commercial CD cleaner, polishers and resurfacers work? I would like to if any HA members have any experience with Commercial CD Repair Units.  Here is a list of some manufacturers that I found on the web: Azuradisc, Replay Disc Machine, JFJ Easy Pro, ECO Disc Repair Machines , VenMill Industries OptoClear™ Technology, Aleratec, Simotech DSR-R1 / ZDAG 101 or any other manufacture you want to recommend.  When CD's were first introduce the Hi-Fi salesmen said that you can not scratch CD's.  So the early part of my collection contains scratches that I would like to remove to obtain more accurate ripping results.

Thanks


I use micro-mesh abrasives:

Micro-mesh

and they absolutely work. They're used to restore aircraft windshields back to military spec optical clarity, and will work better than they need to on restoring CDs.

It's a manual process and takes a small bit of skill to develop to use, but nothing anyone can't pick up quickly with a few trials.
It puts you in complete control of dealing with any particular scratch with the proper grit progression.
Just takes a couple of minutes per disk once you get the hang of it.

Do commercial CD repair units work?

Reply #6 –
the azuradisc products actually DO work. i worked at a video rental place in college and we would resurface any cd/dvd media to a great result.  actually.. it rarely failed to revive a non-working disc, and that was with their entry model resurfacer.


later

Do commercial CD repair units work?

Reply #7 –
Quote from: knucklehead on
Quote from: macman4hire on

Do commercial CD cleaner, polishers and resurfacers work? I would like to if any HA members have any experience with Commercial CD Repair Units.  Here is a list of some manufacturers that I found on the web: Azuradisc, Replay Disc Machine, JFJ Easy Pro, ECO Disc Repair Machines , VenMill Industries OptoClear™ Technology, Aleratec, Simotech DSR-R1 / ZDAG 101 or any other manufacture you want to recommend.  When CD's were first introduce the Hi-Fi salesmen said that you can not scratch CD's.  So the early part of my collection contains scratches that I would like to remove to obtain more accurate ripping results.

Thanks


I use micro-mesh abrasives:

Micro-mesh

and they absolutely work. They're used to restore aircraft windshields back to military spec optical clarity, and will work better than they need to on restoring CDs.

It's a manual process and takes a small bit of skill to develop to use, but nothing anyone can't pick up quickly with a few trials.
It puts you in complete control of dealing with any particular scratch with the proper grit progression.
Just takes a couple of minutes per disk once you get the hang of it.

Do use the SCRATCH AWAY DIGITAL MEDIA CARE PRODUCTS from Mirco-Mesh or do you use other products by them?

Do commercial CD repair units work?

Reply #8 –
Quote from: macman4hire on
Do use the SCRATCH AWAY DIGITAL MEDIA CARE PRODUCTS from Mirco-Mesh or do you use other products by them?


I have the woodworkers kit, which has a wider range of grits than you need for repairing CDs, but can be used for other purposes too ---- if you're into sanding things...

I don't see any information on what's actually included in the digital media kit, but it might be a good place to start if you're a bit uncertain about the procedure. It probably comes with CD repair specific instructions, and a 30 day guarantee or something.

Do commercial CD repair units work?

Reply #9 –
Quote from: knucklehead on
Quote from: macman4hire on



Do use the SCRATCH AWAY DIGITAL MEDIA CARE PRODUCTS from Mirco-Mesh or do you use other products by them?


I have the woodworkers kit, which has a wider range of grits than you need for repairing CDs, but can be used for other purposes too ---- if you're into sanding things...

I don't see any information on what's actually included in the digital media kit, but it might be a good place to start if you're a bit uncertain about the procedure. It probably comes with CD repair specific instructions, and a 30 day guarantee or something.

What is the percentage success rate of the CD's that you have attempted to repair?  About how many have you attempted to repair?

Do commercial CD repair units work?

Reply #10 –
Quote from: macman4hire on
What is the percentage success rate of the CD's that you have attempted to repair?  About how have you attempted to repair?


If you want to know how many - I dunno --- a lot.

I'd say success rate in terms of eliminating any skipping and audible defects using a good drive and MAX as the ripper - pretty much 100%