Gold compact disc

This article is about CDs which use gold for the reflective layer. For the audiovisual format featuring gold-coloured CD-sized discs, see CD Video.
A gold CD in a lift-lock case

A gold compact disc is one in which gold is utilized in place of the high-purity aluminium or silver commonly used as the reflective coating on ordinary CDs and CD-Rs respectively. Gold disks are available as both CDs and CD-Rs as well, and are compatible with standard players and recorders.

The advantage of the gold reflection layer lies in its corrosion resistance. As such, gold CDs were seen as a potential solution to the incidence of CD rot on early CDs (mainly manufactured by PDO UK).[1]

In 2014, Audio Fidelity, an American publisher of audiophile CDs, announced that it was abandoning the gold format and moving to the hybrid Super Audio CD (SACD) format for future releases. [2]

In 2016, the Australian division of Sony Music began reissuing budget-priced (under $10) gold CDs issues under the "Gold Series" branding.

  1. ^ "GOLD CDS - CD COLLECTING.COM". 2013-03-22. Archived from the original on 2013-03-22. Retrieved 2019-05-19.
  2. ^ Sinclair, Paul (March 4, 2014). "Audio Fidelity drop 24k Gold CDs". superdeluxeedition. Retrieved 2019-05-19.