A Straight Dope Classic from Cecil's Storehouse of Human Knowledge
Since when do CDs skip?
March 4, 1994
Dear Cecil:
Since when do CDs skip? Since last week, in my case. What gives? I thought CDs were immune to the failings of mere vinyl.
Dear John:
Alas, another bit of audio hype. Dirty CDs will skip just like dirty records. A complicated system of beam splitters and servomechanisms keeps the laser centered on the CD "groove," but an opaque glob stuck to the disc may throw the system off and cause a skip. The cure, usually, is to clean the disc with a clean dry cloth, always by wiping from the center of the disc to the edge. That way an accidental scratch won't obliterate so much consecutive musical data that the error-correcting circuitry gives up in disgust.
