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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
douglas_schroeder
3,281 posts
 
Rodman, know when enough's enough. The man is actually trying it. I give him credit, as he's willing to investigate what he feels is contradictory to his understanding. He doesn't need hecklers. :)

I'm as "up for a good joke" as anyone but I'm serious about the advantages of disc treatment. It won't help the cause if he's angry or feels he's being mocked for trying it.

If the bottle says it's no good for plastics I would not use it. There are too many other good solutions. It's not worth wrecking a CD long term for the change in sound. I recommend products which will effect the result as well as protect the surface; plastic polish as opposed to Rain-X.
rodman99999
6,159 posts
 
Douglas- He and I have picked at one another in good humor for some time now. I'm certain he's old(and intelligent) enough to defend himself, thank you. Credit? Look up "KUDOS" in your Funk and Wagnalls.
douglas_schroeder
3,281 posts
 
I know the word Kudos; I didn't know you two have a history. By all means, carry on with the repartee. :)
tbg
5,263 posts
 
I used Rain-X many years ago on many cds. I have seen no adverse effect on any of them. I have used UltraBit Platinum after discarding George's linty rags. It is not as good, IMHO, as his earlier products. I used his ClearBit as a cleaner until I ran out. For a while I used the Jena Labs cd cleaner, but the Walker Audio Ultra-Vivid is clearly superior. At some point in all of this I also used AudioTop digital, which was quite good but not the equal to Ultra-Vivid.

I have a music server now from Exemplar. I have found that treating cds to rip has no advantage. Sometimes I actually preferred the untreated cd. I fully realize that others might not have my experience.

I have two badly scratched cds that cannot be replaced. One of them I did not have when I was using Rain-
tbg
5,263 posts
 
Somehow this was posted before I finished. I was only going to say that the Walker Ultra-Vivid did allow cd players to play both.
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