I don't know anything about Essence of Music, but I have used Auric Illuminator for a couple of years, and it is well worth the time and money.
Simply makes everything sound better. Smoother, more detailed and more dimensional. |
I started out with Auric Illuminator then moved to the harder stuff like Auric Illuminator II, Jena Labs, Nanotech 8500, and wound up with Liquid Resolution, now out of production. Replaced Liquid Rez with EOM and couldn't be more pleased. I can't stop now. |
I huff on the cd and wipe it on my shirt. Awesome! |
Auric Illuminator gives more detail works great and at a reasonable cost. |
Mattmiller,
I don't believe you. You are far, far too discriminating for that! |
Auric Illumintor will also help with minute scratches that affect playback. |
LOL Roxy, Only when it comes to Vinyl! |
Essence of Music, without a doubt. Tried probably 5 different ones.... |
What is the chemical makeup of the EOM treatment? i would like to try it, but worry about a residual film over time. Any drawbacks? |
What is the chemical makeup? Heck, if I knew I'd make it myself. Hel-loo! |
The biggest drawback is that is takes almost 5 minutes if you want to apply it by the book. Ok if you just listen to one album, but for some of us short attention span audiophiles who listen to variety of stuff, it can be a little bit of an issue. Still, it stays there for a while, so no need to apply every time you listen to the same album, although for better results, recommended. |
What's stays there when you apply EOM? It apparently doesn't leave any residue. If you think something remains after treatment I'd be curious to hear what you think the product is doing. Just curious. |
oh c'mon Geoff, Im sure you can accomplish the same result over a phone line. I have faith in you! |
Does any of you guys want to mention any of these treatment(s) that do leave a residue?
Or leaves some kind of un-wanted surfactant?
Keep me posted and Happy Listening! |
I've used and liked Auric Illuminator. It is a good product. I've also used others I liked less. But I've started to use the Essence of Music. I can tell you how it sounds but you might not believe me. It can be that much of a leap. It is a fundamental shift in listening to cd in my system. I never thought cd played depth well or fullness of timber or had a easy unforced analogue like flow to the music that kept drawing you in...But I was dead wrong. I now understand that it is not so much getting the music onto the cd as it is getting the information off the cd.....If any of you try this product I will warn you..it makes you stop and wonder "what just happened?" it's just silly good...I can't go on without sounding like I'm babbling..it's a stunning product. Do understand a disc driven into constant distortion[Nashville/country for example ]... it will still sound bad... and that's the loudness war at work....cheers, bluenose |
I've used the Mapleshade Records method of improving CDs for many years (some of you are probably familiar with these). I always found the discs treated to sound superior in everyway. And I figured that there wasn't much additional improvement that could be obtained. But decided to give the Essence of Music a try with a well what the heck, doesn't hurt much to try kind of feeling. But I wasn't expecting much. Wow was I wrong! First disc I treated was a Brian Blade album. I am intimately familiar with this album and have listened to it countless times through the years. Holy moly the improvement with Essense of Music was nothing short of shocking! It was as if I've taken that extra step to the real music/microphone feeds. There is a beautiful improvement in resolution, soundstage, PRAT. Just sounds more musical, and live. But I just honestly thought there was nothing else on the disc to hear but I was flat wrong!
Now the only bad news -- I need to treat hundreds of CDs and re-rip them :-) |
Melb0028 I know exactly where you're coming from. Now that I've tried the Essence of Music I feel the same way. It is one of those elusive "WoW" treatments indeed. cheers, Bluenose |
Essence of Music has 2 kits. Which one are you referring to? The professional or the one half the cost? |
Hi, I bought the smaller one not knowing how effective it was going to be. If I had know I would have got the larger one. But I'll probably get the larger kit before Christmas. Lots of cds to treat.:)...cheers, bluenose |
Bought some to try. Will report results. |
IMHO Bluenose has it exactly right. I urge you to re read his 9/11 post. Like many of you, I have tried several of the
usual suspects listed above. Some were effective to a degree
None had the almost shocking improvement in audio quality by
simply using the Essence of Music CD treatment. I've noticed
that some of you, like me, have tiptoed into this product by
buying the "starter kit". If you, like me, have a pretty
sizeable CD library, shoot for the pro kit. Much more product for the money. Wish I had done that originally. |
Essence of Music Kit sounds very interesting. I am most interested in 2 areas...1)Fullness(body) of voice and acoustic instruments. 2)Grainy and gritty top end (to me...most noticeable on female vocals.
