If you have a CD Player, you need to do this periodically...

itsnotjustyou- Let me explain. No amount of techno-jargon can change the fact you derided a tweak that works. Not that I don't have some sympathy, you are trapped in a false paradigm. Here's the thing: it is not on me to explain why anything works. It is only on me to listen and evaluate. That's it.

Therefore, if you can't hear it, no problem. Simply admit you cannot hear it and move on. Perfectly fine course of action. We all know listening is a skill, which like all skills some are better at it than others. Also means it can be developed according to time and effort put into it. I am on record for once being unable to hear any difference between DACs, among other things. Long time ago, put the time and effort in, quite good these days. But it is learned it does take effort and no shame admitting you are not there yet.

It sounds like a dig and a put down but think about it, in reality I am offering you a lifeline. You don't have to spend your life digging around in a dark rabbit hole of techno jargon. You can come out into the light and listen to music. If you like what you hear, great. Do more of that. If you don't, sorry. Do less of that.

Anyone can understand. Of course this means setting aside all those big words you worked so hard to learn. You will find it impossible to lord it over any skilled listener with technobabble. Simply does not work. You will find it hard to develop these skills. Few things worth doing ever come easy. In the end you may gain the unequaled satisfaction of being able to do something and readily hear the difference.

Or go on with your check sums and bits and whatnot.

Your call. Choose wisely

Tony w said it...use xlo and ayre.

If you have a CD Player, you need to do this periodically...

I saw this and I immediately thought the answer was 'use it'.

If you have a CD Player, you need to do this periodically...

I immediately thought "play a record or two to see how far you still have to go...'

My little brother was a Manufacturing Engineer at Sony for 25+ years.  He is a Purdue graduate but the little snot has as many patents as I do.  (I worked in both Aerospace and Automotive in R&D and Design/development for my career).  He took me on a tour of their CD manufacturing line back in the early 90s.  Back then it cost less than a dollar to make a CD as I recall.  The discs are injection molded polycarbonate with the pits that define the digital information molded in place.  So that part is very similar to the manufacturing of vinyl records- just instead of pits the record has the grooves molded in place.  Next the discs are inserted into a special vacuum chamber and pure aluminum is sputtered onto the disc just a few atoms thick to make a perfect mirrored surface.  A UV cured clear coat lacquer is bonded over the mirrored surface to protect the mirror finish.  I remember him telling me at the time that CDs were not considered archival because the aluminum is not perfectly sealed and can eventually oxidize.  CDs are estimated to last 100 years, he said.  So its not a bad idea to rip them into FLAC files.  I have a gold CD and I imagine it is the same process just sputtered with gold as the source material instead of aluminum.  Hopefully it will last a long time since it was expensive.  Finally, the labels are silk screened onto the discs and they are packaged into their jewel boxes.  He said they produced 3 million discs per day back then.  CDs had a 2.5 second cycle time and DVDs were 3.5 seconds.  The master disc is made by laser etching a photo film on a glass plate, the residual material washed away and then nickel plated.  This plating with the pits (digital information) is about 0.25 mm thick.  The positive master is molded from the original master disc and then the working molds pressed from the positive master.