April fool in June ? No this really did work as unbelievable as it may sound !

[cheeseboy]

For a number of years audiophiles have reported improvements in performance after demagnetizing CDs and DVDs. Improved clarity and resolution of fine detail, cleaner top-end and a more developed soundstage are common enhancements. Videophiles offer similar reports of improvement related to picture fidelity, color saturation and detail.

In fairness, for years Audiophiles have talked rubbish about things they have no conception about and things that defy the laws of physics, but are apparently (according to them) real. Just because they say it, doesn't mean it's so...

Sticking a magnet on your face will probably yield the same results

(tongue firmly in cheek btw)....

 

[DocG]

Crikey people have been conned then with transports from the likes of Meridian, Cyrus, Bel Canto -- Dont want to insult you Overdose but I actually think you are wrong - Transports can and do make a difference

If someone can explain how a transport can make an audible difference (other than skipping) then I would be interested to know.

My very cheap, very old CD player can do an admirable good job with scratched discs so it is obviously good at retrieving data.

The blu-ray/dvd/cd combo rewriter drive on my laptop manages to rip (unscratched) discs with 100% confidence and no errors in EAC every time and that is extracting the data at about 10x normal playback speed.

What is an exotic transport going to give me that I'm not getting already?

This article might shed a light. In the introduction of their review of the PS Audio Perfect Wave combo, the authors explain the difference between an audio CD (which they call more analogue than digital) and a data disk (that is strictly digital). Their explanation makes sense to me. The fact that Marja Vandeloo and Henk Boot are audiophiles pur sang, and also "IT specialists who maintain computer systems for large corporate clients" (their disclosure at the 6Moons site) IMO adds to the credibility of this reasoning.

Have a read. It's thought provoking, if nothing less. :read:

 

[abacus]

To those that dont know how digital recordings work it seems logical, however to those of us that do, we can see straight through it and see it is just a bending of the truth (Without actually saying anything incorrect) to promte their products.

Bill

 

[cheeseboy]

Have a read. It's thought provoking, if nothing less. :read:

Interesting read, but I can't help feel that they are trying so hard to convince that cd isn't digital just in order to sell something which basically rips the track to storage then plays it back thus magically curing all issues associated with those nasty "analogue" cd's.

all imho of course

edit - just seen bill thinks the same, glad I'm not the only cynical one here

 

[Overdose]

Have a read. It's thought provoking, if nothing less. :read:

So in essence (once you've cut through the BS and making a mountain out of a molehill situation regarding perceived problems and real ones long since resolved) CD players are horribly compromised and what you really need is a cheap computer drive to read the 'analogue' discs?

Is that about it?

No surprise that there is an expensive audiophile solution (using a cheap computer drive) to everyones CD playing woes at the end.

 

[DocG]

To those that dont know how digital recordings work it seems logical, however to those of us that do, we can see straight through it and see it is just a bending of the truth (without actually saying anything incorrect) to promote their products.

Interesting read, but I can't help feel that they are trying so hard to convince that cd isn't digital just in order to sell something which basically rips the track to storage then plays it back thus magically curing all issues associated with those nasty "analogue" cd's.

They're just the reviewers of the stuff, they don't sell anything. Reading your replies, I guess audiophoolery overruled their IT knowledge... (how should I know, I'm just one of those that don't know how digital recordings work! :shifty

 

[DocG]

So in essence (...) CD players are horribly compromised and what you really need is a cheap computer drive to read the 'analogue' discs?

Maybe that's why a MacMini into a DAC works so well, I dunno... After all, I'm just one of those that don't know how digital recordings work.

 

[Overdose]

edit - just seen bill thinks the same, glad I'm not the only cynical one here

Far from it.

 

[matthewpiano]

Another sceptic here. In the realms of Hans Christian Andersen if you ask me.

 

[CnoEvil]

I believe the transport makes a difference, possibly due to aspects like:

- Design and implemntation of the power supply

- Isolation of sensitive components

- Pollution from moving parts ie. Electrical and magnetic, RFI

- Handling of Jitter / Accuracy of Clock

 

[davedotco]

I believe the transport makes a difference, possibly due to aspects like:

- Design and implemntation of the power supply

- Isolation of sensitive components

- Pollution from moving parts ie. Electrical and magnetic, RFI

- Handling of Jitter / Accuracy of Clock

I assume we are talking about 'real time' CD transports, these are electromechanical / optical transports that, in effect, only have one try at reading the data. Depending on the quality, the alignment and the isolation of the mech, some data will be missed and the 'gaps' filled by interpolated data. In effect the data stream is no longer 'bit perfect'.

