Forty bucks well spent....


Looking through an old thread about CD treatments, I saw a reference to a product by Audience called "Auric Illuminator." It consists of a black pen to be used on the outside edge of the CD as well as the inside of the hole, and a gel like liquid which is applied to both sides of the disc, and then polished off with special cloths, which are provided.
I had used Finyl brand CD treatment many years ago, and thought it had some positive effect. Anyway, without boring readers or myself with adjectives and hyperbole, I have to say that this product makes a positive sonic improvement that is easy to hear.
I really did not want to shell out $40.00 plus shipping for a cheap pen and a bottle of liquid, but it was more than worth it. For those of us who are still using silver discs, I can't imagine a better way to spend so little and get so much.
I will make the usual disclaimers: I am not affiliated in any way with Audience or the sale of their products.
128x128roxy54
The green pens by ( CD Stop Light ) are the most effective. We did a test, simply by using different markers on a piece of paper then hitting them with a lazer pointer.
Tmsorosk, What happend next after you hit a piece of paper with lazer pointer?
Marakanetz,
I still have several hundred CDs that were treated with the green CD Stoplight pen, and it is effective. The biggest change with the Auric Illuminator comes from the coating that you put on the CD and then polish off.
07-23-12: Marakanetz
Tmsorosk, What happend next after you hit a piece of paper with lazer pointer?
yeah, I want to know the answer to this question as well. I.E. what is the figure of merit to know which pen colour is better?
Did you measure the amount of reflection from each colour? OR, did you shine the laser on the line of colour & observe how much the laser light twinkled?
...also mention the way you 'hit' paper with laser pointer: Is it with light or with pointer itself?
All very amusing, but you really ought to try this product. I don't even pretend to understand how or why it works, and I don't really care. All that I know is...it works!
I used to use a permanent marker pen on my CDs. Upgrades made this practice redundant and I removed the marker with alcohol.

A word of caution. A problem arose when the spin of my transport caused some of the color to appear outside the transport drawer. I suspect the same thing could be happening on the inside of the transport, as well. Besides the issues of cleanliness and possible damage to the mechanism there is the issue of resale.
Sabah wrote,

"A word of caution. A problem arose when the spin of my transport caused some of the color to appear outside the transport drawer. I suspect the same thing could be happening on the inside of the transport, as well."

Most likely that's quantum mechanics in action.
I tried this product years ago. While others might find it useful, IMO it is nothing to write home about.
Perhaps I should be cautious labeling my burned CDs with permanent marker. What is the best to use to mark CDs?
In my 20 yr $4 mil(just kidding) test program for some reason it seems to me that the cd's that are not see through, or have a good light block by the label side do not benefit from my cd mat. The others that you can hold up to the light and easily see light through them are benefited quite a bit from my cd mat. Painting the edges I never noticed improvement. Micro smooth from mapleshade I did notice improvement also. Thats just me though, my ears are weird, I look funny and I think I live in a crooked house, and I feed my dog human food sometimes.