Hi!
I feel for you man! I did a concert a few weeks ago which was recorded on CD, so the CD was unique. Listened to in on my iMac and when it was ejected had a whole row of scratches on it.
Turns out that if the internal DVD drive is not aligned properly, it spits out CD's at an angle, causing them to scrape past the casing, causing the complex scratches that even the most advanced error correction cannot compensate for.
My solution has been to put some transparent tape around the casing on the side the CD touches. I started on the outside and folded the tape about 4mm into the slot. Now, even if I push the CD against the casing it will not scratch.
I cant believe how Apple sacrificed this essential attribute of the machine (NOT scratching CD's) for design's sake.
Solution 1... correct alignment of internal drive.
Solution 2... coating on the casing surrounding the CD drive slot.
Actually you would expect them to do both. For now my CD is busted. Anyone know of a good restoration fluid/method?
Thanks!