Bedini clarifier works good look around paid $755 new for mine |
Bulk tape eraser from Radio Shack works better and cost is about 30 bucks. Hold eraser about 1/4 inch from CD, hit the button and slowly move the CD away from the eraser about 3 feet and you're done. Makes a noticable difference in the sound. Try it, you'll like it! |
Aluminium foil is the cheapest!! Close to nothing.
Fold a piece big enough to put the CD in between and slide one hand over the foil. It's so simple you won't believe but it really works. The aluminium just takes the static charge away - nothing else do the pricey units.There isn't actually "MAGNETISM" in a plastic disc.....
Good luck - try it - you will like the result! |
I have the Bedini Ultra and the RS bulk demag unit, but don't use either on a regular basis. Any improvement is very subtle. The very expensive Furutech unit is supposed to be the best demag available for CDs, Cable Co may let you try one if you are interested. There is a review in Stereophile on the Furutech, also at 6 Moons:
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/audioreviews.html |
I bought Bedini for $150 and sold it for $50. I don't miss it... |
Aida w, maybe there are ferrite compounds in a cd.
At least Furtuch claims it and I hope somone will be able to shed some more light on it:
"Furutech claims that impurities in the weak-magnet 99% aluminum alloy of any CD's storage side contain strong-magnet elements of iron, nickel and cobalt -- as does the ink on the label side --that are inductively magnetized while repeatedly spinning inside a player. This is said to inhibit the laser's ability to pick up signal and instead triggers the error correction interpolation mechanism for reduced S/N ratio." |
feel the same way about the bedini.. doesn't do a thing to the sound for me.. if it does, i must not have good enough hearing.. |
Sounds like a bunch of hooey to me. |
I originally purchased the Bedini Clarifier. This was the first version, which was hand held and powered by batteries. I slapped a disc on it and held the switch, powering the device for the recommended time period. I think that this was something like 10 or 15 seconds if i recall correctly. Popped the disc into one of my disc players and could tell no difference whatsoever.
Oh well, it was only a few bucks. Like most of my other "gadgets", i had purchased it used at a "great price". After giving it several more tries over an extended period of time, i pretty much let the Clarifier collect dust as it seemed to do nothing other than waste my time and eat batteries.
Quite a bit later, i ran across someone that was selling a ton of gear. I purchased quite a few of the items in kind of a "bulk" transaction. In with some of the gear was the desk-top version of the Bedini, the "Ultra Clarifier". This is a larger desk top version of the hand held Clarifier. It does not run off of batteries but is instead powered from a wall mounted transformer ( aka "wall wart" ). You push the disc down onto the spindle of the unit and hit a little red button. The "Ultra Clarifier" spins the disc for an extended period of time compared to what was recommended with the hand held version. If i can remember correctly, it is slightly over 1 minute before the disc is ready to be removed.
Upon trying a few discs using the desk top model, i noticed that the noise floor was lower and there was less "digital glare". Midrange sounded more liquid and the overall presentation was smoother. I liked the results and continued to use it.
I mentioned that i had one of these units to my Dad and he laughed. My Dad basically said that i could have gotten a more powerful and more versatile "demagnetizer" from Radio Shack for less money and then made some smart comments about it not doing anything to begin with. My Brother made note of the "less than supportive" comments that my Dad had made and basically remained silent. I never mentioned what i thought that i had heard or that i also had the earlier hand held version and had a negative response with that unit. I just chalked it up to the usual "ribbing" that we always dished out between the three of us and left it alone.
A few weeks later, my Brother came by and "stole" my desk top "Ultra Clarifier" when i was not home. He was unaware of the results that i thought the unit produced, so if he heard something, it was not born of preconcieved notions that i had put into his head. Upon checking with him a few days later, i asked him what he thought of the Bedini Ultra Clarifier. His response was that he thought that he had noticed a lower noise floor with a smoother presentation. He said that he thought that cymbals sounded cleaner, voices sounded more liquid and natural, etc... He also said that it was not a major change or blatantly noticeable but that he did think that it was "real" and not imaginary. As such, we basically had formed identical opinions on our own using completely different systems at different times.
As to what the "new & improved" Ultra Clarifier II does in comparison to the "old & discontinued" Ultra Clarifier, i do not know. I do know that Music Direct used to have quite a few of the Ultra Clarifier's sitting around that they had taken in on trade-in's on the newer model. They were selling them for something like $49.99 if i recall correctly. If you are interested in checking one of these out, you can try emailing or calling Music Direct to see if they have any of them left. I typically deal with Bes, but any of the folks there would be glad to help you.
