CD Tweaks and Longterm Damage

Gordus is correct about the mold release agents used in production of our silvery discs, however, we want to keep the pit area as free of debris and as perfect as we can, (not filled in with wax), if we want the lowest BLER, (BLock Error Rate).

If the pit is filled with wax, it is harder to read and the ECC (Error Correction Circuit) has to decipher what info actually is there. In a case such as this, the BLER is increased and to the point where it is noticeable with average hearing acuity.

The better audiophile labels have BLER reject levels, where if the disc has too high of a BLER, it is destroyed and thrown in the dumpster. FIM and Mobile Fidelity immediately come to mind. As an example, many commercial discs have a BLER around 150, FIM and the old Mo-Fi reject discs above 50.

Filling the pit area will increase the BLER, which will certainly change the sound, but not neccessarily to the better. Think of ECC as you would negative feedback. You can get stability, but it greatly affects resolution.

Also, IME, we don't want to use any product that will leave a film which promote lazer wander, this includes dishwashing soap, as it will increase the BLER.

And, don't use any product containing petroleum distillates, as mentioned by Elizabeth above. It was the petroleum distillates in the Armor All that etched my CD's and ruined them. I think because they are such similar materials, just as certain inner record sleeves will etch your records. Ever see that one?

Be careful folks ...

Jes45,

What do you use & feel is OK to clean &/or "polish" the CD's? Thanks.

Shventus,

I have a friend who works for a major software firm that is in charge of transporting sensitive and trademark data to other divisions throughout the World. Some of the data is BLER sensitive, in other words, he must supply them the data with extremely low BLER.

Thankfully, he is an audiophile of sorts, and agreed to test the various CD treatments that I had around, along with those that a few of our friends had also. In all the products tested, those that did not contain oil and wax and did not leave a film, lowered the BLER "significantly".

He went on to explain that to obtain optimal disc readability, you want the disc as clean as possible, without any film what so ever. That "filling in the pits" with wax and/or oil would lower the readability of the disc and would make the Error Correction Circuit (ECC) work harder in attempt to properly read the data.

We've all heard discs that are scratched, that sound horrible when the player is trying to play the song. The sound is squashed, distorted and not what you'd call high resolution. Some disc damage goes beyond the ability of the ECC and are unreadable, (As were my Armor All treated CD's after a number of years). In cases like this, the BLER is sky high. This said, it makes sense that you'd wouldn't want to use anything that would increase the BLER and make the ECC work harder. As said before, he told me to think of ECC as a variable negative feedback system, which increased with an increased BLER. Films and waxes that cause light scatter will raise the BLER. (Not good)

To answer your question, Shventus, my friend sent back all of the cleaners and treatments to us but one. He kept the Shine Ola.

Amazing Jes45, the same conclusion I came to by treating CD's with several popular products and then listening to music. I settled on Shine Ola the same day the sample arrived.

Gordus,Jes45.
Thanks for the detailed info ,I was on the same wavelengh too.
Guys where can we get the "Shine Ola".I need to try it for myself.
Thanks
Regards