Some transports will miss more data and rely on the error correction more than others, at some point the proportion of interpolated data may become substantial and quite possibly audible.

Add to this the effects of jitter and noise on the data stream and it is reasonably easy to see how the outputs of different transports will be different, just how audible these differences will be is of course another matter.

 

[matt49]

I believe the transport makes a difference, possibly due to aspects like:

- Design and implemntation of the power supply

- Isolation of sensitive components

- Pollution from moving parts ie. Electrical and magnetic, RFI

- Handling of Jitter / Accuracy of Clock

I assume we are talking about 'real time' CD transports, these are electromechanical / optical transports that, in effect, only have one try at reading the data. Depending on the quality, the alignment and the isolation of the mech, some data will be missed and the 'gaps' filled by interpolated data. In effect the data stream is no longer 'bit perfect'.

Some transports will miss more data and rely on the error correction more than others, at some point the proportion of interpolated data may become substantial and quite possibly audible.

Add to this the effects of jitter and noise on the data stream and it is reasonably easy to see how the outputs of different transports will be different, just how audible these differences will be is of course another matter.

Dave, good to hear from you.

Even if the effects aren't consciously audible, there's plenty of evidence from psychoacoustics to suggest we can pick them up subliminally, and that they can create unpleasant physiological sensations such as fatigue.

Matt

 

[davedotco]

I believe the transport makes a difference, possibly due to aspects like:

- Design and implemntation of the power supply

- Isolation of sensitive components

- Pollution from moving parts ie. Electrical and magnetic, RFI

- Handling of Jitter / Accuracy of Clock

I assume we are talking about 'real time' CD transports, these are electromechanical / optical transports that, in effect, only have one try at reading the data. Depending on the quality, the alignment and the isolation of the mech, some data will be missed and the 'gaps' filled by interpolated data. In effect the data stream is no longer 'bit perfect'.

Some transports will miss more data and rely on the error correction more than others, at some point the proportion of interpolated data may become substantial and quite possibly audible.

Add to this the effects of jitter and noise on the data stream and it is reasonably easy to see how the outputs of different transports will be different, just how audible these differences will be is of course another matter.

Dave, good to hear from you.

Even if the effects aren't consciously audible, there's plenty of evidence from psychoacoustics to suggest we can pick them up subliminally, and that they can create unpleasant physiological sensations such as fatigue.

Matt

Morning, been away for a couple of weeks on (and mostly under) the Red Sea on a diving holiday, just to prove that I 'have a life'.

My posts explains why I think CD transports can sound different and the reasons have little to do with digital audio, just old fashioned electro mechanical engineering and the difficulty of extracting data from a rapidly spinning disc.

These differences have become apparent over many years experience but they are difficult to rationalise and on occasions difficult to repeat reliably. Of course to someone who is not using them every day these differences can be easily swamped by level differences and, in my experience, digital interconnects of the RCA spdif variety.

Bear in mind that these differences are different in every way from the differences that may be caused by jitter or out of band noise and can not be improved by the use of a better dac, once the data stream is corrupted in this way I do not think it can be 'repaired' in the same way that jitter can be reduced by re-clocking (for example).

 

[matt49]

Morning, been away for a couple of weeks on (and mostly under) the Red Sea on a diving holiday, just to prove that I 'have a life'.

My posts explains why I think CD transports can sound different and the reasons have little to do with digital audio, just old fashioned electro mechanical engineering and the difficulty of extracting data from a rapidly spinning disc.

These differences have become apparent over many years experience but they are difficult to rationalise and on occasions difficult to repeat reliably. Of course to someone who is not using them every day these differences can be easily swamped by level differences and, in my experience, digital interconnects of the RCA spdif variety.

Bear in mind that these differences are different in every way from the differences that may be caused by jitter or out of band noise and can not be improved by the use of a better dac, once the data stream is corrupted in this way I do not think it can be 'repaired' in the same way that jitter can be reduced by re-clocking (for example).

Yes, I find that entirely plausible.

Matt

 

[MajorFubar]

Crikey people have been conned then with transports from the likes of Meridian, Cyrus, Bel Canto -- Dont want to insult you Overdose but I actually think you are wrong - Transports can and do make a difference

If someone can explain how a transport can make an audible difference (other than skipping) then I would be interested to know.

I did explain how it might, on the first page. Fact you didn't read it, or don't believe it, isn't my fault.