SACD Warning--"Do not use liquid cleaning..." ?

There are some cleaners that are fine with most SACDs, notably Shine Ola and L'Art du Son. Others, you have to be careful with. I've used Mikrosmooth and never really liked it, sonically or logistically. No matter how hard I tried to avoid it, MS always left fine scratches on my discs.

Interesting. I never heard of this before. I've got about a dozen SACDs and none contain this warning (Polydor, Heads-Up, Columbia, Chronicle, etc labels). I use CD2000 CD Clean-it Kit and it works fine all CDs and DVDs at least so far. Will check from now on. Thanks.

Two of my SACDs that have this warning are on the Telarc label (Al Di Meola's _Flesh on Flesh_ and Ensemble Galilie's _From the Isles to the Courts_). The disc surface definately looks different on these.

I thought I remembered the instruction sheet for Auric Illuminator saying not to use it on Sonopress SACDs. Unfortunately, I can't find it the sheet.

My _Dark Side of the Moon_ SACD does not come with the warning but has a similar looking surface, which made me wonder if it has the same fragility issues.

Hooper: I used to get scratches with MS as well. But I realized it was the polish pads, not the product itself, that was causing the scratches. So now I just spread it around with the moistened end of my index finger. No more scratches.

Okay, I found this on the Auric Illuminator website, which seems to answer my orignial question:

Auric Illuminator is not compatible with early made hybrid SACDs made by Sonopress. You can identify SONOPRESS SACDs by a marking around the inner spindle circumference.

As of May 2003 Sonopress states "now we are using other materials and it is no longer necessary to have a special frontcoating. These discs have no sticker (warning against topical treatments) and you can clean the laserentry side carefully with special liquids like a normal CD." Therefore it is safe to apply Auric Illuminator to new Sonopress SACDs.

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I'm not sure what the "special frontcoating" was, but apparently that was the problem.

elizabeth

Thanks for sharing. I suspect that certain branded cleaner/polish are more abrasive than others. On the flip-side, possibly a detergent based product is to blame.  Happy Listening!

I clean all my discs with distilled water and a tiny amount of pure liquid soap, just to break the surface tension of the mold release

I used to use various cleaners and polishers but over time they oxidize and roll everything off. Not a big eal, as simple to wash, repeat

I admit that I never clean discs unless they won’t track.  With CDs I use isopropyl alcohol and wipe with the tissue that opticians sell for Frac lenses and that has always worked.  Although I own over a hundred SACDs I don’t remember having to clean one until I had loaned a recording of Mahler/5 to a fellow Audiophile who wanted to explore both the Composer and SACDs (Zander/Philharmonia on Telarc)).  When he returned it he said that he had cleaned it with some special highly touted commercial cleaner that was expensive and he only reserved for his finest discs.
  The disc was unplayable, in 3 different players, on either the SACD or the CD layer.  After letting it sit for a few days, with no improvement, I tried isopropyl and it was fine.

This is the first time that I have read about this issue. I still buy a lot of used CDs and I’m often shocked at the condition. Fingerprints are nothing compared to the ones that look like they have been walked on. I use Novus products to clean them. Novus #1 is for "Clean & Shine", and the #3 is the "Heavy Scratch Remover." I have no connection to the product line but I have used them for many years. Candidly, I have not used either of them on my SACDs. When I find them, which is rare, they are usually well cared for by the previous owner. I’ll have to read the label if I ever decide to clean any of my own SACDs. Thanks for the warning!

I find that Windex works very well.

Turtle Wax (for cars)

Another +vote for Windex.

Happy Listening!

I use lense cleaning solution from 35mm cameras and that super soft microfiber cloth that comes with fine watches, phones, laptops etc. Never an issue.