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Herbie’s Super Black Hole CD Mat - Wow!

I just received the Herbie’s Audio Lab Super Black Hole CD mat in mail. It’s a little black disc that fits atop a CD which has silicon on one side (the side that touches the CD) and carbon fiber on the top. I’ve only listened to a few songs (electronic genre) and my first impression was simply “Wow!” I’m hearing so much further into the recording. I’m hearing the ambience much better. Notes have more texture. Imaging seems to have improved. On one track, there is a sound that is panned to the right and repeats three times. I thought it was identical on each note, but with the CD mat it’s easy to hear that on the second note, it actually moves 6 inches towards the center of the soundstage and then back out to the right. It’s always fun to rediscover your music when you find a tweak you enjoy. 
From their website, this is how they say it works:

“By reducing micro-vibration in the CD spin during playback, laser-reading error is potentially reduced. (Error correction in audio CD discs is not perfect; it is algorithm-based "guessing," not binary like in data CDs). By damping the disc/clamp interface, micro-vibrations generated by spinning discs are hindered, keeping them from permeating throughout the player where capacitors, op-amps, micro-processors, and other sensitive parts can be adversely affected.”

I can’t confirm whether or not that’s the whole story to how it works, but I’m convinced it does something amazing. I will report back after I listen to some more music of other genres.
128x128mkgus
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Whoa! What?! Hey, the results are all over the place! 😬
oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa
4,867 posts
 
Just goes to show that most things are system dependent. 

ricevs
1,445 posts
 
Doing one thing does not make a whole. You must do multiple treatments to the CD and to the player/etc. to really hear what is on the disc. Sand the outer and inner edge to get rid of the reflections. You must black the edges and the entire top of the disc with flat black opaque paint marker to further stop the laser reflections. You must use Digital Solutions fluid on the CD.....top and bottom (seriously increases resolution). You must demagetize or de static the disc when you play it (effect only lasts about 10 minutes and then you have to do it again....but without destaticing/demagnetizing it sound seriously veiled. Then the choice of mats.....then you must not have a toslink digital out in your player or any other LEDs.....and then there is the feet under the player and the stand it is on and the power cord and then you have to mod the crap out of the player/DAC to really hear what is going on. Every single thing has to be done......which included Perfect Path Technology stuff all over.

Everything has to be done or you are just playing with one filter and adjusting the sound to your system.....even is you do many, many things you still have differences that you have to sort through.....this is not a fixed nor simple nor easy game.

Years ago when we were first sanding and greening the discs a friend had a stock NEC CD player and said that sanding and greening made the CDs sound dull and lacking air. I told him that was because he was listening to the player stock (stock the player had no air or detail). Once you mod the crap out of the player (which is what I did to the same player that was my reference) then sanding and greening just reduce high frequency distortion and there is no loss of air. One thing by itself is just one thing. This game is crazy complicated. For sure, do as much tweaking as you can and tune it to your system and taste. But if you just use a mat without doing a million other things then you do not know what the possibilities are.

Using JUST a mat will not show you what is on the CD......you must tweak and tweak and tweak some more.......the PPT stuff, I just discovered.....oh my God!  It never ends. there is always more.  We are divine eternal infinite love and joy......but what the heck is infinite?  We have to keep ever expanding our love and joy to even get a glimpse.  Same with Audio....it is infinite....can you keep expanding what you know and experience?.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Greening the CD only affects about 25% of the scattered light, I’m afraid. The visible red portion. As I’ve mentioned, oh, about a hundred times, the scattered laser light is primarily invisible. Colors do not affect invisible light. Black doesn’t either. I did not invent reality. More uh, stringent methods are required to get rid of the other 75%. Evil laughter! 🤡
ricevs
1,445 posts
 
What I am saying is that any one tweak will not get you there.....no matter what colors you like.  Just talked to another one of my friends and he likes his Herbies better than his $200 Marigo mat on his modded Oppo 105 used as transport into modded LKS DAC.  It could be that different mats will have different results on different transports.  The modded Oppo has constrained layer material on the CD clamp and blacking on the tray and blacking all around the laser assembly....all improve the sound.
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