Stereophile---2 in a row without measurements

[anmpr1]

hehe. I had a couple of those CD rings...

Remember the green magic marker pens that were supposed to 'soften' the highs.

 

[Doodski]

Remember the green magic marker pens that were supposed to 'soften' the highs.

Yes, I do and only around the edge...lol

 

[Killingbeans]

My dad bought one of those. Used it on one or two disks before he realized he had been duped, and then it spent the rest of its life doing the chores of a normal permanent marker. My mom might actually still have it in a coffee mug somewhere. Think I'll have a look next time I visit her.

 

[Robin L]

Remember the green magic marker pens that were supposed to 'soften' the highs.

Both the rings and the pens, and yes it was because I read about it Stereophile. This is, what, 30 years ago? There's a lot of talk at this forum concerning the in-audibility of DAC distortions in the signal chain, but 30 years ago this was a real thing. Back then, for whatever reason, my sense was that CDs lacked focus compared to good LP playback*. So folks were grabbing the snake oil. The green marker did no harm, but those rings for CD damaged CDs and transports. Attempting to remove the rings usually rendered the CD unplayable.

*I was recording orchestras, choruses, chamber music at the time. Minimal microphoning, semi-pro gear. Comparing the playback quality from the Technics SV DA-10 DAT recorder's analog output to its coax out into an t.c. electronics M-2000 digital processor, the M-2000 was much more focused and detailed in all registers. Same thing when hooking up my CD players to the M-2000. Digital gear evolved quickly from the mid-eighties through the nineties, as sampling and bit rates for recording went up. I'm sure modern gear is better, but the gear was bad enough back then that audible differences were real, and people grabbed any "solution" they could find. Lotta placebos on the market back then, "Magic Bricks" and such.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

So are the latest and greatest measurements paywalled now?

Not paywalled, just delayed. AFAIK, all addended measurements and follow-ups have been appended, as they become available, to the original reviews posted on the website. Of course, if you really want to get an official answer, asking it on the Stereophile website is the most appropriate way to get it.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Remember the green magic marker pens that were supposed to 'soften' the highs.

I still have an envelope of unused green plastic-film discs for anyone who wants to repeat history.

 

[CDMC]

Given the amount of gear the mag reviews I'm sure Atkinson is swamped.

PS: I was going through some old Stereophile issues for historical purposes, and during the late '80s and early '90s it brought back memories. Back then, not only were interconnect wires a big topic, but CD 'rings' which were supposed to somehow damp or otherwise improve digital playback were the latest and greatest. It was laughable back then, and truly ridiculous now, looking back. But I wonder, are any of the magazine's reviewers still using these little 'sonic marvels'?

Don’t forget the green pens, amazing Radio Shack portable cd player, and adusting the inner tubes used to float components to tune their sound.

 

[SIY]

Don’t forget the green pens, amazing Radio Shack portable cd player, and adusting the inner tubes used to float components to tune their sound.

And spraying ArmorAll on CDs. That was an embarrassment.

 

[Robin L]

Don’t forget the green pens, amazing Radio Shack portable cd player, and adusting the inner tubes used to float components to tune their sound.

The "amazing Radio Shack portable cd player" [Optimus 3400, a re-badged Awia unit] happened to have a really good transport mechanism. As a CD player, it rolled off the top and bottom, sounded "soft" like old Dynaco tube gear. The coax spdif out jack was a nonstandard 3.5 mm, so I had to cook up an interconnect. But hooked up to a good power supply, the transport was great.

 

[anmpr1]

And spraying ArmorAll on CDs. That was an embarrassment.

I came across that in a column by Sam Tellig, who started out writing as the Audio Cheapskate but for some or another reason changed his handle to the Audio Anarchist. I couldn't tell if the part about spraying the CD was tongue in cheek, or if he was really serious. When reality gets too absurd it's hard to know.

The sad thing is that the same folks who heard sonic differenes in magic markers were the same guys who were telling readers that amp A was 'more liquid' than Amp B in the mids, but Amp B had 'more focus' in the high end. How irresponsible the whole thing was.

