# is 79:14 too long for a CD?



## Mister Meow (10 mo ago)

I had an unexpected problem with a CD player last night. I was listening to CD 1 of Cavalli's _Giasone_, which has a total recorded time of 79:14. At the time I was listening with my Panasonic portable CD player which is rather old but thankfully still works. As the end of Act I approached, the music stopped abruptly, before it was finished. I thought that maybe the batteries had died in the CD player, but when I checked to see what the problem was, I found that the CD player was apologizing for the sudden disruption! Yes, it really was! (See the picture below.) Today I decided to investigate further, so I tried the same CD on my component stereo system (which is also rather old but thankfully still works). I skipped to the final track and listened to it, and it played to completion.

So I'm trying to understand what is wrong with my portable CD player. I don't think I've ever seen it display this message before with any other CD, so I am wondering if the problem is related to the length of the recording time (79:14) on this particular CD. Has anyone else had this problem before?

Picture:


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Assume it's the portable player - just too old. When those things were more widely available it was generally assumed that a cd maxed out at 80 minutes. In recent years I've bought a number of CDs with run times well over 80 minutes and my newer players have no trouble but an older Marantz (at least 23 years now) can't cut the 86 minute ones. You're lucky: all of my portable players gave up the ghost years ago.


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

79+ minutes USED to be a "no go", but modern players can usually handle 79:14.

You have an "old technology" issue, that's all.

Similar to having an older iPhone (like a 5C), and one by one, as your apps automatically update themselves, have trouble working, or simply won't work at all. Your old technology is not compatible with the new software (or in your case, a modern CD).


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## Mister Meow (10 mo ago)

mbhaub said:


> You're lucky: all of my portable players gave up the ghost years ago.


Yes, this is one of my prized possessions.  I got it in used condition, 15 years ago, in my freecycle group. I actually have a backup portable CD player that I also got from my freecycle group more recently. It's a shame that neither one came with an AC adapter, though.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

I use to have one at my bedside, and had the same problem, special with new Bis diks spanning 85 minutes,


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

I remember reading that in the 1980s some players had problems with >75 min. CD although I do not recall any problems myself with a Bruckner 5 and Mahler 2 on one disc I had in 89 or 90. Neither with more recent 81-82 min. discs, even on ca. 30 year old players. These players can be moody or downright refuse some discs, esp. home-burned ones but I have not seen a general problem with "official" long discs.


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## Mark Dee (Feb 16, 2021)

In my past experience with CD players, some are very finicky and temperamental. Some won't read certain discs, some will play scratched discs and some won't. Some will play CDRs and CDRWs and some won't. I have a Philips 2009 MCB240 CD/DAB radio which plays anything, including bronzed discs, but my 1990's Sony CD player often thinks about whether it wants to play certain discs, and then spews them out with a 'uh, uh, not this one!'


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## Scherzi Cat (8 mo ago)

As I recall, when CDs first came out the max was 74 minutes. Then, not long after it was lengthened to 80.


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## Mister Meow (10 mo ago)

Update: Last night I listened to CD 2 of the set, which is "only" 76:06 in length, and it played to completion, though I'm guessing it was very close to not making it.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

All cd players are temperamental when it comes to playing CDs. I've had cd players that wont play certain commercially released cds, others that wouldnt play burned cdrs, some that would play certain discs and not others and some that were just annoying. Ive been using a decent, but old, Sony dvd/cd player for the past 5 years and its been great, playing almost anything I've thrown at it and sounding great but just recently it's started acting up and refusing to play a few discs last week and since then the skip track function has started malfunctioning. The worst player I ever had was the most expensive one I bought, a really nice Technics cd player that was the fussiest machine ever. It constantly misread discs, missed tracks, wouldnt play cdrs and was a general pain in the @rse. I ended up taking it back to where i got it from and got a full refund. When i get a new player in the new year I'm going for a dvd/cd/cdr player again. The sound is just as good and they'll read anything.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I bought a CD on the Alpha label that is over 83 minutes. Longest CD I've ever seen. It plays fine on my new Marantz player.


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

starthrower said:


> I bought a CD on the Alpha label that is over 83 minutes. Longest CD I've ever seen. It plays fine on my new Marantz player.


You may be interested to know that your Marantz (I have the same player) can also cope with a disc which at 85.58 is the longest I have.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Malx said:


> You may be interested to know that your Marantz (I have the same player) can also cope with a disc which at 85.58 is the longest I have.


The one think I hate about this new Marantz 6007 is that it skips like a sensitive turntable every time I walk past it. This is really weird. None of my other players did this.


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

starthrower said:


> The one think I hate about this new Marantz 6007 is that it skips like a sensitive turntable every time I walk past it. This is really weird. None of my other players did this.


That is not a problem I have experienced, my player is sat on top of a rack which has spiked feet which makes things pretty stable - the tuner on the bottom tier has now been upgraded.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I have a sturdy solid wood cabinet with a heavy amp on the bottom. I don't understand why this player skips so easily? Maybe I should call the dealer and explain the problem?


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## Subutai (Feb 28, 2021)

Must be the equipment. I have no trouble burning up to 83 minutes on a 80 minute CD without bother. Both my new bedroom stereo and old car stereo play it without issue.


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## Mister Meow (10 mo ago)

I have an interesting update here. I had actually saved (and then found!) the instruction manual that came with the player. I skimmed through it, looking for some troubleshooting information about my scenario. I didn't find it, but I did notice a section about maintenance where it said that the lens could be cleaned with a cotton swab. I decided to do that, and then I played the last track of CD 1 again, and this time it finished! I also used the swab to clean the edges of the display, which had accumulated a lot of dust, as you can see in the original picture.  

So I hope the problem has been solved. Fingers crossed.


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

starthrower said:


> Maybe I should call the dealer and explain the problem?


Can't do any harm to see if they've had any other instances of the issue.


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## FrankE (Jan 13, 2021)

Cool. Are there many releases too long for old players? 
I'd like to test my player.


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## Oakey (Nov 19, 2017)

Disc 3 of this set is 85:05, that's the longest CD I have. 

My Yamaha CD-player (fairly new) has no trouble playing it. I know most players will but was a bit surprised that a quality label like DG would put out a CD over 80 mins.

I used to think that 79:57 was the longest a CD could be since that is the (updated I believe) Red Book standard. In the early days of the CD it was 74 minutes if I'm correct.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Bis making very long recording on the moments , still excellent sound.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Oakey said:


> I used to think that 79:57 was the longest a CD could be since that is the (updated I believe) Red Book standard. In the early days of the CD it was 74 minutes if I'm correct.


While officially true, it only defines what a reader must be able to handle, not the maximum that can be stored. When considering burnable CDs, they are defined in terms of capacity not time, e.g 700Mbytes which is 80 minutes and it is possible to overburn disks by using the defined lead-in/lead-out areas which provide at least 88 seconds more.


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## Oakey (Nov 19, 2017)

Becca said:


> While officially true, it only defines what a reader must be able to handle, not the maximum that can be stored. When considering burnable CDs, they are defined in terms of capacity not time, e.g 700Mbytes which is 80 minutes and it is possible to overburn disks by using the defined lead-in/lead-out areas which provide at least 88 seconds more.


I'm talking retail CDs here. But I know the capacity can be stretched. Makes me wonder what the longest playable CD is ever produced.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

I am not sure if and when these "hard" standards ever really applied strictly. While I am surprised at official 85 min. CDs I had close to 80 min. discs, certainly beyong 74 min. already in the late 1980s, e.g. Klemperer's EMI recordings of Bruckner's 5th and Mahler's 2nd, both over 79 min.


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