CD Tweeks...Improve Ripped SQ?


Hi All,

I'm seriously considering coming over to the geek side of music playback. :-}

All of my shinny polycarbonate and aluminum platters have had CD treatment done to them.

The process I use is:
1) Optrix Cleaner
2) Audio Desk CD Lathe with black edge marker
3) Nespa Pro 30sec treatment
4) Acoustic Revive RD-3 Demagnetize

So the big question is...

Does a treated ripped CD sound better than an untreated ripped CD?

Anyone A/B a standard CD to a treated CD after ripped to a hard drive?

Thanks,
128x128rodge827
08-08-13: Mapman
The D/A process (which requires very accurate and precise timing to be done properly) is where pretty much all of the variability comes into play regarding resulting sound quality.
I second Mapman's comment.

Pretty much everything I have read on the subject that I consider to be credible suggests that a CD that is in good physical condition, when played back in real time by a CD player or transport, will have very few if any read errors that are not corrected bit perfectly by the player. My belief, although based on technical understanding rather than experimentation, is that the main reason some CD treatments will improve the sound quality of a CD that is in good physical condition is that the treatments can make it easier for the transport mechanism and its servos to track and read the disc, which in turn will reduce the amount of electrical noise generated by the transport mechanism that may ultimately couple into the D/A converter circuit, where it can affect jitter, and/or that may couple into analog circuitry.

That effect may occur even in the situation where the transport and DAC are in separate components, as many and perhaps nearly all DACs will be sensitive to some degree to jitter that is present in the S/PDIF or AES/EBU datastream they receive.

That specific effect is of course inapplicable to the situation where what is being played back is a computer file that has been created by ripping a CD. So provided that you rip with software that assures bit perfect accuracy, I can't envision any means by which treating the CD prior to ripping would make any difference.

Regards,
-- Al
This is not about read errors people. It's about jitter.

The pits with more accurately created with a good writer and a clean treated high-quality disk.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
Steve (Audioengr), I'm not sure that we're interpreting the question the same way. My interpretation is that what is being asked is if playing a computer file from a computer-based source will sound any different depending on whether the physical CD that was ripped to create that file had previously been treated in one or more of the ways listed in the OP, or had not been treated. Assuming bit perfect ripping, of course.

Although I certainly agree with everything you have said in your two posts above, effects that occur when CDs are being listened to don't relate to the question as I interpreted it.

Regards,
-- Al
http://www.eetkorea.com/ARTICLES/2002MAR/2002MAR25_AMD_MSD_DA_AN.PDF?SOURCES=DOWNLOAD

see this link for information about pit structure and also notice the size of a laser spot, so reflectivity is not an issue no need to enhance it with any placebo product.
Steve: recordable disc will never be as good as molded disc because burning the dye even at 1X with a laser head which is mounted on spring is creating Bler which is known today as physical jitter because of the vibration of the spring itself.
And also, because of the size of the pit is not regular the groove should be accurate to avoid track pitch change which is not the case on recordable CD that's why for good quality mastering we use exabyte tape.

Geoffkait: we know that we are surrounded with gurus that if BS was music they all be king of jazz
Mapman wrote,

"I'd have to agree that CD treatments for ripping in particular are mostly BS as well."

Mapman, the view from 40,000 ft. - you have a long way to go. You are the poster child for the Backfire Effect.

Cheers