Isolation Devices for Digital


I have noticed what looks like superballs or handballs in cutout wooden blocks these isolation devices called Mini Clouds by Gingko Audio. Anyone use them or have any cheaper alternatives? Do they really help?

Another Audiogoner told me about 3/8" ball bearings placed on Sticky Tack at a total cost of $3. Have not tried this yet.
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It's easy enough to try some basic things around the house and see how they affect your PC. Put some foam or a pillow or something soft underneath and see if the sound changes. They put a pice of wood underneath and try again. Try stone or marble ... try tennis or squash balls ... try something else.

If you hear a difference then you can explore the material that works best for you. Everyone else's opinion won't mean much unless you try it in your own system and hear how and if it makes a difference and whether you like that difference with your own ears.

Enjoy the hunt,
Bob
Rotarius - one man's drain is another man's transmit.

I just meant that some isolation devices are meant to act as dampers between the equipment and whatever it's resting on. Others such as cones are designed to transmit (drain?) vibrations to whatever platform it's sitting on and minimize reverse transmission into the equipment. No?
No Mdconnelly, a cone is not like a one way valve. It will transmit all the floor borne vibration that makes it's way up the rack to your component. There are places that will rent you a vibration tester. You can check for yourself what a cone can and cannot do. You do not have to take my word for it even though I deal with vibration issues on a daily basis as a mech engineer:) If you want to learn something about isolation devices, shoot me an email.
If your budget can accomodate it, try the Nordost Ti Pulsar points. They give the music a very solid foundation and help with detail retrieval.
I think that the cones used on equipment do drain vibrations, but it is not a one way street and can send vibrations back up as others have said. Thus, I find many people that use spikes, do so on top of another indepedent platform that is isolated ny a non-cone device.

The vibrations would drain down into the platform, while out side vibration cannot effect the platform as it stops at the non-cone device. Think of it as a cd player sitting spiked onto a wood platform that is supported by Vibrapods. Therefore both do as they are intended to, opposite functions.