Anyone use this stuff?

I came across it researching 'Audience' Au24 cables. Good for 200-400 discs $39.99. Im going to order some, why not.

http://www.audience-av.com/

I use the gel as a disc cleaner...it works well. I used the marker pen in my Band of Brothers disc #1 and the black ink bled into the plastic badly...that was the last time I used the markers.

Ive used the Auric Illuminator system. Ive found it to be helpful soundwise on many CDs. I have not had any trouble with the pen leaking. I find that it works even better on DVDs (impoving picture more than sound). Be sure not to use it on hybrid SACDs.

Of the disc treatments I've used, I'd rate them:

Walkers Audio Vivid - 10 (as a reference point)
Auric Illuminator - 7.5
Optrix - 5

This has been discussed in detail in other threads. Try the archives for more info, using Auric (or the others) as key words.

FWIW, my favorite disc treatment by far is the Audio Desk CD Improver (which trims the outer dege of the CD itself). It's an expensive tool at $500 new, but definitely not a toy. I've had many, many people of all ages do A/B listening sessions with identical discs - one of which was trimmed and the other of which had not been trimmed - and I've yet to find one man, woman or child who could not identify the better sounding CD using headphones.

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I'll ask audience.

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Thanks.

Herbie's Grungebuster Mat works well!

http://herbiesaudiolab.home.att.net/ttmat.htm

eyeteeth,

So did you get to try those Auric Illuminators out?

I use the stuff and love it. It's the only CD treatment I've ever found that really works.
Goes a long way too, I still have my original kit from many years ago and I still haven't ran out. (400 + CD's treated so far)

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Yes I did. How did the stuff work out? OK.

I'm trying to refresh my memory of the numbers/appraisal I made in my mind.
Most CDs had a mild improvement 5% (very subjective), some had none but were not worse in any way. And a minority, 10% were improved about 10%. With one odd result-Opeth's 'Damnation' (shhh...don't tell DarkAngel ) was improved a whopping 15-20%! I don't know why.

The stuff is a little time consuming and I have'nt applied any for awhile, but I've got a bunch of new CDs and I think I'll sit down and do some more out of curiousity tomorrow.

Silly question, but isn't there an easy way to empirically test treatments such as this? Burn an Audio CD-R, then rip it to a WAV file. Now, treat the CD-R, and rip it again in the same way. If the files are not digitally identical, then we know that the treatment does something, and we can compare the files to see what changed and by how much. If the files ARE identical, then we know the treatment is worthless.

On existing CDs, do the same thing, rip before and after treatment and compare the files. There's no reference, but you will be able to know if the treatment had any effect whatsoever.

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Yes, thats worth a try.

that audio vivid by walker is amazing

just so good for my cds, from brand new ones to badly beaten ones.

also try that walker SST super silver treatment. i need to figure out where all this good sound is coming from , or if it is a conjuction of the 2.


this goes for my headphones where the sparkle is more noticable, to my 2 channel where the seperation of instruments and focus of bass and crispness of treble is 20 percent better easily.

i cant tell if its more a fuction of SST or audio vivid. i will continue my experimentation. so far 40 discs treated and all 40 have been improved, some dramatically.

I tried the GrungeBuster recently and the Auric Illuminator last year and concluded after three or four months that neither made a difference of any kind. The Auric Illuminator polishing cloth scratches discs even when used as instructed. All it takes is a strong light to see.

NGF

well the audio vivid makes a big difference imo, especially to some of my grungier discs which i will conceed needed a good cleaning of any kind.

to run a balanced comparison, to which i will go into detail at another time, i will say this:

I am just running a new UNTREATED cd in my other system which is a NAD cdp and a NAD reciever. Neither of them have been treated by the wlaker audio SST.

Here is what HAS been treated: 1. the prongs of my power conditioner and 2. the banana plugs on my speaker cables (both ends)

again, this is equipment that i have been using regularly for over a year and i am very familiar with the sound.

So back to my story, now that that is out of the way.

apparantly the SST makes a big difference, even without the vivid.

my system has better imaging than it has ever had, with alot more sparkle in the highs in a good way.

especially noticable after the application of the SST was the location of cymbals/high hats/brushes.

that would be the biggest change id say..
so this isnt a full review, nor is it intended to be, but its nice to know that PRIOR to using the Audio Vivid, and ONLY using the SST on treated cables results are there...

its audible, having my somewhat unsuspecting non audio roommate cooperate as a guinea pig


and these improvements aren't minor to me. apparantly i didnt know how degraded my audio quality was from worn posts and plug ends....

step 2: treating the entire NAD stytem including the plugs and ICs and treating these new discs with vivid....


more to follow...

Sean