Taming edge from remastered CDs?

Agree with Sabai, a good power conditioning solution makes ALL your CD's sound right. For me, it not only "took the edge off", but in fact made all digital playback sound like analog, and I mean finally and once and for all, not like the empty promises of so many CDP makers. Regards.

Percentage of CD's in my collection that were noticeably bright or edgy before a successful amount of power conditioning was applied: 30-40%.

After: Z-E-R-O!!!

Understand?? :)

Also have a digital, 10-band parametric EQ in my rig...an otherwise extremely valuable tool that, for this problem, did next to nothing.

Actually, the idea that digital edginess or harshness must therefore be the result of a digital problem is currently one of the biggest myths in all of audio. The recognition of the impact of successful power conditioning solutions on this problem is just not, so far, all that widespread, although it has begun to change.

Audioengr wrote: "You have just never heard a low jitter system, and if you did, there was probabl an active preamp in the way creating so much distortion and compression that you did not hear the benefits of low jitter".


FWIW, I use an Oknyo DX-C390 CD changer as a transp. (certainly nothing special there), out via a Mapleshade Double Helix, digital RCA to a Monarchy DIP Combo, out via another Helix, to a Ric-Schultz-modified, diffrentially balanced Begringer DEQ2496. From there, out via balanced Mapleshade Excaliburs to Goldpoint SMD series attenuators installed in the rear of a pair of Monarchy SM-70 Pro's as balanced monoblocks. A CD-only system with no active pre. I do believe I am hearing the benefits of low jitter.

But, if you thought that I myself was somehow against any and all attempts to employ digital jitter reduction stategies, then I suppose I am pretty much the one to blame for that and I apologize to you for it. What I misfired on when I said that it was the biggest myth in all of audio, and which is what need to seriously amend, was the idea that all those digital strategies were indeed the first and only consideration. I'm of the opinion that, in practice, successful conditioning is just as crucial as digital/mechanical/optical jitter reduction toward overcoming the problem of CD harshness/edginess/brightness in particular.

Audioengr, I do understand what you're saying and you're perfectly right, there are many contributing (purely) digital factors that help with this problem, but I suppose what I'm getting at above is really that many people who've spent a considerable amount of taming things like jitter (and disc treatments and etc) still complain of having this kind of problem. If you want to see what I mean, just visit any thread where people are comparing the turntables they own to their CD solutions (or start your own thread) and see what are saying about the topic. There are a lot of things in play and I certainly don't want to say that the money anyone has spent toward a digital solution is money they never should have spent or anything like that, but a successful amount of power conditioning (whatever that turns out to be) IME turns out to be (provided you do your homework first) generally much cheaper and can completely solve the problem of the digital nasties while also improving the usual parameters involved with that approach (blacker background, better decay, better extension etc). The big problem I see with conditioning is that there is no way on earth anyone can predict or predetermine how much of to use - you end up having to continue to apply it in order to see how things progress, but I managed to effect all the changes I had on my list, plus a few more, for not much over $1K. Are the digital changes you describe relavent? YES. Should they be applied? Probably. Should they be the first thing that most should turn to when addressing this problem? I really don't think so. There is at least one considerably cheaper and more sonically effective alternative.

Ghosthouse, I'm running out of time at the moment, but I'll take all this up again in a few hours.

Audioengr, thanks for tip on the Mac Mini, I've been stumped so far as to the Onkyo's replacement. Don't want to hijack the thread, but, which Mini would be best? (Somewhat unfamiliar with the computer end of things).

Kijanki, I agee with you, there are really 2 different problems like you say, and to a degree I've done both in my rig, but the conditioning had a bigger impact on it and was a bigger bang for the buck. Apologies all around if I got carried away with my first post, but I still think audiophiles ought to be considering both when it comes to the specific problem CD harshness/edginess. It does not get mentioned enough for a variety of reasons.

Ghosthouse, I use a variety of Alan Maher Designs gear, but for a few reasons it can be a bit of a tough recommendation: Alan doesn't believe in the all-in-one-box solutions, he says they physically can't address all the individual sources of noise in the home (which he says is anything and everything that's plugged into the home, even when in sleep mode), so you end up with a bunch of different smaller devices that are scattered throughout the house, but it's both cheaper and more effective at reducing noise because it's a more efficient application. The drawback for most is that you have to be patient and experiment at various places around the home (Alan guides you through all that) and see what works best (that takes anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks even), but if you can get past all that, it's bit like tube rolling - you may be getting into uncharted territory in a sense, but when you hit paydirt, you know it!! There's a little more assurance of a good outcome than with tube rolling, but in the beginning it may feel like it's a little uncertain, it just takes some time.

Regards to all.