Demagnetizing CDs?!

[@BriBCG]

They should have added a rewind feature to this. Demagnetize and rewind all in one convenient device!

[@Mikexception]

And separate device - magnetization detector for those who sometime are not capable to recognize that problem

[@Not-Only-Reaper-Tutorials]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@nate_d376]

It would spin it backwards, right?

[@JamesTK]

Yeah I've got a pile of CD's that I'd love to rewind 🤪

[@drworm5007]

Stupid people I can't believe how dumb you are! You don't need to rewind a CD!! IDIOTS!!! Turn it over and play the other side then it will be back at start. Gosh!

[@SubsonicNoise]

I‘m an audio engineer - Audiophiles are basically the laughing stock of our field. Working with them can be annoying, but you can trick them really easily - if they bring up a non existing issue with your mix for example, you twist some knobs on machines that aren‘t connected, give them some verbose explanation of what that did and play them the same mix again - they will, without fail, agree that it sounds much better 😁

[@SubsonicNoise]

It helps when you mention how expensive the machine you twisted the knob of was!

[@llaeeZ]

IMO there are two kinds of audiophiles. The ones that you talk about, the laughing stock of the industry, and ones like me that are much more in line with the audio engineering way of thinking.

[@SubsonicNoise]

@@llaeeZ Yeah, tho the latter usually are embarassed to call themselves audiophile because of the former :p Like, I‘d probs qualify as the latter but I cringe if someone calls me that

[@SubsonicNoise]

@@feralfeline6137 The problem is these types are kind of like conspiracy theorists - the base idea is alright (questioning your government / caring about sound) but all the nonsense they delve into completely erases any possible good that base idea could have had :p

[@llaeeZ]

@@SubsonicNoise the 'budget audiophile' subreddit is a good one. There isnt enough money for bullshit snake oil. If someone asks for recommendations on cheap desktop speakers 9/10 answers are likely going to be studio monitors.

[@hvxcolors396]

You just demonstrated it works: the CD was fully demagnetized after using that device. This just reminded me of throwing some more elephant powder on my balcony. In all the years I used it, never got an elephant on my balcony. Such a great product!

[@olmostgudinaf8100]

I know, right? It worked with my volcano insurance, too!

[@LWolf12]

Don't forget to hang up some wolf's bane. I've been using it and I've never had a werewolf problem. It works perfectly.

[@michealmccann]

🤣, same with my clown killer dust, i sprinkled it on the threshold of my property years ago, ang guess what!, no clown killers ever come on my property, what a great product.

[@kitsunekaze93]

@@LWolf12 i tried hanging garlic garlands to ward off vampires, but my neighbour keeps stealing the cloves to make garlic sauce

[@LWolf12]

@@kitsunekaze93 I'd keep an eye on em, probably a vampire sympathizer. Like an IRS agent. 👀

[@TheRetroEngine]

The RD-1 is basically it's region. It can only demagnetise Japanese magnetic fields.

[@baxter22071990]

So he nweds to redo it with a jpop cd? 😅

[@syrophenikan]

“Gold plated optical cables.” I see what you did there. Good one!

[@PerMejdal]

4:15

[@johnseagram2318]

I laughed at that... and after a quick search found they exist! (Although it does seem to be just the connectors and not the whole cable)

[@johncarolin51]

That line absolutely killed me. This whole genre of video is great.

[@rich1051414]

@@johnseagram2318 And they are electrically isolated(Which is great, it's why optical still exists today). The only argument would be to make the cable more durable while also not damaging the anti-corrosion layer on the port you plug into. Absolutely zero sonic improvements, though.

[@TheTetrapod]

@@rich1051414 Ah yes, the notably durable gold...

[@Crazyfistish]

“As it turns out, I can talk about things for longer than I imagine I can.” I love your dry delivery on such hilarious things.

[@wirenutt57]

This is why I love the British sense of humor. So much subtler that the humor on this side of the Atlantic. A little tickle instead of a jab in the ribs.

[@sergioricardoarjonamarrufo4946]

"I just don't see the attraction". Epic line. Thanks !😊

[@Ugly_German_Truths]

I liked his other sentence better. "playing the CD back perfectly every single time". Remember why he had to use the HD VMD player? His CD player FAILED to play back a CD ;)

[@aDifferentJT]

The funniest thing to me is when they suggested that Aluminium being a “weak magnetic material” meant that it was particularly susceptible to magnetic fields, using weak in the exact opposite way.

[@RaineStudio]

Just as insulators are particularly susceptible to electric fields!

[@smoguli]

It's an homeopathic kind of magnetism...

[@anteshell]

@@RaineStudioInsulator materials do not insulate electrical field. They insulate electric current. Two entirely different things. In fact, there would not be insulator materials without them being "susceptible to electric fields" because that is the force that keeps the molecules together.

[@louistournas120]

Aluminium, like most materials, is probably weakly diamagnetic. This means that if you pass a magnetic field through it, a weak magnetic field is generated in the opposite direction and the aluminium is pushed away. This is a very weak effect. Bismuth is far more diamagnetic and water is also slightly diamagnetic. Anyway, once you remove the external field, diamagnetic materials no longer produce their own field.

