Ok, I should have researched this topic first:
"Tuning" CD's
Shaving Compact Discs to improve the sound (?!)
This Youtube will trigger the usual chorus of self-appointed audio rationalists, but I have a much simpler workaround that involves simply sanding the edge of the CD and then blackening the edge of the CD with a magic marker - all in the service of nullifying incident laser reflections bouncing off the glossy edges of CD's.
The results were so impressive that I now perform this procedure on all of my CD's. I should add that my system plays CD's only which are burned from downloaded flac files. The files are converted to .wav files in JRiver and burned at the slowest speed my desktop drive can achieve.
Please let us know what the you hear or do not hear.
I should also point out that the sonic graphs displayed the the Youtuber for comparison between the treated and untreated CD's are not symmetrical if you look closely.
Showing 7 responses by bolong
Then this has been a thing for quite some time! I had no idea there were markers made for the task. The point of first sanding the edge is to ensure that the edge is matte black - not gloss black which would just create a black mirror. What I noticed immediately is that treble glare was reduced most noticeably on piano and higher pitched wind instruments. There was also a widening of sound stage and better separation with longer decay. I have a fairly resolving system. Were the pens you used actually matte? Looking on Amazon I found one marker advertised as "matte," but the reviews said it was actually gloss. I don't see anything odd about this idea. It is not a violation of the sacrosanct rebuttal that "it's always and only ones and zeroes." The theory in play here is that the transmission of data is being smeared. Thanks for your replies.
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It occurred to me last night that simply sanding (i.e. frosting) the CD edge should be plenty sufficient to stop reflections. No paint or marker necessary. Since I am a furniture maker and have the requisite tools in my shop it shouldn't be difficult to make a CD edge sanding setup on my lathe thus speeding up the process and allowing for batch processing. 100 grit "coated" paper (to reduce grit contamination) is what I have been using. It is available from all the box stores or Amazon. |
The plot thickens. Lesson Explainer - Infrared Radiation "In the other direction, rough surfaces such as fabric or cloth will not reflect IR well, instead absorbing it nicely." "An object with strong reflectivity will reflect more IR, meaning it must be weakly reflecting to absorb more IR." "Besides color, the second factor affecting how much IR is absorbed or emitted is the reflectivity of a surface. A highly reflective or glossy material, such as cut obsidian, will poorly absorb and emit IR, even though it may be a deep black color."
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I am running a Jay's Audio CDT2 mk3 - not exactly a slouch. Would love to have an upper end Esoteric one day, but $15,000 and up is beyond me for the time being. Not using "mats" - just abrading the edges to stop IR reflections. Finding it "worth it," The only added cost is a little time spent abrading |
Well looky here - a guy who thought of sanding CD edges 13 years ago. I have also just started using "Auric Illuminator" which does indeed clarify CD output though I am not sure it works the way the manufacturer claims. It may simply be cleaning off age related chemical plastic degradation. Not to belabor the obvious here but these CD tweaks should also be performed on blank CD's prior to burning music data on them - not after. We want to start with superior data collection on our discs.
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