Issues Burning CDs for My Discman – Help Needed!

Have you tried playing a shop-bought CD in the Discman? Just to see if it handles that well since it sounds like your homemade ones are the issue. Might help narrow it down!

Make sure you're writing the CDs in a way that's compatible with older players. Some burning softwares leave the CDs in a state that's partially written instead of fully finalized. Check your burning settings for "music" mode or any options that ensure proper error correction during the burn process.

It might be the burn quality as well. Different media and burning speeds can really affect how well the Discman reads the discs. CD-Rs can sometimes require more laser power to read than commercially burnt CDs. If the reader is old or weak, that could also be an issue. There are tips online about tuning the laser power for certain players, but be careful messing with that!

What CD burning software are you using? Sometimes changing that up can make a huge difference. Also, did you try burning with a different brand of CD-R discs? Some players can be picky about what media they read well.

Lowering the burn speed could help—a lot of older CD players like the Discman don’t handle burning as well at faster speeds. Just try burning at 1x or 2x and see if that makes a difference. They often skip or struggle to read CDs that are burned too quickly.