Big vote for Auric Illuminator! Did a side by side with 10 CD duplicates. My wife and I treated one of each pair, shuffled pairs and did the blind test. Treated disk was clearly better every time. Not even close. At first I thought it might be making treated disk louder but DB meter picked up no increase. Music was distinctly crisper, cleaner, more dimensional. Similar to component upgrade in quality enhancement. On like 5th kit from Audio Advisors. (Also put 5 1/4 inch spokes of marker from center to outer rim on topside. And I color in center top and top outer rim) (Haven't done blind test on those actions however...need too)
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Gentlemen all. Info on any CD is received & transmitted to the decoder. I've tried most all of the so called bring the music cleanly to my ears "PLEASE." liquid solutions available. Not sure if they work?? Here's my ACID TEST. Apply to just one half to your CD. Dry and play. What effect will you HEAR?? Hmmm! TRY IT.., My bottom line is. I use denatured alcohol. Leaves no residue. Applied with my wife's make-up removal pads. The Laser beam sings ( I can see clearly now.) (1) 8oz bottle $ 2.25=cleans Appox: 125 CD's correctly |
Jafant: As I understand it, a key ingredient became unavailable and couldn't be replaced, and that's why the Jena was discontinued. Geoff: I still have a bottle or two of the Liquid Rez hanging around, and it's great stuff. Sad to hear about Brian. I knew he was ill, but I lost contact with him and didn't know he had passed (I had my suspicions, though). He was a really nice guy. |
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My fave was the Jena Labs Esoteric 3D-X as well. It made the biggest positive difference of all the many treatments I tried. It wasn't the easiest to work with, but it did some pretty amazing things to the sound. When it was discontinued, I switched to Ultrabit Diamond Plus, and that's been absolutely fantastic. A little different tonally than the Jena, but really, REALLY good. |
Every treament seems to have a different effect, I havent tried Essence but have a number, a fav was the discontinued Jenalabs treament which really added clarity and dynamics. The nanotech is very clean sounding and also have the steinmusic solution which makes for a very natural sound. I will typically use for a bright sounding disc, the steinmusic and on a flatter sounding disc the nanotech. Have used Finyl from many years back and Auric, but never really fancied them. The Jenalabs, now discontinued was the most dynamic I found but did tend to add some brightness or sharpness, again its effects were too much on certain disc but gave the biggest effect I felt compared to the other I have tried. |
Here's a very unflattering "review" of this and similar products: http://www.realhd-audio.com/?p=2342 And a more flattering one: http://singaporehifi.blogspot.com/2014/05/essence-of-music-two-step-cd-cleaner.html And Geoff Kait's review: http://www.stereophile.com/content/essence-music-cd-treatment I have used Auric Illuminator in the past and do not detect any enhancement or improvement. But, if others do, that's fine. |
I just treated 5 discs this evening with no scratches. When I wipe, I use one side of the cloth to pick up most of the liquid, then the other side to dry the disc. I don't use much pressure, just light pressure under strong light so I can watch as the liquid is absorbed and the disc gets polished. I did notice in the past I could scratch a disc easily by using too much pressure or by using a crease, or fold in the cloth. |
To those concerned about fine scratches on CDs using microfibre cloths (and I'm NOT singling out EOM), info at this guitar forum site might be of interest. It appears that not all microfibre is created equal. http://prsguitars.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-7914.html See one of the discussion participant's full comments at the link above. Excerpt here: "A good microfiber cloth like these will not harm your nitro finish, and in fact, they are less harmful than even soft cotton or flannel cloths. I learned this as a concours car guy with fine lacquer finishes. I use these on my nitro-finished Private Stock and my V12 stuff, and have no swirl marks: The secret of a good fluffy cloth like this is that the filaments of the fabric are even finer than cotton fibers. You don't have to rub as hard. It's easy enough to check - take a cotton cloth and rub it hard on something like a clear plastic CD case, then do a different spot with the microfiber. You'll see swirl marks where you used the cotton, and not the microfiber." The microfibre cloth he's recommending is used for auto detailing. See link here: http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/micro+fiber+speed+shine+cloths+set+of+3.do?sortby=%20ourPicks |
I have been using EOM for quite a while and have treated over 100 CDs and I haven't had an issue with scratching using the supplied cloths. I have only experienced the improvements many have mentioned above. I certainly have never had a CD skip or not play after treatment. I haven't experimented with treating a CD more than once so I can't comment on that. Don P. |
I can't imagine Essence of Music (using supplied) cloth NOT causing scratches. I run ALL CDs I have cleaned with EOM so far with a very mild concoction of dishwashing liquid and water first...and then air dry...to make sure it's totally dust and "sand" free. I believe the 2nd "wiping" of the process causes most of the scratches. I don't see how those reviewers...ie....Jack Roberts from Dagogo and Roy Harris from Audiophilla could not have noticed the scratches that where caused. Surely they must have inspected each CD after it was cleaned. If they only reported what they noticed...maybe we would all have been spared of having our prized CDs scratched. Maybe EOM would have no choice but to find an alterntive "non scratching" cloth. |
Thanks, Geoff. Those are huge too but I think unlikely to be sterile...not that sterility is critical. Main thing is, you are assuring us they do not scratch? Thanks for the heads up on this. As I mentioned, the concern is probably not unique to EOM as I've seen fine scratches produced when using "MagicFibre" microfibre clothes as purchased for cleaning eyeglasses, etc.. |
