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TAS Recommended CD Tweak….


In The August issue of The Absolute Sound, RH gives a glowing review of a product from Digital Systems & Solutions – “UltraBit Platinum Optical Impedance Matching Disc Treatment System.” According to RH, he was floored and, “….This wasn’t a subtle difference; there was a wholesale increase in apparent resolution, space, clarity, soundstage dimensions, and vividness.”
Apparently, this is a liquid solution that is applied to CDs and DVDs ($65/bottle).

Regardless of the whole “advertising thing,” I don’t believe someone like RH would put his reputation on the line by giving a bogus review. I wonder what, “This wasn’t a subtle difference…” means to the average person’s ears?

Also, in the same article, RH makes the statement, “…Similarly, it’s incontrovertible that a CD-R burned from a CD sounds better than the original CD.” I did not know this. Have any of you come to the same conclusion?
2chnlben

Showing 7 responses by eldartford

eldartford
4,262 posts
 
I would like to see a bit-for-bit comparison. If the bits are the same RH was fooled.
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Racamuti...When a CD experiences a data reading error it does not just fill in with average of adjacent data. (This is a common misconception). The CD is encoded with a CRC error correcting code so that the garbled data is recovered as if it had never been messed up. I suggest you read up on error correcting encoding.
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Shadorne...Yes. If the error correction can't hack it data is interpolated. Not the greatest, but preferable to aborting the disc if it happens once or twice. I didn't mention that because it clouds the issue, and it ain't supposed to happen unless the CD disc is badly damaged. The RS code is configured to reliably correct errors to the extent they are expected from the hardware, and to handle most kinds of disc damage.
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Stilljd...Your understanding is flawed. Error correction is 100 percent up to the point where there are more errors than the code is set up for. The link that Shadorne provided is pretty good.

Another point...If an error occurs there is no extra time required to correct it. (Some have suggested that error correction causes the dreaded jitter). All the data with or without errors runs through the algorithm all the time.
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Geoffkait...That isn't clear at all. A read error is a read error whether it is due to scattered light or a scratch on the disk. The error correction algorithm doesn't care.
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Newbee...Wana buy an algorithm? :-)
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Racamuti...Error correcting codes are really interesting, and much more widespread than you might think. IMHO the most dramatic example is in the transmission of data from distant space probes using tiny transmitter power. For example, transmissions from a probe in orbit around Saturn can "drop out" for about a minute, and still all the data can be recovered intact. Of course, to do this a great deal of bandwidth is devoted to the redundancy needed for error recovery.

As I have said before, error correction is not a band aid for transmission errors. It is an integral part of the Hardware/Software data transmission system. Error correction makes it possible to operate the hardware much faster than if it had to be error free, and even though some bandwidth is used up for the error correction capability, the overall result is higher bandwidth.
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