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Silver Member Username: BvanCape Town, Copenhagen,... Post Number: 130 Registered: Jun-05 | i'm wondering, as i've often read it recommended to keep disks clean and scratch free, if anyone has ever noticed any difference in sound quality between a brand new cd and the same album with fingerprints and/or minor(non-skipping) scratches? anyone done a blind test to see if they can hear a difference? i've read that dirt and scratches cause the cd players error correction thingy to work overtime, thus reducing sound quality. anyone know how this works exactly? i dont think i'd hear a difference, and dont want to otherwise, but if i heard a good argument for doing it i might be inclined to spend the day cleaning fingerprints off my 600 odd disks. and maybe think about changing from plastic sleeves back to jewel cases, cause it seems that pulling cd out of plastic cases such as those in cd travel cases seems to often leave minor scratches. cheers b. p.s i might concider the commercial products i've been reading about in these pages lately, but for the moment i'm just wondering about the importance of preventing dirt and scratches, and the effectiveness of good ol' spit 'n pollish. |
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Gold Member Username: Stu_pittIrvington, New York USA Post Number: 1176 Registered: May-05 | bvan, At first I thought you were kidding, but then I realised you probably aren't because I haven't seen you in any of the threads. Their's been a long discussion in a couple threads here related to cd cleaning. https://www.ecoustics.com/electronics/forum/home-audio/215360.html Pledge Anti-Static, or a cleaning product called Zaino; which ever is available to you. I've gotten dramatic results,even on almost brand new cd's. I haven't tried it on a brand new one, because I haven't bought a new one since I've tried the Pledge. Scroll through the thread I posted, it turns into another Pledge thread about half way down. |
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Gold Member Username: Stu_pittIrvington, New York USA Post Number: 1177 Registered: May-05 | p.s. - don't spend the money on the "professional products." Many agree they don't come close to the results of the Pledge or Zaino, which only cost a few dollars. |
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Silver Member Username: BvanCape Town, Copenhagen,... Post Number: 131 Registered: Jun-05 | sorry to open that can of worms again. had only read someone somewhere eluding to the thread but had not seen it myself. i think i might burn 2 copies of an album, and cover the one in greasy fingerprints, then do a blind listning test. if i cant tell the difference here, then i doubt i will with zaino(would you agree?). if i can i'll definitly buy some. cheers b. |
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Gold Member Username: Stu_pittIrvington, New York USA Post Number: 1178 Registered: May-05 | I haven't tried Zaino, nor do I know how much it costs, but I think it's no more than a few dollars. Other than one particular brand of CD's no one has reported any damage in any way. MyRantz said that Zaino stained 2 Linn SACD's, but sound quality wasn't negatively effected. I don't know how well or accurate your test will be. What I did was try the Pledge on an old CD that I didn't listen to very often. I listened to a few tracks, cleaned it, then listened again. After that I tried more and more CD's, and had nothing but dramatic results. It even improved the sound on CD's that appeared to be spotless before cleaning. So, worst case scenario - you buy Zaino for a few dollars, clean a CD you wouldn't miss anyway, and ruin it. It'd cost you a few dollars. You'd still have Zaino around to clean other things in the house. Second worst case scenario - Zaino makes no difference. Again, you've still got it around to clean other things in the house. I don't know if dirtying up a cd and A/B'ing it against a new copy will be a good test, but it could. I can honestly say that using Pledge to clean my CD's has been the best 'tweak' I've ever done, and can't recommend it enough. |
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Gold Member Username: ArtkAlbany, Oregon USA Post Number: 3081 Registered: Feb-05 | I totally agree with Stu. I wouldn't even consider putting an unclean cd in my machine again. That sounded a bit religious didn't it....lol! |
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Silver Member Username: BvanCape Town, Copenhagen,... Post Number: 132 Registered: Jun-05 | the manual for my rega apollo says to not use any cleaning fluids on the disks, that they could damage the player. any logic in this? b. |
