Herbie’s Super Black Hole CD Mat - Wow!

My CD treatments include:
1. Sanding the outer and inner edge with sandpaper to reduce shine and reflection.
2. Black the outer and inner edge and the entire top of the CD with flat black opaque paint marker.
3. Apply Ultra bit Platinum Plus to both sides of the disc.
4. Use Herbies Mat.
5. Zap the disc with the now discontinued Mapleshade Ionoclast (like a Zerostat)....removes static.....very, very important...unfortunately, the effect only last 10 minutes of play time.
6. Damp the CD clamp in the player with EAR SD40AL damping material (round with hole in middle).
7. Paint the CD tray with flat black opaque paint.

Doing one thing does not make a whole. You must do multiple treatments to the CD and to the player/etc. to really hear what is on the disc. Sand the outer and inner edge to get rid of the reflections. You must black the edges and the entire top of the disc with flat black opaque paint marker to further stop the laser reflections. You must use Digital Solutions fluid on the CD.....top and bottom (seriously increases resolution). You must demagetize or de static the disc when you play it (effect only lasts about 10 minutes and then you have to do it again....but without destaticing/demagnetizing it sound seriously veiled. Then the choice of mats.....then you must not have a toslink digital out in your player or any other LEDs.....and then there is the feet under the player and the stand it is on and the power cord and then you have to mod the crap out of the player/DAC to really hear what is going on. Every single thing has to be done......which included Perfect Path Technology stuff all over.

Everything has to be done or you are just playing with one filter and adjusting the sound to your system.....even is you do many, many things you still have differences that you have to sort through.....this is not a fixed nor simple nor easy game.

Years ago when we were first sanding and greening the discs a friend had a stock NEC CD player and said that sanding and greening made the CDs sound dull and lacking air. I told him that was because he was listening to the player stock (stock the player had no air or detail). Once you mod the crap out of the player (which is what I did to the same player that was my reference) then sanding and greening just reduce high frequency distortion and there is no loss of air. One thing by itself is just one thing. This game is crazy complicated. For sure, do as much tweaking as you can and tune it to your system and taste. But if you just use a mat without doing a million other things then you do not know what the possibilities are.

Using JUST a mat will not show you what is on the CD......you must tweak and tweak and tweak some more.......the PPT stuff, I just discovered.....oh my God!  It never ends. there is always more.  We are divine eternal infinite love and joy......but what the heck is infinite?  We have to keep ever expanding our love and joy to even get a glimpse.  Same with Audio....it is infinite....can you keep expanding what you know and experience?.

Frank,
Fantastigoric! I think that is a new word...he he I bet you have incredible sound. Our mutual friend Mas has told me of the transformation of your system by adding the PPT stuff. If you seriously modded the player you would have mucho better sound (I am not volunteering) and as good as Herbies feet are, there are mucho better footers.......but, as usual, system matching. You need to try the Digital Solutions CD treatment, sanding and blacking the discs and hopefully the platform your player is on is serious.....I use a combo of bamboo and maple (maple on top) with 4 small inner tubes underneath.....on top is Mad Scientist feet. I hardwire 2 feet of custom balanced cable right out of the modded Oppo and then directly into my dual mono amps (I do have an xlr connector there). Speaker wires hardwired from amp to speakers......no LEDs, only one super fuse. all cables off the floor (an absolute must)..so much left to do....so little time. Feel free to contact me/call me....would be fun to talk. Tweaking is the way!
Ric

What I am saying is that any one tweak will not get you there.....no matter what colors you like.  Just talked to another one of my friends and he likes his Herbies better than his $200 Marigo mat on his modded Oppo 105 used as transport into modded LKS DAC.  It could be that different mats will have different results on different transports.  The modded Oppo has constrained layer material on the CD clamp and blacking on the tray and blacking all around the laser assembly....all improve the sound.

Very nice, Please try lifting the speaker cables (and all cables) off the floor....you can even use cardboard risers....that is what I use. If one of my cables (interconnect, speaker, power or ground) touches the floor for one inch it ruins the sound.  Get rid of binding posts on speaker, remove the xover and mount it externally on damped shelf behind the speaker and mod the crap out of it...oh yeah!  Felt around the mid and high frequency drivers on the speaker.  Always more to do!