 

[anmpr1]

...for whatever reason, my sense was that CDs lacked focus compared to good LP playback*. So folks were grabbing the snake oil.

Both the digital hardware and recording techniques improved. No doubt about it. I think a lot was simply due to the change in format, with producers and engineers getting used to it. Finding out how to adapt to the new plan as it were.

The same when stereo records first showed up, many were downright atrocious. Recall the ping pong effect? Sounds bouncing all over, and the ubiquitous 'hole in the middle'. The violin in the concerto louder than the entire orchestra. And the whole 'mono reprocessed for stereo' thing, for which someone should have been lined up against the wall for that. Back then, audiophiles were seriously asking whether stereo was really an improvement over monophonic.

 

[Harmonie]

Don’t forget the green pens, amazing Radio Shack portable cd player, and adusting the inner tubes used to float components to tune their sound.

I still have some cd's with Green Posca pen smeared all over on my cd's Lol

 

[mhardy6647]

The green pen tweak -- to my way of thinking -- epitomizes the "things that make just enough sense, when properly presented, to give some folks pause". To wit, folks who know a little about optics and the properties of light waves, and who know that green is the complementary color to red.

 

[mansr]

The green pen tweak -- to my way of thinking -- epitomizes the "things that make just enough sense, when properly presented, to give some folks pause". To wit, folks who know a little about optics and the properties of light waves, and who know that green is the complementary color to red.

Complementary colours are an artefact of the human visual system. At the physics/optics level, it's just different wavelengths of light.

 

[mhardy6647]

Complementary colours are an artefact of the human visual system. At the physics/optics level, it's just different wavelengths of light.

Well, yes and no. Get three flashlights -- red, green, and blue, and shine 'em at a white wall and see what happens.
Or, try some dabs of cyan, magenta, and yellow paints.

I kind of conflated primary and complementary (which was a gaffe on my part) -- but the relationship between red and green is pretty salient to anyone who has ever seen a colo(u)r film negative.

 

[mansr]

Well, yes and no. Get three flashlights -- red, green, and blue, and shine 'em at a white wall and see what happens.
Or, try some dabs of cyan, magenta, and yellow paints.

View attachment 80269

I kind of conflated primary and complementary (which was a gaffe on my part) -- but the relationship between red and green is pretty salient to anyone who has ever seen a colo(u)r film negative.

That trick works only for humans and other animals with similar colour vision. Birds and insects, for example, won't see red, green, and blue light combine into white. The photodetector in a CD player certainly doesn't "see" colours like this.

 

[wwenze]

Remember the green magic marker pens that were supposed to 'soften' the highs.

I remember pads and stickers

Which people in the optical media recording forum would tell you, is a horrible thing to do to a disc's read quality, with measurements to prove. Interestingly, the measurement program can also measure Jitter.

 

[Harmonie]

Well, yes and no. Get three flashlights -- red, green, and blue, and shine 'em at a white wall and see what happens.
Or, try some dabs of cyan, magenta, and yellow paints.

View attachment 80269

I kind of conflated primary and complementary (which was a gaffe on my part) -- but the relationship between red and green is pretty salient to anyone who has ever seen a colo(u)r film negative.

So to resume:
What POSCA pen colour colour should I now choose in 2020 for my CD's

 

[mhardy6647]

That trick works only for humans and other animals with similar colour vision. Birds and insects, for example, won't see red, green, and blue light combine into white. The photodetector in a CD player certainly doesn't "see" colours like this.

Right. I didn't say it "made sense" - I did say (or at least I strongly meant to imply) that it could be construed as making sense.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

The green pen tweak -- to my way of thinking -- epitomizes the "things that make just enough sense, when properly presented, to give some folks pause". To wit, folks who know a little about optics and the properties of light waves, and who know that green is the complementary color to red.

Although I don't believe in the "sonic" benefit of the green markers, I did have one CD which mistracked at a certain point on my Phillips CD player. I applied the green marker and it didn't mistrack anymore. So the marker is doing something.