[StanD]

  If it did not work, I would not be using it.
 
And I do not  paint CDs with green marker, do not demagnetize them, etc. I use what proved itself, time and time again, with my equipment and everybody else's where we tried this CD mat. Or DVD mat, if you are more of a video guy.
 
YMMV - but only after you try it, not a priori rejecting it as an audio myth.

This is like me telling you to flap your arms and you will be able to fly. YMMV.

 

[dazzerfong]

  Ok, I will get an calibrated SPL meter and will ask a friend drummer to record some rim shot readings at precisely measured distance(s). And will report the readings. 
 
I was not trying to win an argument - just saying music live can and does sound loud. Most of my audiphile friends are shocked how loud it can be for real - since they are acustomed to compressed recordings played back on equipment that can not support full dynamic range. Hence 

 expression on their faces - when 5X or so kg soprano pull out all the stops, for example... - for real, this  is NOT Norah Jones dreamy soothing lullalaby...

Obviously it sounds loud. Rock concerts frequently hit 120 dB+. The point is the dynamic range: your prescribed range of 80 dB is, frankly, bollocks. Not to mention an orchestra hitting that loud.

 

[wakibaki]

 
CD mat...
 

 
Sorry, I didn't realise your symptoms were so florid. So are there any audio devices that you reject as scams? How 'bout the Lessloss Blackbody? Do you believe that bit-identical files sound different if ripped on a regular computer or one with a low-noise PSU? Or if the destination medium was solid-state or rotating  platter disk?
 
This information will help us to reach a more accurate diagnosis.

 

[OddE]

Twice getting it equally wrong does not make it right either.

 

 
-True, but the odds of that happening would be astronomical - and then some. (The read errors being repeatable would strongly suggest that the errors originate from the CD itself, rather than from the playback mechanism - which would, if I've understood correctly what the Magic Mat(tm) allegedly does, render it useless.)
 
That being said, for the record I approach the mat issue with a healthy dose of skepticism. And then some.

 

[analogsurviver]

 
Obviously it sounds loud. Rock concerts frequently hit 120 dB+. The point is the dynamic range: your prescribed range of 80 dB is, frankly, bollocks. Not to mention an orchestra hitting that loud.

Obviously, I will have to post some screenshot from Adobe Audition 1.5 ( which I use for determining the ultimate gain at which any DSD recording is being converted to anything else ) - for you all to see how a truly dynamic recording looks like. It is the exact opposite of those compressed files that fill almost entire area possible - peaks, peaks and more peaks...- with most of the available "space" - blank.
 
During the recent recording of the rehearsal of Bach's Johannes Passion, a single soprano could hit only 2.5 dB less loud peaks than the whole shebang in full cry. And I call her "deceitful" soprano - because, to a listener, it does not create an impression of being loud - at all !
 
I did not realize those things before I starting recording either - but grasped the problem very soon after. Why on earth do you think Technics SH-9020 http://www.kenrockwell.com/audio/technics/sh-9020.htm is THE most sought after and priciest component from the entire Technics Professional Series 90X0 ? For analog recordings, it is completely inescapable. Any meters on ANY R2R, pro or consumer, are, compared to 9020, there only for the show...
 
All it takes for it to show the TRUE peak is one halfwave at 10 kHz or below - higher frequencies are NEVER louder than those below 10 kHz ( and probably even this 10 kHz is a VERY generous overkill ).
 
It is Technics at its absolute best. Only Toshiba produced a similar unit - but that is so rare I never saw one for sale, let alone in person.

 

[analogsurviver]

   
-True, but the odds of that happening would be astronomical - and then some. (The read errors being repeatable would strongly suggest that the errors originate from the CD itself, rather than from the playback mechanism - which would, if I've understood correctly what the Magic Mat(tm) allegedly does, render it useless.)
 
That being said, for the record I approach the mat issue with a healthy dose of skepticism. And then some.

All it takes is a listen.
 
A very respected mastering engineer tested it with his Plextor TOTL "burner" - and whatever test used, it did NOT show any significantly different reading for errors etc.
 
