AudioQuest used to make them, and at least one other company supplied them. I had some, but just stopped bothering with them. I actually have one of the rings right at hand, from a used CD I bought.
The only issue I ever had was if the CD is maximum length, the ring causes errors at the very end of the disc, (I would guess the laserhead is hitting the ring. |
Well, c'mon Elizabeth, give it a try for me, and tell me what your thinking is about them all these years later. I'm also just remembering that I used to use those wide flat circles that used to cement right on to the disc, might have been Audioquest as well. I ruined a couple of CDs trying to get them off. I was removing them because the added thickness caused them to get stuck in my car CD player. I had the issue once of the band stopping the music at the end of a CD. It was Derek and the Dominoes (a double album on 1 CD). I am wondering if the positive effect I am hearing is related to the blackening of the transparent edge of the CD, which is basically what the CD Stoplight pen did. |
I have an S95. Try it through a Genesis Digital Lens or other jitter reducer. It makes a significant improvement. I suspect the Lens sounds better than the CD rings and is much easier to use.... |
the rubberband is periphery weighting the CD thereby reducing the wobble during spinning. If the CD goes upside down in the Pioneer, the clamp cannot be too big in diameter otherwise it'll cover the inside edge which has all the imp info of the CD. So, even tho the CD is clamped it appears that the entire diamter of the CD is not clamped so there is a high probability that there's still significant wobble during spinning which the rubberband takes care of. Plus, the black/dark colour rubberband also does what the Stoplight pen does - absorb the laser reflections off the CD edge. With those reflections gone less spurious reflected into the laser read lens hence less power supply spiking & the clean supply results in lower jitter & cleaner sonics. If you had TEAC VRDS clamping system it might obviate the need for the rubberband. But, yeah, I can see how the rubberband helps the situation.... |
Thanks Ghostrider, I will look into that. |
I wonder if it's just the edge weighting or if something else is at play too. I was at a site recently where they listed a bunch of cheap tweaks for cd's one of which was to dull the reflective edge of the disc with very light grit sand paper. I can't say what the supposed mechanics or purpose of this was but they swore it yielded a very slight benefit sonically. |
I use pioneer stable platter pd65 and pd59 with outboard dacs and fine them a cheap and high quality way to reduce jitter and cd player noise...I've never had a breakdown of any of these models. Quiet and smooth
dla405j |
I used a PD65 CD player for several years before the current PDS 95 transport and Audio Note DAC. It was truly an excellent player. |
I used a PD65 for 10 years until I sold it on e-bay. I wish I had kept it to use as a spare transport. It was a very smooth player with the Legato Link filters. |
Never to late to reply. Theta took the Pioneer PD S95 transport and modified it. The Theta Miles as it was called was a great player with balance and digital out that started as a good player and was turned into the best bang for the buck over fifteen years ago. I had it rebuilt and use it to this day. Sounds great with and without an extra dac as it has its own built in pre amp. |
This is an old tweak to reduce jitter coming from the disk. There a lot of ways to do this by tweaking the disk itself, or you can just add a good reclocker to the transport and drive your DAC with a low-jitter signal. Then the cable, CD and transport will not have any effect on the jitter. They are "don't-cares".
Steve N. Empirical Audio |
Zeal, Thanks for the information, I never knew that Theta had used it. Very interesting.
Audioengr, Thanks for the info/advice. Someone else on a thread had suggested that I add a digital lens. I am sure a reclocker would be a good thing. Can that just be added internally? What do you think the cost would be? (ball park) |
I had a set of color coded adhesive ring discs which I bought about 15 years ago. Forget who made them However, I never play them because the Rega rep informed me that they add some weight to the transport which wears it out quicker. I was told by the same rep they could be easily removed. Not the case, and I was not going to submerge the CD in warm water to loosen the ring. However, I am going to give them a replay to see if they enhance the sound. |
Sunnyjim, if the colored rings don't work out for you I'd be happy to take them off your hands. Maybe a trade. |
Sunnyjim, I think they were made by Audioquest, and it was more than 15 years ago. I still have a couple of dozen CDs with them. I tried taking them off, and actually peeled off the aluminum layer on one of my discs where the cement was. It is better to leave them on. The reference bands that stretched on round the perimeter were better, and removeable. |