Finished CD stops playing near the end

[henrylaw]

I've a classical symphony recorded onto one CD.  It suddenly stops playing towards the end of the last movement - sudden silence, then the CD player returns to zero, as if I'd pressed "stop".

The audio is OK - I've listened to it right through while splitting and cleaning.

I've re-burned the CD twice, the second time after re-recording the last side of vinyl.  The stop is at the same place each time, and happens on more than one player (I tried it in the computer and it died at the same point).   The only other diagnostic is that when it goes silent the CD device (player or PC) takes longer to return to a rest state, as if it were processing some kind of I/O error.

I'm wondering if this is to do with the length of the tracks.  It's a 700MB, 80-min CD and the tracks are 21:14, 15:30, 9:07, 14:19 and 16:17, which adds up to 76:27 - 95.5% full.  Any ideas?

[Paul Sanders (AlpineSoft)]

My best guess is that it's your CD burner.  It might be having trouble writing the last part of a full CD.  I just burned a 701 MB / 79 minute CD here and it plays OK, both on the computer and in the car, and we are not receiving complaints from other quarters (which doesn't mean it isn't happening, of course).

Different media might help, but I would try a different burner if you can.  But if you are working on a laptop, changing it is not an option (whereas replacing the burner on a desktop is easy and cheap).

Post me your CD if you like (the address is on the website); I'll see if I can play it.  But it sounds like you have already done all the relevant things in that area.

Sorry I can't be of more help.

[henrylaw]

Makes sense.  I've had the odd burn failure too, which adds weight to your suggestion.  Sigh ... nothing lasts very long these days.

In the mean time I'll burn it as two CDs ... and re-do the insert ... and find a different jewel case ...

[Paul Sanders (AlpineSoft)]

OK, good luck.  You can get USB burners for laptops, but they are relatively pricey.