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Rain-X as CD Enhancement Treatment

I have used the Auric Illuminator treatment on my CD collection for several years now. I am a believer in the AI, and repeated A/B tests of identical treated/untreated CDs bore out significant improvements after treatment with AI.

I ran out of the fluid and my marker dried out, so I was searching for mew treatments on the market before buying another AI kit or choosing something new. That's when I ran across this article by Greg Weaver at Soundstage, where he talks about having used Rain-X and a green marker(Staedtler Lumocolor 357, price about $3.00) as a treatment on his CDs to great effect.

http://www.soundstage.com/synergize/synergize200005.htm

Being the complete geek that I am, I had to try it for my self. I found the marker at Office Depot, and picked up a little bottle of Rain-X for $2.99. I treated a couple of CDs that I have ended up with duplicate copies of (Grant Green's Green Street, Frank Sinatra Sextet Live In Paris)and tested the Rain-X/marker treated vs. untreated disks.

Well, low and behold, the treated disks sounded notably improved; the music was clearer and louder, especially the midrange, the soundstage was larger with better definition and separation of instruments and the bass was tighter and deeper.

I can't say that the Rain-X treatment was or was not better sounding than the AI, but at the least very it is close, for a fraction of the price.

Has anyone else ever tried the Rain-X treatment?
craig_hoch
psacanli
535 posts
 
I don't wish to appear negative-and I have not tried Rain-X except om my windows where I was an early adopter and still love it-however; Rain-X is specifically designed for use on glass. It is worth enquiring the manufacturers opinion on its suitability for plastic.
shadorne's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
shadorne
7,477 posts
 
So something real may be happening. (besides suggestion)

If something is happening and you are getting improvements this way then it suggests an issue somewhere. Perhaps jitter is getting into the DAC of the CDP and this is partly created by minute changes of the laser (smooth versus not so smooth). Ed Meitner claimed that cryogenic treatment of CD's helped - however, IMHO, this all sounds like a band-aid solution. To my way of thinking, a transport should not be so finnicky as to require all this extra special CD treatment simply to play a digital CD properly - a CDP player should be more robustly designed than that.
douglas_schroeder
3,281 posts
 
Shadorne, There is nothing wrong with his transport. From my experience treatment of discs works on ALL cdp's. I have confirmed it on these players:
Ah! Njoe Tjoeb
NAD
Rega
Marantz
Ayon
Cambridge Audio
Parasound

Not one of these players had an issue. It's the MEDIA which improves, making the players more efficient.

You can say, "A Bit is a bit, is a bit...." Until the end of the world, but this is WAY too easily heard an improvement (treatment, not necessarily Rain-X) to experience to be held up by objections. Anyone can do this and find out for themselves. I would suggest that anyone who cannot hear the improvement has either profound hearing issues or really, really crappy equipment (or both). This is NOT a comment directed at you, Shadorne! It's an arugment in general. :)

When a fuel additive is put in the gasoline of a car's tank and the performance improves slightly, one does not say, "There was a problem with the engine". Similarly, treatment of the disc resulting in improvement of sound is NOT a sign of a "problem" with the transport/cdp.

Excellent point, Elizabeth! An already "slippery" disc will seem like a "failure" when treated.

Read my comments on the Jena Labs Disc treatment goop:

http://www.dagogo.com/JenaEsoteric3DX.html

Note that I was treating discs on my own long before reviewing this disc treatment system.
shadorne's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
shadorne
7,477 posts
 
Shadorne, There is nothing wrong with his transport. From my experience treatment of discs works on ALL cdp's.

Then I'd suggest PC audio + external DAC or CDP player + external DAC (re-clocking DAC preferably) => this way you completely separate the transport laser "smoothness" issues from the D to A conversion. Just common sense really - rather than treat every disc which seems impractical. (how do you even know when enough treatment has been made?)
electroid
283 posts
 
Actually Rain-X was developed for use on jet windshields which are not glass but a thick plastic right?

ET
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