DCC Archive tweaks

I can understand someone seeking the opinions of others before plunking down a couple hundred bucks to try out a new "tweak." That only makes sense.
And I can also understand the individual that insists "try it (the tweak) yourself and make up your own mind," although that's not always as easy (or affordable) as it sounds.
The real dilemma, however (IMO), is that everyone has a different system with different strengths and weaknesses. Consequently, each system is going to react differently to each tweak.
Therefore, there is some truth to "trying the tweaks yourself and making up your own mind," however, I don't think it hurts to see what others are saying before you decide to try the tweak.
-Jon "Therefore, there is some truth to trying the tweaks" Ligon
...say that fast a couple times

 

tweaks------I see most of you are trying to tweak your cd playback system. Ever wonder why???? I used to try everything too. Until I wised up and went back to ANALOG. VINYL. That's right, you think I'm kidding? Try it. Go ahead. Compare any cd to its vinyl counterpart. Just don't use a crappy radio shack style turntable. A basic dual or old thorens will do. Will blow you away. I used to compare all my DCC gold cd's to the DCC vinyl. NO COMPARISON. The vinyl from DCC blew away their gold cd's----EVERYTIME. So the best tweak---throw your f**king cd player out the window and listen to what your missing on analog! Don't tell me I don't know. My cd playback system was over $3000. My thorens blew it away.

 

Obviously, I'm a big analogue fan, and I'll say over and over, the suprises you can get from even simple, common vinyl releases are quite staggering as apposed to what people pay and hear from CD playback. You don't have to buy a Rega, a decent Thorens would do, just like Sam said. The vinyl jungle, once you go full-on, it's very rewarding. I love my CDs to death, but having and appreciating analogue, weather it be vinyl or maybe a decent 1/2 track stereo reel, the sound that was engineered long ago was done suprisingly well. Discussion was a short time ago, when they uncovered a lot of very old reels. Even the Living Stereo and commercial 3 3/4 IPS or 7 1/4 IPS reels made from 50's-70s will blow your head off, if you try it out, and the investment is sometimes very low when you look around.

But still CDs are generally like anything else. Anyone can make OK spagettii sauce. Few can make it really good. Simple example.

 

Originally posted by Paul L.:

[*] I find shielded power cords isolates them from the audio signal & vice versa.

[*] Lots of power cords include power conditioning. It's only that some is more esoteric. EG: Shunyata power snakes use semiconditive nature of sand as well as microphonic absorbtion to condition the AC signal. OTOH, you wuold prefer the conventional Granite Audio approach which uses a balun of each end to run balanced AC line.

[*] I don't know about really expensive outlets, but a solid non oxidizing contact means less in line capacitance.

I know not of which you speak entirely.

[*] However, I do use Marigo:Gemstone cones under my SS components & with a Marigo:Bearfeet accompanyment under my amp. The result is very fast sonics.

[*] I also use AudioPrism magnets on my power cords as an additional power conditioning. IME, they render 90% of the black background of a ferrite beed without any of the associated dynamic theft.

If you are instead speaking of stuff running a demagnitizer across a CD, try recording an old CD onto one side of a casette tape. Then, place the same CD in the freezer over night. Once the CD returns to room temperature, record that version on the other side of the tape. You will notice that the chilled CD sounds more distinct. This has nothing to do with cryogenics. This has to do with the fact that the CD acts like a one sided capacitor. Over the years, the foil has accummulated a static charge from the air friction of spinning. This in turn soaked into the polycarbonate. Chilled material sheds charge. Don't ask me how but it does ... just like freezing water distills out dissolved air as anyone who chilled soda in the freezer too long will tell you. Again, don't ask me how, but the E-field seems to audibly affect the EM radiation (laser light). Normally, I'd think that over the distances involved it wouldn't matter. But, the result is audible on old CDs as they restore.

[ November 12, 2001: Message edited by: Mart ]

 

You're missing the point. Who doesn't tweak vinyl as well? Who doesn't clean a record & needle before paying, or calibrate the TT speed, or use mechanical isolation devices, or TT pads, or upgrade cartridges, etc?

 

Dave, you assume too much. I had an extra magic brick I purchased 15 years ago for $5 and I tried it on top of my Cd player - it worked. I'm curious, why do you care how much I spend on tweaks?

 

Randy W.,
Personally I couldn't careless how much anybody spends on what tweaks. My point was and still is that what you achieved by placing the brick on top can be done for next to nothing using common things. Besides people have been known to spend up to $60.00 on the exact same brick that you got for $5.00. I've never heard of anyone getting it for that cheap before congrats.

 

Is there a web site for the magic brick? Thanks for any info.

Mike

 

Originally posted by SAM:
>> I used to compare all my DCC gold cd's to the DCC vinyl. NO COMPARISON. The vinyl from DCC blew away their gold cd's----EVERYTIME. <<

Excellent point Sam, but I disagree with your take on tweaking. Vinyl actually responds much better to tweaking than CD. Every increment you can improve isolation is audible in vinyl. Every increment you can improve power, cartridge, arm, etc. will be audible. Compare that to CD where you come up against that digital *wall* you can't penetrate. Ultimately you just hear the wall even more clearly, and I think that's why tweaks aren't more popular and are so misunderstood. CD just isn't that great an audio medium. . .folks have just become so used to it that they don't know any better.

>> So the best tweak---throw your f**king cd player out the window and listen to what your missing on analog! Don't tell me I don't know. My cd playback system was over $3000. My thorens blew it away. <<

Well don't look now Sam but there's a new digital in town and it's called SACD. I'm not saying you'll like it more than vinyl, but I'm saying digital has caught up to vinyl and all the advantages of CD can now be realized without sacrificing that gorgeous analog-like sound. And yes, the more you tweak with SACD, the deeper into the music you hear. That digital "wall" has been obliterated.

Now if there was only more SACD software available. . .

 

Make It Big and Thriller. What more do you need?

 

Well, you know what just came out today on SACD--Roger Waters: In the Flesh Live
2 hours worth of classic Floyd tunes is just what the doctor ordered.

 

I guess my point was with all the tweaks we have seen to "cure" digital problems. That was my hot point. Certainly, analog tweaks are there and are very real. Digital tweaks may help a little (and I tried many), but after comparing my cd system (with all the tweaks placed upon it)with my old thorens, it was very eye opening and discourging to find that the "old" format was blowing digital away. And that was with a cheap cartridge and cheap thorens! I have since upgraded to a VPI,etc.

And yes, SACD, from what I have read, is truly better than the 16 bit format. But what is one to do, go out and repurchase all my favorite music once again? Some day I will have a player once again that hopefully will play all the formats. But unless it blows away my vinyl sonically, I'll just be buying new recordings that ARE NOT available in vinyl.