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CD Stoplight/CD Blacklight

post #1 of 20
8/21/01 at 1:42am
Thread Starter 
Does anyone have these?? Just curious. Could be a good tweak if they worked. (or at least caused a psychological sound enhancement).
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post #2 of 20
8/21/01 at 4:14pm
I bought several used SACD's on eBay from a rather trusted Audio Asylum Inmate. She had used that green marker treatment around the edge of all of them, and also applied Auric Illuminator to the discs (many people at the Asylum swear by Auric Illuminator).

Since I've never heard these SACD's without the green marker treatment or the Auric Illuminator, I can't say whether or not they work.

I do have a concern about the green marker though. What it leaves behind looks more like paint than ink. My concern is rotational balance. I would have to imagine that anything that spins as fast as a CD/SACD would require extremely uniform application of the green paint-like stuff to the outside edge of the disc to not affect rotational stability. Any opinions on this particular point?
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post #3 of 20
8/21/01 at 5:07pm
My public library sticks STICKERS on top of CD's (about an inch square) with numbers on them... Not that I had audiophile equipment when I was mooching CD's from my library, but I don't think it matters _that_ much.. 1x spins at 500 RPM at most, I think.

(My Plextor 40x Max CD-ROM has a minimum speed rating of 17x, and disk speed is 8500 RPM.. 8500 / 17 = 500 RPM.

And it's slower as you move out towards the edge of the disc.
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post #4 of 20
8/21/01 at 6:09pm
Do you guys remember these CDs in different shapes that were around a couple of years ago? It was a marketing gag mostly, I guess.
Anyhow, I don't see them very often theses days. I think it's most probably due to the fact that some of them killed the CD drives when spinning at 20x (which ripped them apart)

But I don't think even the funkiest shapes would do that at the speed of a normal audio CD. And the imbalance caused by the 'paint' is marginal.
But then on the other hand there are people who buy sorbotane feet for their CD player (and don't even use speakers), so 'marginal' could mean 'significant' for an audiophile...


Bye

Redwoood
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post #5 of 20
8/21/01 at 7:20pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Redwoood
But then on the other hand there are people who buy sorbotane feet for their CD player (and don't even use speakers), so 'marginal' could mean 'significant' for an audiophile...
Oh no, not this again...

I'll re-direct you to a previous post of mine.
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post #6 of 20
8/21/01 at 7:50pm
lol, I am equally guilty as charged, although at least mine are mounted on a lump of wood, so i have something for the CDP to sit on
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post #7 of 20
8/22/01 at 3:31am
I bought a CD Stoplight pen a few years back (per recommendation of Stereophile). I have to write that tweek off to black magic. Except for making your CDs look all screwed-up with the green ink splattered around, I could hear no difference between the treated and untreated disc - despite straining my eardrums. J Gordon Holt, may hear a difference with his $60,000 reference system, but I can't with my $6,000 one.
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post #8 of 20
8/22/01 at 10:13am
$$$$$ gears plus bat ears = significant
$$$$$ gears plus human ears = some
$$$ gears plus bat ears = some
$$$ gears plus human ears = little
$ gears plus whatever ears = no improvement

Hope my math adds up.
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post #9 of 20
8/22/01 at 10:16am
Speaking of SACD, the price is plunging like a two-ton rock. There is a Sony 777ES + 15 SACD at Audiogon for $1600.

I still don't have the ultimate faith in the format even though it has a jump start over DVD-A.
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post #10 of 20
8/22/01 at 2:45pm
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Redwoood
[B]Do you guys remember these CDs in different shapes that were around a couple of years ago? It was a marketing gag mostly, I guess.
Anyhow, I don't see them very often theses days
Bye

This was because in the hey day of vinyl there used to be crazy shaped vinyl that had the main record somewhere in the middle! With cds however.......
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post #11 of 20
8/22/01 at 2:47pm
Quote:
Originally posted by chadbang
Except for making your CDs look all screwed-up with the green ink splattered around, I could hear no difference between the treated and untreated disc....
LOL! Though I'm not inclined to believe that these markers make a difference, I have to admit that the lady who owned my used SACD's that had the marker applied must have done a very good job. No splatter!
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post #12 of 20
8/22/01 at 3:31pm
I'll buy into the magic marker malarkey when somebody does a before and after bit check. If there is no digital difference, then any sonic difference is between the listener's ears.
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post #13 of 20
8/22/01 at 3:44pm
Quote:
Originally posted by rohorn
I'll buy into the magic marker malarkey when somebody does a before and after bit check. If there is no digital difference, then any sonic difference is between the listener's ears.

I don't think you're going to get too many arguments on this one here.
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post #14 of 20
8/22/01 at 4:09pm
I think possibly they claim the green makes it easier on the error correction system thus improving the sound. It does not add or subtract bits.
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post #15 of 20
8/22/01 at 5:22pm
Beagle

You sure mate? The explanation I heard was that the green ink helped focus the laser inside the machine. It stopped the laser from fracturing over the discs surface and became more concentrated.

The best one I heard was a review of a french (I think) cd player that had a green led inside as standard and as a factory upgrade for get this £500.00 you could have it changed to a blue one as the blue one was supposedly better

Needless to say it got two out of five for that one......
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