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1
CD Hardware/Software / Re: How to clean CD?
Last post by polemon -
Data on a CD is interleaved, such that radial and tangential scratches and even small opaque areas can be corrected. A CD has enough parity information for that. CIRC with EFM is pretty much tested through time by now, etc.

Surface reforming a CD, can be done by wet-sanding it with 3000-grit sand paper, and then polishing it with Polycarbonate polishing compounds. Some people have used Acetone vapor polishing methods, but I'd advice against that, since the vapors can attack the back side with the metalization.

For regular surface cleaning, I'd use no-wipe polycarbonate plastic cleaner. You can also use Isopropyl Alcohol for removing stains, and then follow it up with no-wipe PC cleaner.

When cleaning with water, get yourself a squirt bottle and de-ionized water. It's pretty cheap and cleaning a CD with that, is done in seconds.

However the real trick is not to get the CDs dirty in the first place. Put them back into their sleeve or jewelcase when not using them, etc.
4
Audio Hardware / Re: Aluminum ~ The New Vinyl
Last post by polemon -
Hmm.

Aluminium corrodes. When the Aluminium "vinyl" isn't stored in very low humidity, the little grove will pack with Aluminium corrosion over time. Regular vinyls might get moldy, but the PVC/PVA mixture Vinyls are made of, doesn't corrode.
So it sounds to me, like the longevity aspect doesn't hold up at all.

If it was a Nickel surface, for instance, that'd make more sense, and it'd hold up in the sense of corrosion resistance, stability, heat resistance, static charge dissipation, etc. It seems quite strange to me they just used aluminium and tout it a "new format", it is rather perishable when it comes to the actual content carved into the platter.

The only benefit that comes to mind when using Aluminium substrates (as in pure substrates) is it's static charge dissipation. Aluminium is rather soft, so it won't hold "forever" when playing it too often, and as I discussed, it corrodes.
Another little benefit is the structural stability, it won't warp due to heat, but on the other hand it bends really easy, so it's a trade-off at best.

Sounds to me like a very weak attempt at audiophoolery, they've probably chosen Aluminium to be cheaper than a proper stable alloy, and/or coating, but try to be "special" enough to force some placebophiles to open their wallets.

Too bad, I thought they'd do their homework a bit better, so I'd have at least something interesting to look at...
5
General - (fb2k) / Re: Vinyl Tracknumber
Last post by Jerryatic -
Is there a way to sort those tracks according to their disc number? For example, if I have CD 1, start from track 1 for that CD, and if I have CD2, start from track 1 for that CD (1.01, 1.02, 1.03, 2.01, 2.02, 2.03... Instead of 1.01, 2.01, 1.02, 2.02, 1.03. 2.03...)

Same applies to vinyl, using discnumber field for vinyl sides.
6
General - (fb2k) / Re: Vinyl Tracknumber
Last post by DVDdoug -
It's up to you.

But to me it's one album and I number the tracks consecutively.   Lots of CDs were originally released on vinyl and all of the tracks on the CD are simply numbered. (Usually I leave the disc number tag blank.)    When I rip a double CD I re-number the tracks from the 2nd CD. 
7
General - (fb2k) / Vinyl Tracknumber
Last post by Jerryatic -
How do I tag a vinyl record to show side and track number? e.g A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3...
If I put the vinyl side in discnumber field, and the vinyl track number in tracknumber field it'll be shown as A1, B1, A2, B2...

I tried following the instructions in an older topic, but I can't seem to find where to put the strings, so that if there is a new field for vinyl side and vinyl tracknumber, it should display those instead of TRACKNUMBER

If I put both side and vinyl tracknumber in the TRACKNUMBER field, it won't show anything, as the older post states, TRACKNUMBER field expects to use a number.
8
3rd Party Plugins - (fb2k) / Re: foo_uie_lyrics3
Last post by Paaufo -
Is AZLyrics working for any of you? It seems to no longer retrieve results in my case.

@TT  It crashes intermittently. As of now, I have Deezer enabled but I have tried with different combinations of sources and several of them crashed at some point (not as much as they used to with previous versions, though). QQ, Deezer and NetEase seem to be the most problematic in my experience.
9
CD Hardware/Software / Re: How to clean CD?
Last post by Dracaena -
A very soft cleaning cloth usually won't scratch a CD, but if there is dirt there it can get scraped across the surface when you wipe and cause a scratch. So be careful when wiping and try to remove all dirt before wiping.

I find that anything big enough to cause a read error is usually visible. Take note of where on the disc the error occurs, then you should have a rough idea where to look. Remember that CD read from the inside to the outside, an error in track one will be near the middle.

Hold the disc up to a light. If you can see light coming though then there is a hole in the metal layer and there is nothing you can do.

Otherwise look for scratches in the area where the error happens, and if you want you can try to polishing them out.