Physical degradation of CD's

Just know that the "energy" of the laser reading the pits and spaces is nowhere near the energy that was used to create them. So, no, you can play a CD a million times and it will be just as good as the first time. This was indeed one of the "selling points" for CDs compared to vinyl album back in the 1980s.

I would worry more about putting unnecessary wear and tear on your CD player in breaking in the new DACs and use a streamer instead set on various playlists that run for hours and hours. 

Regarding "CD rot", I have a collection of about 2500 CDs, some from the mid-1980s. Out of all of those I’ve had TWO "go bad" because of oxidation of the aluminum substrate. It was like a small pinhole was somehow created (either a manufacturing defect or caused by rough handling in a car). Fortunately, I was able to find copies still in print and simply bought replacements.

On a related subject ...

We service vintage audio gear and frequently have CD players presented with "can't read" error message of some sort.  Typically, this is a combination of weak laser and slop in the sled assembly. Sometimes it's difficult to present technical information to customers that they can relate to. So, to be "more relatable" to male customers, I use the following:

"Image trying to hit that little target in the urinal with a weak stream that you can't hold very steady anymore."

We usually get an affirmative nod.  And, a smile.

Thank you for all of your comments!

Espcially….”Find something else to worry about” 😆

I never thought about the possibility of heat building up degrading the cd!

I think the best remedy as mentioned is to put in a cd that I can’t stand (of which I have many) and let it play away 👍

Thx for all the help!

Best wishes,

Don

@no_regrets many "experts" (e.g.  professional audiophile reviewers; electronic engineers; neuroscientists; etc.) would argue that break-in or burn-in time for various audiophile sound system components is a myth.  Of course, there are some who argue that some amount of burn-in time for some components actually does benefit their performance or sound fidelity.  Still others argue that what is happening when someone thinks they hear a benefit of burn-in time for some components is that their ears or, more precisely, the auditory cortex of the brain becoming accustomed to the new sound signature, vis-a-vis the acoustical characteristics of the home or sound room.

In my experience, over the last 5 or 6 decades, I've found that electronic components like amps, DACs and CD players require virtually no or negligible periods of burn-in or break-in time.  Although I've never owned or lived with one, I have no trouble believing that very large or very powerful amps need or benefit from warm-up time.  However, I have difficulty believing their sound fidelity would improve or benefit from a certain amount of burn-in or break-in time.  The non-exotic turntables and cartridges I've owned, similarly, did not seem to need any burn-in time to speak of.  However, the TT I have now definitely did benefit from a couple hours of spin time in order for the motor spindle and bearings to become properly lubricated.  As for the speakers I've owned and enjoyed over these many years, I think I've noticed very small improvements in some of them (more high-end or expensive ones) after a certain amount of burn-in time.  However, a somewhat famous professional audiophile component reviewer who shall remain nameless told me this was all in my head (i.e.  auditory cortex).  The salesperson who sold me the pair I have now advised they would need approximately 90 hours of burn-in time to reach their full potential.  A professional reviewer told me they would need closer to 100 hours and yet another wrote in his review of them that they fully blossomed after approximately 110 hours.  Since I had a 30 day return policy from the shop that I purchased them from, I decided to listen very critically and keep a log after I brought them home.  Auditory Cortex notwithstanding, it certainly did seem, to me, that there were small improvements over time, mostly in bass response, to a lesser degree in high frequencies and negligibly so in midrange after somewhere around 60 hours.

So, as in all things, let conscious be your guide!  However, that being said, I think running your CD player & DAC 24/7 is accomplishing nothing other than wearing out those components.

Never falls, someone asks a question about CDs and someone else just has to interject streaming into the conversation.