Herbie’s Super Black Hole CD Mat - Wow!


I just received the Herbie’s Audio Lab Super Black Hole CD mat in mail. It’s a little black disc that fits atop a CD which has silicon on one side (the side that touches the CD) and carbon fiber on the top. I’ve only listened to a few songs (electronic genre) and my first impression was simply “Wow!” I’m hearing so much further into the recording. I’m hearing the ambience much better. Notes have more texture. Imaging seems to have improved. On one track, there is a sound that is panned to the right and repeats three times. I thought it was identical on each note, but with the CD mat it’s easy to hear that on the second note, it actually moves 6 inches towards the center of the soundstage and then back out to the right. It’s always fun to rediscover your music when you find a tweak you enjoy. 
From their website, this is how they say it works:

“By reducing micro-vibration in the CD spin during playback, laser-reading error is potentially reduced. (Error correction in audio CD discs is not perfect; it is algorithm-based "guessing," not binary like in data CDs). By damping the disc/clamp interface, micro-vibrations generated by spinning discs are hindered, keeping them from permeating throughout the player where capacitors, op-amps, micro-processors, and other sensitive parts can be adversely affected.”

I can’t confirm whether or not that’s the whole story to how it works, but I’m convinced it does something amazing. I will report back after I listen to some more music of other genres.
128x128mkgus

Showing 6 responses by ieales

The SID has equally bogus claims. If light is reflected from the label, it can't be neutralized by the SID. Additionally, shining a red laser at green surface does not result in no reflections.

I know a little about light. I was Senior Software Engineer at Photo Research, Inc. 
Disc stabilizers have been around since the 80’s. Monster Cable DISCUS+, DeMat. Both discontinued, but still effective.

To hear Mr Kait tell it, every playback iteration should be radically different. They weren’t in the 80’s and are less so today. It’s simple to prove that they aren’t. It’s a non-issue for properly set up systems.

The light level in the player relative to the photo detector level is next to nothing. I’m fairly certain Mr Kait’s NDM absorbs nothing extremely well.
I would guess that a CDT can make multiple reads to try to read error free data. It may change speed in which case, any additional rotational mass would probably be a negative.
Enid Lumley  - I'll never forget the first thing I read of hers. I thought "Now there's a looney!"

IIRC, she claimed shining flashlight at Maggies altered the sound.
until I started experimenting with tweaks myself
some of us were tweaking before HP & TAS... they sure as blazed didn't invent it and in some regards are partially responsible for today's lunacy