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I am curious as to how many people apply tweaks to their cd's. Things like special polishes, pastes, rings, covers, weights, trimming edges, sanding, painting, de-staticing, demagnetizing or whatever. I assume that everyone must at least occasionaly clean their discs.
I personally am a disc tweaker and not a believer of the "all bits are the same" school of thought that claims that cd reproduction is essentially as good as it gets as long as the bits get through.
Most of the tweaks I have tried are pretty subtle, if they work at all, although some, like weighting cd's with various rings applied to the disc are comparable to an investment in some new equipment. Most tweaks are also pretty cheap, certainly compared to multi-hundred dollar cables and the like. So there is very little to lose in trying some of these. And if you find one which works, it will add that last touch of quality to your system, which no matter how much you otherwise spend, you will never achieve.
The only thing I do sometimes is freeze a CD when it's unreadable. This is not done for audio CD's but only for data CD's.
__________________ Home rig: Onkyo TXS-R603, Pure Audio x5, Toshiba for DVD and CD, Hitachi 42PD8800TA Screen Computer Audio: Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 2.66GHz 6MB, MSI NX8800GT GeForce 8800GT 512MB DDR3 OC Ed , OCZ Platinum RE2 PC2-6400 800MHz 2GBx2, Western Digital 500GB RE2 7200rpm 16mb SATAII x2 ,Creative Soundblaster USB, Foobar 2000 Portable rig: iPod 5G 60G, Homebuilt Canare IC, HeadAmp AE-2, Shure E5C PTH Night stand: JBL Onstage Gaming: PSP 3.10a OE , Crossroads Mylar One XBi
Cannibals don't eat clowns because they taste funny
Disclaimer: All reasonable measures have been taken to ensure the quality, reliability, and accuracy of the information in this posting. However, my opinions are purely personal and not meant to represent any commercial, political or religious views.
Pretty much just polish them if they are scratched.
(From the as-long-as-the-bits get read school of thought)
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Music: 椎名林檎, レミオロメン, L'arc~en~ciel, Asian Kung-Fu Generation, Tool, Classical, Spanish Guitar, The Decemberists, Ratatat, Couch, Explosions in the Sky. (equipment in profile)
Twice I purchased and used a cream/lotion/potion, Auric Illuminator and Vivid by Walker Audio. Based upon sonic improvements, I wasted my money. Live and learn. I would highly recommend them to an individual who is easily susceptible to placebo though.
"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's headphone, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's amplifier, nor his source, nor his cables, nor his power supply, nor anything that is thy neighbour's" (HF. 20:17)
I clean mine with ShineOla, which is a good cleaner regardless if you think it improves the sound or not.
I then treat them with the Auric Illuminator. Sometimes I use Herbies' Grungebuster mat (very inexpensive).
Contratry to what eyeteeth experenced I find the Auric works well. I bring 2 identical disks to Head-Fi meets, one is treated, one isn't.
I play one disk, then the other, never telling them which is which.
Most people hear the improvement on the treated disc, but some don't.
__________________ "I shouldn't be left alone with my own thoughts" TR
Home: Marantz SA-11S1 CD/SACD player, Linn LP12, Bottlehead SEX amp, Sennheiser HD-650 W/ Cardas cable, Grado RS-2.
deHavilland Ultraverve preamp, Bottlehead Paramount Mono Blocks, Zu Druid speakers.
Portable/computer desk: Headroom Micro amp & Micro DAC, ER-4P In the car: iPod Classic 80 Gig, Alpine Deck
The only tweak I've used was a metal disc that was made by Monster Cable called "The Discus" (I think). You basically lay it on top of the CD to be played. The was some improvements but I worried about the added wear and tear on the motor of the CD player. Otherwise, nothing touches my CDs.
The only tweak I've used was a metal disc that was made by Monster Cable called "The Discus" (I think). You basically lay it on top of the CD to be played. The was some improvements but I worried about the added wear and tear on the motor of the CD player. Otherwise, nothing touches my CDs.
As regards weighting discs, I have been using either old Audioquest(?) rings which fit on the top of discs, or Allsop sorbethane rings, which fit around the edges, and quite like them. I find them useful even with my belt drive CEC player, which already comes with a heavy metal puck to place on the discs. I think they do more than any of the other tweaks I have tried. However, while I still have a small stock of unused Allsops, I don't know if I will be able get anything like them when this lot is gone.
I also like Herbies Grungebuster. You have to keep it washed so that it doesn't lose its stickiness. Also it has some tendency to get lost in a conventional cd drawer mechanism.
Auric illuminator seems to be a good polish. Interestingly it comes with a black marking pen, with the advice to paint edges and non-playing surfaces. So it's 2 tweaks in one. The polishing cloths it comes with are worth the price of the stuff on their own. These are the best, non-scratching cloths I have encountered, and you get a fair number of them.
I see in your profile that you remove your glasses when listening to speakers for improved imaging. Is this because the glasses interupt the sound to your ears? If so, I am impressed that you can hear such an effect. I know with my main speakers that I do want as clear a path to the speakers as I can get.
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Music: 椎名林檎, レミオロメン, L'arc~en~ciel, Asian Kung-Fu Generation, Tool, Classical, Spanish Guitar, The Decemberists, Ratatat, Couch, Explosions in the Sky. (equipment in profile)
DO YOU TWEAK YOUR CD'S?
Linear Mode