As to the Furutech, i have no idea how it works or what the differences are between it and the Bedini. I've read about it but i did not think enough of it to buy one. I "assumed" that it probably did the same thing as the Bedini ( give or take ). I do know that the Cable Company likes and pushes the Furutech, so you might want to look on their website and / or give them a call to find out more info about it. Sean
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I have no experience with - or baseline credibility to extend to - this kind of notion or these devices. But I will tell you a highly intriguing story:
A little while ago I posted a query here about a problem I was having with a couple of new TV's I had bought and tried, only to find that B&W images were suffering from the imposition of some spurious colorations on the screen. I returned the first one because of this, but when the second one did the same thing, I wrote Sony for advice. Although they couldn't suggest anything of utimate use to me, and the problem eventually mostly went away on its own with more extended use, they did respond with a theoretical point which was very, very interesting.
Sony is of course as we all know the co-inventor and licenser of laser-read silver-disk technology. Well, when I wrote them about my TV issue, I said up-front that there were no sources of magnetism anywhere near the set to be causing my problem. Sony wrote back saying I should also make sure to remove all DVDs and CDs (along with tapes) from the immediate vicinity of the television (there were none), as these could act as sources of magnetic influence as well. Frankly, my jaw dropped when I saw this! Draw your own conclusions, but I do not believe I have ever heard or seen of any public acknowlegement of such a propostition from the industry heavyweights before, much less the one and only Sony. You just never know... |
Zaike, interesting! I "clean" my cd's as follows: using an antistatic cleaner cleaner from a respectable Co (J&Son, Benckiser etc). Usually available at any local s/market, I lightly spray the printed surface (i.e. NOT the data) of the cd & wipe it off with a soft cloth.
Believe me, the digital glare goes away (mostly) & the muddle turns into more perceptible detail...
As to demagnetising, I use Densen's cd -- with variable success! |
Greg, have you tried using Milty Zerostat gun or Mapleshade Icon for removing static. Would seem to be less messy than sprays if they work as advertised. |
Mr. Strassner, the manufacturer of HMS cables rejects all copper for his conductor material that contains more than 6ppm of so called ferro-magnetic particles, becuse more will dgerade the sound. So maybe it is not so far fetched that the aluminium alloy used for cds contain these particles also. Maybe all alloys contain it?
So if this was true, it would indeed make sense what Furotech writes.
I will ask Mr. Strassner about it and let you all know. He is scientist (physicist) enough to shed some light here. |
Mega, I have. The Zerostat works well with the wiring in general AND vinyl -- but doesn't seem to do much for the cd. I don't know what (if anything) I'm doing wrong. I haven't tried mapleshade, but have used Nordost's spray. I use that on speaker drivers and the cdp transport with ok-to-good results. But Nordost is too expensive for extended use. |
One thing is for sure. They do alter the sound of cd's. How you evaluate this change from positive to negative is purely subjective. For me, it is a must have to be able to clear all kinds of sonic smog. Even the small hand-held Bedini provides sonic benifits that is nothing short of a mojor upgrade! Try it before spending big green on new cables or a new preamplifier... |
Try this sixth grade science experiment: Turn on the water in your bathroom sink until you have a thin stream. Now run a plastic comb through your hair rapidly, several times. Now hold that comb near the stream of water and observe that the stream bends toward the comb. Is water magnetic? No, but the comb is plastic and so is a CD. Can a staticely charged CD bend a thin LASER beam? I'm not a physicist, so I don't know. What I do know is that no scientific discovery was ever made by a person with a closed mind. Should cables be kept off of carpets? Ask an EE about Miller capacitance. Keep an OPEN mind. |
Hi
Yes they work about 75$ worth if you can wait each time you use it and then redo it after 15 mins!.
A better product that does much more is the Auric Illuminator from Audience. Apply to CD ( you can skip the magic marker)and it sounds bigger, cleaner, and clearer. And you only have to do it only once!
Worth the 39$ EASY.
Mike |
I agree Gregm and Micheal. This may be what Sean experienced with the Bedini. Also CD liquid treatments should last a year or more. Not 15 minutes. |
I've got a question concerning the Auric Illuminator gel.
I store my cd's in plastic sleeves that contain a cotton-like material on the inside. The data surface of the cd is placed facing this material. The label side touches soft polyethylene-like material that makes up the outside of the sleeve. These sleeves are made by Disc Sox specifically for cd storage.
Do you think the action of sliding the cd in and out of this sleeve negates the good that the Illuminator gel does? I'd hate to have to apply the gel each and every time I use the disc. I do find the pen and gel provide a weightier and more precise presentation. Good product.
Thanks for any input |
Kenl, the gel may wear off over time but not from just one removal.
My guess is that Auric should be more durable than Armor All, Rainex, Novus, etc. which are more of a liquid than a coating.
Sean and others have measured higher error rates reading CD's with the paint around the edge and is not recommended anymore. |
I recently purchased a bulk tape eraser from Radio Shack. And it does make a difference with CDs. A pretty big difference at that. I will go into more detail as I listen to more music and compare.
KF |
