Clean away old CD treatments

. . . "right" for you. ;-)

Dawn is better for this purpose than a different brand? I was going to use some biodegradable stuff from Costco.

Sounds like good stuff. Who knew? I'll stick with Dawn. Today's the day. I'll need more distilled water.

After I began using Optrix, I couldn't listen without it. Even my grunge sounded grungy. When Optrix was discontinued, I switched to Shine-ola, which I found to be much better. More analog, more vibrant. So I decided to try the Ultrabit, which is supposedly the best. I am undecided about the Ultrabit. The clarity is stunning. But I think it made the discs sound bright, almost glaring. Initially I found the discs difficult to listen to, but now I might be getting used to it.

I've treated about 50-60 of my discs total. This weekend I am washing them all, going back to the beginning. Then I'm going to do a small test with just a few CDs between the Shin-ola and Ultrabit. Anyway, Ultrabit is discontinued now, so this is the end of it. I might try L Art du Son also, but enough is enough.

In fact, I've been thinking about getting a demagnetizer, such as the HiFi Tuning or Furutech. I've experimented enough with various tweaks to know that they do provide a benefit. But I wish I could hear the demagnetizer, considering the cost. And I presume it's true that there will always be some residual effect from the previous treatments. But now that I've seen that there really is a benefit to these spray treatments, I want to think more carefully about what I'm doing before I go any further. I think I might just stick with Shine-ola. Or I might take one last stab with the L Art du Son.

Finally finished cleaning the CDs. I put them through three rinses in distilled water after washing with Dawn. What a chore.

Actually there were not 50 discs, but 150. Long day.

I left four discs that had received only the Ultrabit and four discs that had received only the Shine-ola. Listening last night, I think the Ultrabit treatment might be mellowing over time. It doesn't seem so aggressive now. The clarity and detail are very compelling.

geoffkait, thanks for the link. I like how the writer doesn't really pick a winner. Actually I'm unaware of some of the treatments he describes. His Ultrabits are the previous formulas, not the Diamond Plus, but there probably isn't much difference between the them.

I'm becoming more and more curious about the L Art du Son. I know that Absolute Sound magazine also did a comparison and the fellow declared L Art to be the best. Still, I'm not sure I want to toss another $50 on liquids. At some point you have to stop. But I've begun to get a sense that three treatments are worthwhile: a cleaning spray, a demagnetizer, and a trimmer (although I've never actually tried a trimmer). Ever since I began collecting Japan-made discs, I've become a strong believer in the importance of the physical disc itself. I think that you would have to spend thousands on hardware to make a poorly manufactured disc sound as good as a quality disc.

gdnrbob, thank you so much for offering me your demagnetizer to sample. I just sent you a private message.

Frank, truer words have never been spoken. We audiophiles are indeed a strange lot.

I've read about the VCR eraser method. Seems like a good idea. You mean the high-powered one that looks like a small anvil? Or you mean the wand type?

I'm mad curious about your friend's secret formula. Oh well, my grandmother never gave up her pie recipes, so I can't fault your friend either.