Was there improvement after treatment in the above-mentioned areas? Thanks! |
Essence for $150.00 should be great. |
Nanotec Intron 8500
Nano particles of gold and silver just amazing IMHO |
Car polish is a tremendous improvement |
Where is Clark Johnsen when you need him? He reviewed a bunch of CD treatments including Jena Labs, Nanotech 8500, Ultrabit, Liquid Res, Optirx, CD Clarity, Auric Illuminator and others in his article Lotions Eleven in Positive Feedback Online but that was quite a few year ago. What we need now is some exceptionally patient individual to step up to the plate and compare all the latest and greatest CD treatments. One wonders if there's any advantage to using more than one treatment, say Nanotech 8500 and Essence of Music. |
Gous19-
besides double the price of $300 vs $150, what is the major difference between the Pro kit?
Interesting discussion here guys, keep me posted and happy listening! |
Re Pc123v. There is more fullness in notes and more depth. My Roxan Zerxes tt is sulking while I enjoy my cds. I was shocked at how much musical clues are still hidden on cds. There is a flow to the music that is amazing. I didn't believe cd could sound this good...Yes better disc sound better still but some notes can be "startlingly" good or real. But I'll let others chime in on this...cheers, bluenose How good did it sound to me in my system? It was if I had upgraded one of my components. That is how well it worked for me. YMMV. |
Jafant, You get four times the liquid product in the pro kit
for twice the price. Better deal if you have a large CD library. I'm now on my second smaller kit. Could have bought the pro kit for the same money. Oh well...who knew
this stuff was this good !? |
I received my Essence and found the music was improved over the control disc, but there wasn't a profound change. Like a veil was lifted, but a thin veil. The descriptions above are more accurate than my attempt to relay the improvements. Notes are fuller and depth increases. The music seemed to flow easier, sounded more like the performer was in the room.
I then took the control disc and treated it with Auric Illuminator and found the Essence disc came out on top again. I lost my control disc, but it seemed the control and the Auric treated were rather similar. I've had the Auric for some time, but quit using it after a while, only using it to help with discs that would "skip". I guess this is why I quit using it, not much change.
I believe I'll keep using the Essence, but only on the discs I listen to more than others since it is a time consuming process. But so is cleaning vinyl.... |
I've found the better the disc the better the results. In my system it was immediatedly a large jump. Made me love my Luxman amp even more[if that's possible]....:)...do try again and see if it improves fro you. Again ymmv...cheers, bluenose |
I used Cassandra Wilson's "Glamoured", and a Windham Hill sampler '89. Had similar results with both. I'll be using it on many more. I did find out that I didn't need to use as much as I did the first time. A little over-kill there.
I'm going to treat some more right now. |
LOVE Cassandra Wilson. Have a lot of her stuff. I'm just listening to Somi "The Lagos Music Salon" What a superbly recorded cd...Will be interested to hear how it goes...cheers, bluenose |
@Bluenose...thanks! Sounds great. Is it a one time only treatment? |
Many Thanks! All-
no doubt that there has always been hidden or buried music in both CD and SACD. We have much better technology to bring out and make available to our ears the true musical treasures buried in those bits. Hardware goes along way on our journey to musical nirvana.
Keep me posted & Happy Listening! |
Pc123v...Glad it worked for you. I'm assuming it is a one time treatment. But you might ask email Robert Spence at Essence of Music to confirm that. I used my Auric Illuminator only once per disc. I actually treated some discs that had the Auric Illuminator on them and still had an improvement with the Essence of Music. The music just has a continuous flow that wins me over. cheers, Bluenose |
The instructions say further improvements often result with multiple applications. The longer you leave bottle #1 on the disc, there are better results. |
Ahh. I should have read more. Thanks for the update Abucktwoeighty. That's a very serious system you have. Sweet gear indeed!. cheers, bluenose |
FYI I found out that an application of EOM is long-lasting and is believed to offer a permanent improvement. I just treated a blueray of Sade but haven't played it yet. Apparently this is good for dvds also[which makes sense]. Cheers, bluenose |
@Bluenose...Thanks for taking the time to respond. I haven't bought it yet...though I am extremely tempted to. The main thing that is holding me back at the moment is...My system is tilted to the top. Fullness and depth are 2 attributes I am seeking...however...I am trying to avoid adding more HF energy/extension to the overall presentation. I realize it's system dependent...but did you notice more HF energy/extension after treatment? Did SQ get crisper or sharper?