The secret methinks is using the right cotton cloth. Since I switched to the sterile cotton cloth (recommended to me by the inventor of EOM) I have not experienced any more scratches. It's is extremely unlikely the problem is with the liquids as they are quite pure and very fine sprays are produced by the spray bottles. It is possible but unlikely that whilst rubbing the CD with the forefinger after spraying the CD with EOM some dirt on the finger could produce scratches. |
Thanks guys...I thought I was doing something wrong. NB...Unless I totally missed it...NONE of the professional reviewers...from Dagogo and Audiophilia made a mention of this problem. No way they could have missed it. I have treated 25 CDs so far...all of them are scratched. My cdp won't read one of them any longer. |
Microfibre Tech Helpful article about microfibre technology. Still searching for info about a cotton-based alternative. |
One must be very careful of the cloths supplied as they might scratch the CDs. Someone dropped the ball on this one. This is very very unfortunate as I alerted my dealer some time ago about this issue. In any case, stop using their cloths and switch to the medical non scratch type of cotton cloth immediately if not sooner. |
Question for all essence of music cd treatment kit....after treatment ... Almost all my CDs have countless "scratches". Treated some brand new CDs so I am sure it wasn't there before treatment. Care to check yours under a bright light to see if you are getting the same thing? Micro Fiber cloth brand new out of the box...so it can't be it. Btw...Anyone tried treating a cd twice? Any "improvement" over 1st treatment? Thanks. |
The error correction on the dvd player or cd player has to be much less engaged. I think the laser has a clearer or steadier view of the information it is to extract from the cd [with fewer errors]....It's not just playing more detail it is "how" that detail is appearing before me . This makes me believe it is not getting the info onto the cd as much as getting "all" the info back off the cd. The ebb and flow of the music with timber fullness is unlike anything I had previously hear from my cds..Quick story. A carpenter friend dropped in and did some flooring repairs. After finishing he sit back listening to Doug Macleod. He asked what the EOM sticker was on the cover. I took a Greg Brown cd and played a few lines. He loved it. Than I treated the disc with the EOM and replayed the same cut. He was stunned at the results. "It was clear before but now I can hear everything so easy". Than he said "You have a lot of work ahead of you," You'll have to treat every cd you play." |
The word invisible can be a little bit misleading since the way CDs work is based on several things, not the least of which are laser wavelength and width, geometry of the disc and CD transport, the index of refraction of polycarbonate and the transparency of the polycarbonate layer of the disc -which is in fact not perfectly transparent. The transparency of polycarbonate is only around 90% or so so even if a particular CD treatment is absolutely transparent to the laser light (infrared) the clear layer is still 90% transparent at best. One would also prefer a CD treatment NOT to affect the Index of Refraction of the polycarbonate layer since that could aftect the geometry that has all been worked out already, no? |
Got to thinking about what Geoff asked. What is being left on the disc after buffing, leaving no residue? The first thing that came to mind was putting RainX on my windshield. RainX says it seals microscopic pores of glass with a super-slick, non-stick invisible barrier. So... I have 2 Freedy Johnston/This Perfect World cd's, one is control, the other RainX treated. As I was treating the disc, I noticed my fingers felt slippery, slick like when I used the EOM. After playing one, then the other over and over again, I noticed no change whatsoever. Hoped for a change, but alas...would have been a cheap tweak if... |
I haven't found extension, but more clarity across the board. As I listen to more treated discs I find they have more information available. I'm hearing many things I didn't in the past making the tracks sound more alive. From the top to the bottom the music sounds more defined. I'm hearing lower bass more clearly in areas I didn't notice was there prior to the treatment. I'm hearing a lot of percussion in the midband I didn't notice before. I think it just allows everything equal space to shine where areas where muddied over before. Like standing at the end of a long hallway hearing the tunes, then walking into the room difference. |
@Abucktwoeighty...Hello. Would appreciate it very much if you would be so kind as to give some feedback too on the Essence of Music kit. I'll ask the same question that I asked Bluenose... "My system is tilted to the top. Fullness and depth are 2 attributes I am seeking...however...I am trying to avoid adding more HF energy/extension to the overall presentation. I realize it's system dependent...but did you notice more HF energy/extension after treatment? Did SQ get crisper/sharper?" Thanks! |
Hi, Pc123v. To answer your question let me explain about my speakers. My system is modest, a rare Luxman L503S, Roxan Zerxes TT, Oppo 105 and I had the Newform Research r8-2's for a long time. A year ago two of my audio friend arrived with the Aero 6's from Cambridge with the BMR drivers and as good as the ribbons were the aeros were what I had to have. They each preferred the Aeros and were shocked at how good they performed. Note, I do use them on IsoAcoustics stands[a must for this speaker]IMO. Even so I can hear more front to back depth from top to bottom. I can show a coherence and flow that was missing until revealed. Now I realize cd is different from analogue but each is good in its own right. I haven't had as much fun listening to music in a long time. Hope that helps. I do use Gershman levation devices and all Audio Sensibility cabeling and power boxes and deicated circuit. You will hear more note fullness with this product. |
@Bluenose...Thanks for taking the time to respond. I haven't bought it yet...though I am extremely tempted to. The main thing that is holding me back at the moment is...My system is tilted to the top. Fullness and depth are 2 attributes I am seeking...however...I am trying to avoid adding more HF energy/extension to the overall presentation. I realize it's system dependent...but did you notice more HF energy/extension after treatment? Did SQ get crisper or sharper? Many Thanks! |