Tweaks

"In all fairness to the 'other school of thought', some of the science associated with tweaks is a little .... weak? Solid State Microphonics?"

Microphonic resonance in SS circuits (caused by fluctuating electrostatic forces in silicon chips and PCB traces)is a recognized scientific phenomenon. (Do a search on "Resonister.") I just finished treating all the chipsets and traces in my CDP with an anti-resonance paint that supposedly contains dense iridium. The improvement was astonishing and on par with prior circuit mods and piece parts upgrades.

Magfan, the whitepaper concerns electrotstriction and electrically-induced thermal expansion effects in monolithic silicon. In the experiment a tiny cantilever attached perpendicularly to a monolithic chip vibrated in various fundamentals and overtones, depending on the shape of the cantilever. The purpose of the resonister(unrelated to our discussion here) was to harness this electrically-induced mechanical energy. But for the purposes of discussion, the experiment proves that monolithics do vibrate from within--and thus propagate microphonics.

Now as to the benefit of applying an "anti-resonance" coating to the top of a silicon chip, I can only suggest that one try Uniko AVM as I did and assess the results. This mystery product is rumored to contain iridium, but as it is also represented as non-conductive when dry, perhaps the attribution is disingenious. In any case after applying it variously to clock oscillator, DAC, and numerous VLSI chips in the transport section, I heard what I heard: a substantial improvement in resolution, pitch & timbre, spatiality, and elimination of the last trace of synthetic "digital" sound that afflicts even a top CDP. One of the best (and simplest) tweaks that I've encountered.