Easy test to see if Rain-X works: apply it per its instructions to a scratched CD that normally skips (apply it and polish radially). Then play. Because Rain-X is essentially a chemical polish, filling in microscopic divots in the plastic (or windshield glass)--or, in this case, scratches in the CD's surface--the laser will now (unless it was scratched pretty badly) read the disc without error. Though the audible difference to an unscratched CD would obviously be less (as it played OK in the first place), it does seem reasonable to think there would be an audible difference: the laser's job of reading through the clear plastic surface of the disc to the aluminum pits has been made optically easier in any case.
Though I don't hear a big difference, I do use Rain-X on some CDs and to repair scratched discs and have done so for 10 or so years without any detrimental effect. You don't need to apply it before every listen, anyhow, any more than you need to apply it to your windshield before every drive.
Though I don't hear a big difference, I do use Rain-X on some CDs and to repair scratched discs and have done so for 10 or so years without any detrimental effect. You don't need to apply it before every listen, anyhow, any more than you need to apply it to your windshield before every drive.
