Taming edge from remastered CDs?

Rarely any edge for me. Carefull built my system on reproducing clearly with no edge for one and only input: CDs. There still are some which can make my ears bleed if played too loud, but they were so poorly recorded or remastered they are hopeless. I refuse to sacrifice clarity for pleasantness of bad recordings/remasters. But mediocre recordings still need to be listenable on my system.

Kijanki, I agee with you, there are really 2 different problems like you say, and to a degree I've done both in my rig, but the conditioning had a bigger impact on it and was a bigger bang for the buck. Apologies all around if I got carried away with my first post, but I still think audiophiles ought to be considering both when it comes to the specific problem CD harshness/edginess. It does not get mentioned enough for a variety of reasons.

Ghosthouse, I use a variety of Alan Maher Designs gear, but for a few reasons it can be a bit of a tough recommendation: Alan doesn't believe in the all-in-one-box solutions, he says they physically can't address all the individual sources of noise in the home (which he says is anything and everything that's plugged into the home, even when in sleep mode), so you end up with a bunch of different smaller devices that are scattered throughout the house, but it's both cheaper and more effective at reducing noise because it's a more efficient application. The drawback for most is that you have to be patient and experiment at various places around the home (Alan guides you through all that) and see what works best (that takes anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks even), but if you can get past all that, it's bit like tube rolling - you may be getting into uncharted territory in a sense, but when you hit paydirt, you know it!! There's a little more assurance of a good outcome than with tube rolling, but in the beginning it may feel like it's a little uncertain, it just takes some time.

Regards to all.

Ive never heard a Rhino recording of anything I liked. I think those guys have wax in their ears.

I have a Rhino re-issue of Mark Almond Band's cuts from the first album and it sound like trash compared to the original German LINE label recording.

Jitter be dammned. Its the recording. And I am not sure how re-burning a crappy recording makes it better.

Audioengr wrote: "You have just never heard a low jitter system, and if you did, there was probabl an active preamp in the way creating so much distortion and compression that you did not hear the benefits of low jitter".


FWIW, I use an Oknyo DX-C390 CD changer as a transp. (certainly nothing special there), out via a Mapleshade Double Helix, digital RCA to a Monarchy DIP Combo, out via another Helix, to a Ric-Schultz-modified, diffrentially balanced Begringer DEQ2496. From there, out via balanced Mapleshade Excaliburs to Goldpoint SMD series attenuators installed in the rear of a pair of Monarchy SM-70 Pro's as balanced monoblocks. A CD-only system with no active pre. I do believe I am hearing the benefits of low jitter.

But, if you thought that I myself was somehow against any and all attempts to employ digital jitter reduction stategies, then I suppose I am pretty much the one to blame for that and I apologize to you for it. What I misfired on when I said that it was the biggest myth in all of audio, and which is what need to seriously amend, was the idea that all those digital strategies were indeed the first and only consideration. I'm of the opinion that, in practice, successful conditioning is just as crucial as digital/mechanical/optical jitter reduction toward overcoming the problem of CD harshness/edginess/brightness in particular.

Ghosthouse,
It takes a lot more than a power conditioner and a lot more than $1000 to really clean up AC, in my experience. There is no quick fix -- no single device will do the complete job. It is the synergy of many elements that accomplished this in my system.