the definative cd lathe test

OK for those of you who can be bothered ....you can now make your own mind up listening to the original disc.

I've found three sets of duplicate disc one of each set has been lathed ...


this is on a first come basis, I will post at set to the most eager.....on the assumption that they are returned to me in a week or posted on to the next person interested.

there's no funny bussiness, no wool pulling over eyes, the disc are cheap freebies from the news papers. the discs have been cleaned only [using cd flux] , and lathed according to the instructions provided by glasse audio, the only slight departure is the black felt tip is not the original as it ran out [I've done that many disc for people !]....

for those who wish to partake please form an orderly queue in pm in box ...

 

My opinion was made up some time ago, Pete.

 

Why PM? I'm not missing the obvious, but there would be little confidence in any tests unless everything is out in the open, including volunteers.

 

What makes this definitive?

Copykat seems more fitting....

 

Hi Pete

Is only the 'lathed' cd covered in black felt tip?

Might make it stand out and introduce sighted bias?

Also, is there any other 'visible/touchy feely' difference with a lathed CD? - does it feel or look any different at the edges?

If it's possible to see a visible difference, then expectation bias will have an effect - be it positive or negative.

 

They do look different Chris, which was the driver behind making the other test blind.

 

Part of me does like the idea of the lathe, because it sometimes annoys me when I hear the CD joggling about slightly off-center (I sit close to the player and can sometimes hear it at night).

I can't help thinking if you want a perfect read though, then the significant money is better spent moving over to a hard disk server and accuratly ripping your CDs?

How accurate is internet streamed music?? I'm sitting here listening to Spotify in high bitrate via a tiny netbook on my lap. I use a USB to optical converter conected to my DAC. All wireless except a single USB cable for audio, and it sounds great!

 

I don't understand your issues ....

you have heard the comparison of two actual disc ...cowboy junkies trinity sessions

you seemed to hear a difference at the time when it was demoed in your system...unless you were mistaken in your comments ?


its definitive because your listening to the actual disc ...or have iq's suddenly dropped to quote a well known film .

your not listening to a copy of a copy on a media that imo doesn't react well to the process...other wise the product would not be marketed as a glasse audio CD lathe ...it would be call the glasse audio cdr lathe



The first sets of disc were posted yesterday so those waiting ...keep a look out.

 

Of course it isn't definitive.
A sighted test seeking to obtain a subjective response will never be definitive - it can only help to inform the argument, at best.

BTW, the same download comparison can be done with CDs instead of CDRs, but the argument that the latter are not suited to lathing is entirely spurious.

 

Well no of coarse it isn't ....but its a hell of a lot closer to a true test than some undefinable recording that may or may not have been the same cd....ooops ...sorry got that wrong same cdr using possibly the same recording mechanism ......if you can't see the problem then that's also an issue
within the methodology of the previous experiment.

as stated previously.....

the lathe is for cd's not cdr's hence its name ...cdr's can be lathed and dvd too...if you want, infact anything with a similar diameter and centre hole and is softer than the bit could be lathed ...

.. having tried various types and makes of cdr in the past, I've found that the effect on these other two media real doesn't do justice to the original idea ...hence my critic of the experiment..

and by the way why didn't you use two cd's ? or was it just too expensive !

Shall I put you down on the waiting list ?

 

Yes please, that would be great.

I'll record them and put them up as a blind comparison for all to hear.

Just to be clear on this Pete, are you saying that I tampered with the discs or recordings used in the test?

 

you don't get it do you .....

its the recording that's partly the issue .....you need to listen to the discs not a recording that might or might not be the same !

still pm me your address .....like everyone else

and still no answer as to why you didn't use cd's ???

 

Jesus, do you actually read posts?........

The discs were supplied to me by a forum member who did the lathing and believes that the effect works on CDRs.
The only person saying that is doesn't work is you Pete, and we are still waiting for the explanation.

So where is it?
Does the manufacturer of the lathing equipment advise that CDRs are exempt from the effects?

I've PM'd my address.

 

I suggest there will always be losses doing this, like it or not.

 

Quote ,'I suggest there will always be losses doing this, like it or not.
__________________
Where will there be losses?

 

IME there always are losses when you transfer music from one form to another.

I'm just saying Simon's idea might be counter productive.

 

On a related point, the file uploads for the lathe test were of course read real-time form a proper (Meridian) CD drive at 16/44 and not converted - the files that were being auditioned remained at 16/44. I quite deliberately didn't rip them at speed using something like EAC.

 

I supplied the discs. The reason I used CDRs was because I did not have two identical and unwanted CDs to hand, whereas I did have two blank CDRs.

There is no suggestion from the manufacturer nor anything in my experience to suggest that the process is less effective with CDRs than CDs.

 

Pete, I did hear the effect in my house with your cd's, just like i was able to detect which of the recordings was lathed and which not.

There's no less room for bias or error in listening to a rip of a lathed disc than there is in handling that lathed disc, in fact if anything it removes all the bias.

If you however think ripping a disc and transferring that file across the ether somehow loses the magic of a lathed disc, then its medical help you need not audio.

 

My wife and I conducted the test this evening with Pete's discs. My wife changed discs not knowing which was the lathed one (she never noticed the black pen) and I was eyes closed.

We both consistently preferred the lathed version (I made a note on a pad of which one I preferred, and she knew which disc she had put in.) We compared notes after the test and were totally in agreement as to which we liked better, and then she showed me the disc - the lathed one.

Thanks Pete for the discs which I shall return forthwith. (BTW were you aware that of the double album, one version had the two discs and the other only the first one?)