Many Thanks! |
I've noticed that I'm hearing a lot more of the music that I was missing before. I've been playing discs I've heard numerous times and found that I didn't recognize some of the songs playing because they were so different. For the better. Likey more and more... |
Hi, Pc123v. To answer your question let me explain about my speakers. My system is modest, a rare Luxman L503S, Roxan Zerxes TT, Oppo 105 and I had the Newform Research r8-2's for a long time. A year ago two of my audio friend arrived with the Aero 6's from Cambridge with the BMR drivers and as good as the ribbons were the aeros were what I had to have. They each preferred the Aeros and were shocked at how good they performed. Note, I do use them on IsoAcoustics stands[a must for this speaker]IMO. Even so I can hear more front to back depth from top to bottom. I can show a coherence and flow that was missing until revealed. Now I realize cd is different from analogue but each is good in its own right. I haven't had as much fun listening to music in a long time. Hope that helps. I do use Gershman levation devices and all Audio Sensibility cabeling and power boxes and deicated circuit. You will hear more note fullness with this product. |
So, what do you think the stuff is doing to the disc, you know, to be able to get more info from the disc? Just curious... |
I use Shinola which is not touted as a "treatment" but as a cleaning fluid. Works quite well for that.
Out of curiosity; has anyone ever tried Renaissance* wax (English I believe) polish on a CD? I have some that I use
for other purposes, might give it a shot on a CD.
*acid free micro-crystalline wax
|
@Abucktwoeighty...Hello. Would appreciate it very much if you would be so kind as to give some feedback too on the Essence of Music kit. I'll ask the same question that I asked Bluenose...
"My system is tilted to the top. Fullness and depth are 2 attributes I am seeking...however...I am trying to avoid adding more HF energy/extension to the overall presentation. I realize it's system dependent...but did you notice more HF energy/extension after treatment? Did SQ get crisper/sharper?"
Thanks! |
I haven't found extension, but more clarity across the board. As I listen to more treated discs I find they have more information available. I'm hearing many things I didn't in the past making the tracks sound more alive. From the top to the bottom the music sounds more defined. I'm hearing lower bass more clearly in areas I didn't notice was there prior to the treatment. I'm hearing a lot of percussion in the midband I didn't notice before. I think it just allows everything equal space to shine where areas where muddied over before. Like standing at the end of a long hallway hearing the tunes, then walking into the room difference. |
Abucktwoeighty has a very fine system. What he is reporting is very similar to what I hear over my smaller system. Do read his comments as I find them very accurate. Thanks again to all the discussion. I never realized cd could be this much plain old fun to listen to.....regards, bluenose |
@Bluenose & Abucktwoeight...Thank you guys so much for your help in taking the time to explain. Really appreciate it. |
Got to thinking about what Geoff asked. What is being left on the disc after buffing, leaving no residue? The first thing that came to mind was putting RainX on my windshield. RainX says it seals microscopic pores of glass with a super-slick, non-stick invisible barrier. So...
I have 2 Freedy Johnston/This Perfect World cd's, one is control, the other RainX treated. As I was treating the disc, I noticed my fingers felt slippery, slick like when I used the EOM. After playing one, then the other over and over again, I noticed no change whatsoever. Hoped for a change, but alas...would have been a cheap tweak if... |
The word invisible can be a little bit misleading since the way CDs work is based on several things, not the least of which are laser wavelength and width, geometry of the disc and CD transport, the index of refraction of polycarbonate and the transparency of the polycarbonate layer of the disc -which is in fact not perfectly transparent. The transparency of polycarbonate is only around 90% or so so even if a particular CD treatment is absolutely transparent to the laser light (infrared) the clear layer is still 90% transparent at best. One would also prefer a CD treatment NOT to affect the Index of Refraction of the polycarbonate layer since that could aftect the geometry that has all been worked out already, no? |