Playing 2-3 different CD (R)s , either from his recent masterings or what he considers reference recordings, made his wallet to open - 10 minutes max. And other persons present then also expressed interest to buy - I only had one spare sample at the time.

 

[sonitus mirus]

  All it takes is a listen.
 

 
This is not reliable, at all.  

 

[cjl]

  Try that in practice - and see how it ends up ...

I've heard very quiet passages mastered with redbook. They were perfectly fine. Until you can show a double blind test showing otherwise, you really can't expect us to take your claims seriously either. The burden of proof is on the one making the new claim, and proof is not merely a collection of anecdotes.

 

[StanD]

  All it takes is a listen.
 
A very respected mastering engineer tested it with his Plextor TOTL "burner" - and whatever test used, it did NOT show any significantly different reading for errors etc.
 
Playing 2-3 different CD (R)s , either from his recent masterings or what he considers reference recordings, made his wallet to open - 10 minutes max. And other persons present then also expressed interest to buy - I only had one spare sample at the time.

Ah, a traveling salesman with only one on hand for sale. You must stock up better, think of all the lost sales volume. 

 

[HWTest]

   
-True, but the odds of that happening would be astronomical - and then some. (The read errors being repeatable would strongly suggest that the errors originate from the CD itself, rather than from the playback mechanism - which would, if I've understood correctly what the Magic Mat(tm) allegedly does, render it useless.)

 And then, there is the AccurateRip database ...

 

[analogsurviver]

   
This is not reliable, at all.  

Sorry, if the clear preference for mat of a recording/mastering engineer, bassist and sax player who play on that recording, put eventually to CD , are not enough to at least give it a shadow of a doubt, then I do not know what could convince you. 
 
I could list many, almost countless testimonies from musicians regarding "CD"s - I used to give them copies of their playing recorded to CD-Rs with and without the mat, marked so that they could possibly not know which is which ( I kept a small notebook ) - and asked them which copy they liked better. It was way over 90 % votes for the one made with the mat - despite they all played it at first of course without the mat. Only the notebook knew whether "A" denotes CD-R recorded with and "B" without the CD mat - or vice-versa.
 
I think it is enough on the CD mat theme. Info is there, I am NOT affiliated with ANY of the sellers, I am NOT a manufacturer, occasionally I would order either for me or for friends, with a sample or two in addition for "stock" or reserve should I break any of my workhorse CD mats. 
 
HOUG !

 

[analogsurviver]

 
 And then, there is the AccurateRip database ...

Of commercially available recordings ...

 

[Krutsch]

  Sorry, if the clear preference for mat of a recording/mastering engineer, bassist and sax player who play on that recording, put eventually to CD , are not enough to at least give it a shadow of a doubt, then I do not know what could convince you. 
 
I could list many, almost countless testimonies from musicians regarding "CD"s - I used to give them copies of their playing recorded to CD-Rs with and without the mat, marked so that they could possibly not know which is which ( I kept a small notebook ) - and asked them which copy they liked better. It was way over 90 % votes for the one made with the mat - despite they all played it at first of course without the mat. Only the notebook knew whether "A" denotes CD-R recorded with and "B" without the CD mat - or vice-versa.
 
I think it is enough on the CD mat theme. Info is there, I am NOT affiliated with ANY of the sellers, I am NOT a manufacturer, occasionally I would order either for me or for friends, with a sample or two in addition for "stock" or reserve should I break any of my workhorse CD mats. 
 
HOUG !

 
No, I think there is much more to discuss on the benefits of your CD Mat. Head-Fi has a thread where you can discuss tweaks like your CD Mat and Shakti Stones and no discussion of ABX is allowed. That's the place for you, my friend, and there are many enthusiasts there waiting with open wallets to learn more.

 

[analogsurviver]

  Ah, a traveling salesman with only one on hand for sale. You must stock up better, think of all the lost sales volume. 

Yes, I could have done better.
 
MUCH better infact.
 
People still ask from time to time .

 

[StanD]

  Ah, a traveling salesman with only one on hand for sale. You must stock up better, think of all the lost sales volume. 

 
 

  Yes, I could have done better.
 
MUCH better infact.
 
People still ask from time to time .

You might throw in a free Pet Rock with each sale.