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Gold Member Username: ArtkAlbany, Oregon USA Post Number: 3082 Registered: Feb-05 | I haven't even read my manual. I'll check it when I get home from work to see what it says. They probably don't want you to put a wet disc in the player and figure that's about the safest way to insure it. |
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Gold Member Username: ArtkAlbany, Oregon USA Post Number: 3084 Registered: Feb-05 | The instructions for my cd player say nothing about cleaning cd's. |
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Gold Member Username: John_aLondonU.K. Post Number: 4131 Registered: Dec-03 | Rega Apollo Manual in English p.17 The handling of CD's To keep the CD clean, handle by its edge only. Do not touch the surface; natural oils from skin can stop the laser from reading the disc accurately. Do not expose the disc to bright sunlight, or leave near hot places such as electrical equipment or in a parked car. Excess heat can cause the disc to warp. Do not use any cleaning fluids or anti-static sprays on the disc, they can damage the disc and the player. Store the disc in its case when not in use to prevent it from becoming scratched. Then "Troubleshooting" (p.21) has:- Is the CD clean? NO > Clean the CD (see page 17) Hmm... I do wish people would not write "CD's" as a plural of "CD". |
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New member Username: Clarence_yIllinois USA Post Number: 8 Registered: Apr-06 | John A.- Is that not an infinite loop (page 21 to 17 and back again)? Their manual could have used a bit of proof reading. I wonder what they suggest for cleaning then, plain water? |
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Gold Member Username: Stu_pittIrvington, New York USA Post Number: 1191 Registered: May-05 | Water would be a fluid. |
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Gold Member Username: John_aLondonU.K. Post Number: 4132 Registered: Dec-03 | Clarence, Stu, I agree. You can only avoid getting in the loop in the first place.... Otherwise, there is no escape! |
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Silver Member Username: BvanCape Town, Copenhagen,... Post Number: 133 Registered: Jun-05 | i was guessing they mean you should dry wipe a dirty cd, but not use any fluids on the disk. pledge would be a fluid, but i cant for the life of me see how anything on the surface of the disk could damage the player. no part of the player(apart from a beam of light if that counts) comes into contact with the underside of the disk. maybe i'll write them, just out of interest. cheers b |
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Gold Member Username: Stu_pittIrvington, New York USA Post Number: 1192 Registered: May-05 | Dry wiping a CD would probably increase the chances of scratching, right? Rega probably says not to use a wet cleaner for fear that you'll put a wet CD into the player. If a CD is wet, because how fast the CD spins, the fluid will probably get all over the place. A pretty far stretch, but their has to be a moron or two out there who'd put a soaking wet CD into a CD player, ruin it, and sue over the fact that it didn't say he shouldn't do it. If you allow the CD to dry completely, you shouldn't have any problems. |
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Silver Member Username: BvanCape Town, Copenhagen,... Post Number: 135 Registered: Jun-05 | i've got a cleaning kit i do use on occasion, its a bottle of sony "cd/ld disk cleaning liquid fluide nettoyant". says its ethyl alcohol and water. and it comes with a chamois cloth and cost $3. i'm not worried about using this with my rega, the cd is dry by the time you put it in the player. b. wonder why they single out anti-static spray? |
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Bronze Member Username: BcollinsRockport, MA United States Post Number: 93 Registered: Nov-05 | I've been using the cleaning fluid from my laptop LCD screen cleaning kit with a microfiber cloth. It seems to work ok for me so far. Is anyone aware of any reason why I shouldn't do this? Thanks, Bill |
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Silver Member Username: BvanCape Town, Copenhagen,... Post Number: 138 Registered: Jun-05 | just been listning to a cd from the library that has very bad scratches on it, the kind that make loud and very unpleasent noises come from my tweeters. anyone know if this distorted signal noise can damage the teeters at all? cheers b. |