Machina Dynamica New Dark Matter CD and Blu Ray tray treatment?

NDM part two

Technical Talk

My first exposure to Geoff was on the Stereophile forum where he and May Belt were tag team partners, and not tag partners for all things positive or agreed upon sadly. Up to that point I had never been in such a combative, at times even hostile, setting in this hobby. These two are the masters of audio talk jousting. Why some of you here even enter into battles with Geoff is a mystery to me. That tech-talk battling for me ended when I asked both May and Geoff about their test labs and listening systems. May Belt all out refused to talk about any system and Geoff said he hasn't had an in-room system for many years. This for me is an automatic disqualifier. If I have a studio project I'm asked to work on and I show up at the engineers place and it's an empty room, no studio, no artist, it's going to be a short recording session.

For me tech talk is accompanied by a lab. If I'm talking to Bob Hodas for example we have a testing computer lab, a system and reviewer taking notes, charts and pictures to document. If I'm in my studio, I have my live room, control room, playback reference room and mastering room. Practical application for me rules supreme. So I need you guys to understand that when Geoff uses LIGO as his main reference for isolation it doesn't go very far with me. LIGO studies vibratory structure and supports the opposite from isolation. So Geoff on my tech-tech grading scale is not exactly existent.

MG

NDM part 3

Rationale

Up till now you're probably wondering if MG is about to bash NDM. If that were the case I would publish nothing at all. Bashing a product does no one any good. Geoff took the time to make and supply NDM for us to explore and that can't be faulted. Guys out there are making way overbuilt chassis and charging a fortune, why can't Geoff make less expensive tweaks? I'd much rather invest in NDM than boat anchor audio. Sorry if that offends, but making and selling ultimate buck amps that now can be easily out performed by amps costing pennies is close to being criminal. Tweaks offer a choice in sound preferences at a fraction of the cost and that's a good thing.

MG

NDM part 4

Practical Application

From what I have discovered so far NDM is not a one size fits all tweak nor is it an exclusive tweak. At first I tried one CDP type to experiment with, so I could find a pattern of placement that worked best for me. I went from full size down to 1/8" slices before I found the most entertaining setting. On the down side NDM for me took away from the fullest of soundstaging, on the up side you're able to play with some soundstage tightening. If you're after a lower noise floor and willing to loose some of the stage side this is doable. It has a slightly similar sound to mu-metal transformer shielding. It's a quieter sound, a little too dark for me personally but I know many who like this type of sound, especially if they have unruly CD problems. It's a musical taste that bigger soundstagers may not be crazy about, but for the mid size stage guy who is finding CDs bright this is a possible go to.

I will be doing more on NDM if I get more but have run out of usable pieces. Running out of pieces I did go get some similar looking plastic and found the performance to be along the same line, so maybe Geoff will be offering several types for different types of performance wants.

Michael Green

thank you Geoff, it was fun