Rain-X as CD Enhancement Treatment

OMG, THIS RAIN-X TREATMENT WORKS. THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE.
I just tried and it works. Those that had doubt but with an open minded, please give it a try.

Well, right from the beginning of this, and any, A/B test, I knew it'd be a long night for me; I'm an skeptical guy. Anyways,I'm not going to post how I did it in details because it's going to be long and probably boring to readers. In short version, I:
1/ Played 2 movies and 1 music concert to insure system is all warmed up.
2/ Do trick and train my brain. It's for psychology purpose.
3/ Applied about 10 to 15 drops of Rain-X disc then gently buffed it off from center outward; not in circular motion. Since I have 2 identical and ORIGINAL CD's from Enya. I used 1 for the treatment and used one untreated for reference.

First, I noticed that in mid high, about 1K -5Khz was a little distored for the TREATED disc. It sounded artificial but after about 30 seconds, that seemed to disappear. Biggest improve was the contrast. I could actually hear more "silent". Intruments were slightly in clearer picture. Some purcusions instrument were more easily identified. Another word, I got sucked in the music more than the UNTREATED one. Dynamic was a bit improved, meaning it was slightly louder.
On the Untreated disc, music was seem to stick and run over lap each other. Like a little hazed or glass put in front between me and the stage.It was almost like to compare a Cassette tape to a CD. Well, not to be exact but it was a good happy ending. My hat is now off for those been hanging on this forum trying to convince others.

I'm really glad I did this. I have lots of red book CDs so it's not too difficult to guess what I'm about to do with them now..... Happy listening.

Nasaman, This is an interesting post you have written. I applaud you for trying the treatment, but I would encourage you to try other substances (not inhaling or injecting!) as well, as I found that different treatments yield different degrees of the result you speak of.

Two things you said stand out in my mind:
"Dynamic was a bit improved, meaning it was slightly louder." I have been saying that the perception is that the treated disc will sound louder. I was challenged by Eldartford on that, as though I was suggesting there would be an actual increase. I have never suggested that the level actually changes, however, those who hear the difference seem to agree that it does perceptually sound louder. Could this be due to the background noise being diminished - the sense of silence you seem to notice? (I was going to say "sense of silence you hear" which would have been ludicrous, and which critics would have had a field day with! :) )

I enjoyed your thought, "It was almost like to compare a Cassette tape to a CD," as it reminded me of the many years I recorded from CD onto tape. I still have my lovely Nakamichi tape deck sitting in my office. Haven't turned it on in years. I could get the playback on the tape extremely close to disc, but always lacking that last little bit of vibrancy, of immediacy which was clear with CD playback. Yes, this is a very similar difference between the two. The treated disc sounds a bit more snappy, vibrant, clean.

It really is remarkable how something so simple as treatment has that much of an effect on the sound. You will find yourself rushing to treat many of your favorite discs to hear them again.

Finally, I did not sense any diminishment or distortion of the treble on treated discs. All the parts of the frequency spectrum and all the music is consistently cleaner and clearer. It is possible your ears were adjusting to the difference in presentation; as you said, it "went away" in about 30 seconds. My guess is that you will come to love the super-clear/clean treble from treated discs. It is one of the bonuses I have received from the effort of treating them. :)

I am guessing that those with hearing loss will be among those who cannot discern the difference between a treated and untreated disc. There is to my ear quite a noticeable distinction, but I have excellent hearing and am listening on an extremely high end rig. These two together certainly can make the difference between hearing it easily and not. Let me be clear that I am not attacking anyone's rig, not diminishing anyone's abilities, simply stating the facts - there will be people and conditions which will not as easily reveal the difference in sound. Under the correct conditions it should be quite obvious. No massive "scientific" experiments needed. If one has to wonder if they're hearing a change, then it's not worth the time and effort; however, that does not necessarily mean there is no change. I would not waste my time on treating discs if I had to spend two seconds wondering about if there was a significant change in sound. I am far too practical and logical to waste my energy on things which are not clearly beneficial. No one argues about the efficacy of cleaning albums. In my experience this is every bit as critical, every bit as beneficial to the Redbook user with the proper conditions to hear it. :)

Oops, my retraction was supposed to be of the nonsequitur, "...sound of silence" ;)

This evening I finally spent some time with Rain-X, treating Lee Konitz's fine new "Deep Lee" and Dave Douglas's "Strange Liberation." The Douglas album had previously been treated with CD Stop Light edge treatment. In addition to sounding clearer & cleaner & exhibiting more transient snap, the Rain-X treated CDs have more bass sock and sound smoother and suppler. Images seem rounder and soundstage larger. I think the sense of increased loudness is due to larger images and soundstage, rather than to an increase in volume level.

The improvements are discernable and worthwhile, but I would not say that they're dramatic. A very worthwhile experiment.