[@mandi8345]

@@louistournas120 Yep, pretty much. If you drop a magnet down a tube of kitchen aluminum foil, the eddy currents induced will also create a magnetic field that will push back against the magnet slowing its fall. Except thats pretty much all to do with conductive metals, and the magnetic field is a by product of the electrical action, so has nothing to do with the magnetic properties of the metal (other than not attracting the magnet in the first place like those damn cheap steel broom sticks...). On the plus side, with that device (I might have missed it, but they're called degaussers, and can be used too blank VHS, HDD, and credit cards(or any mag stripe card)) one could demagnetize a whole hand full of screwdriver bits at once!

[@TheCrippledWerewolf]

The genious dry humor of putting 3 high-powered magnets on a CD called Ultramagnetic is why I have been subscribed to this channel for several years now.

[@MetalFan10101]

Thats pretty wet as humour goes

[@univon4892]

@@MetalFan10101 Yeah ong

[@niagaramike528]

I'm embarrassed that I didn't catch the group name. :)

[@whyyoulidl]

Ah, Ultramagnetic MC's - first heard these lot on Mike Allen's Capital Radio show back in the 80's...

[@ccricers]

The test is flawed. The MCs are far too magnetic and you can't take that from them.

[@a500]

I must confess I love a bit of audiophile snake oil. Always fascinating, in particular the guff they makeup to try to convince. My favourite to this date is the gold plated TOSLINK cable.

[@Haydos]

It's now a running joke

[@scorch527]

I love the word guff, definitely gonna use that in daily life from now on

[@Clarence_13x]

Lol, I worked at a RadioShack concept store literally filled with stuff like that. Lol, gold plated optical cables.

[@BriBCG]

It's even more amusing when you consider that if you were to fully plate a toslink connector it would cease to function.

[@kelvin1316]

But the gold plated TOSLINKs are useful, they reduce the interferometric rebounce of the internal refraction index meaning the data is less effected by the inversion matrix cause by the negative ion cascade! (I may have watched too much Star Trek Next Gen as a kid...)

[@davegesell5470]

Nicely done. More Snake Oil for Audiophiles. I've long suspected that audiophiles enjoy listening to their equipment far more than they enjoy listening to music.

[@Badonicus]

You're not an audiophile if you're listening to CDs.

[@Jako1987]

Real audiophiles listen only live performances in the studio without any electronic alternations /s

[@davegesell5470]

@@Badonicus The people that spent $5000++++ on separate CD transports and DACs would very much beg to differ.

[@pascalbruyere7108]

@@Badonicus I will admit that on average, my vinyls give me more pleasure than my CDs but it might be a learned thing, nostalgia, habit, etc. Or that I don’t have a good enough CD player… 😉

[@DejanTesic]

@@Badonicus Oofff...

[@PatrickRosenbalm]

What won't an audiophile buy? A hearing test.

[@WH250398]

OOF

[@bitterlemonboy]

Everytime I see an audiophile I want to rip both of their ears off so all of their expensive speakers become useless

[@The_Original_Cujo]

That's because most clinics don't have test equipment fitted with gold plated connectors, audiophile grade capacitors built in a 100% oxygen free environment and headphones with their own power supply and hand crafted valves. So they'd be no point, it just won't have the same sound quality as the hifi they own and their ears will reject the sound, giving a clearly false reading of hearing deterioration.

[@Thermalions]

@@The_Original_Cujo Bit of a shame the 100% oxygen free listening environment option didn't catch on amongst audiophiles.

[@hob991]

Speak up I can't hear you!!!

[@venson7100]

I love how he subtly roasted gold plated optical cables as well 😂

[@rockerseven]

I mean I understand the need for gold plated cables, not for audio quality, but for anti-corrosion. And I do understand the need for metal optical cable tips so they are harder to accidentally snap than plastic ones. But yeah, since optical is light I don't know why anyone would buy gold plated optical cables lol.

[@JathraDH]

@@rockerseven I mean if I had the choice between gold plated optical cables and non gold plated ones and they were basically the same price, id buy the gold plated ones. They look nicer. Aesthetics are still a major part of buyer choice. It's very much a "high quality cables have gold plated ends" consumer bias but also a aesthetic one at the end of the day. I would imagine its far more of a "if we don't have gold plated tips we appear cheap" thing however. Marketing rarely relies on the actual quality of the product, only the perceived value to the mass market.

[@_--_--_]

@@rockerseven Yeah especially in very humid environments. I had several cheap HDMI and similar cables in a drawer for some years, half of them the contacts completely rusted away. When I buy cables now (especially stuff like HDMI where the contacts are tiny) id rather spend an extra $1-2 for gold plated stuff so that it lasts for more than a couple years if its just lying around somewhere not plugged in. To be fair there are plastic caps that mitigate this issue, but most cables dont come with them, ordering them seperately is more expensive than just buying the gold plated stuff and last but not least youll loose them anyway.

[@kimgkomg]

It looks cool

[@tyttuut]

​@@_--_--_ are your drawers full of salt water?

[@unbiased1]

5:45 I'm a little surprised you didn't consider the possibility that your old CD player couldn't read the disc simply because it was "heavily magnetized" 😁

[@wirenutt57]

I just got an idea for a CD player laser demagnetizer! Surely, it would be an audiophilic (new word?) complement to the CD demagnetizer. You don't want to demag your CD then play it in a magnetized player!

[@markfergerson2145]

@@wirenutt57 You can't patent it now that you've revealed the concept in public but I bet you could still sell thousands of them. Just a blank CD with a bunch of rare earth magnets embedded in it with alternating polarity. Won't grab the metal parts of the player and seize it up at all...

[@Haydos]

Please do more audiophile stuff. I love seeing it.

[@Uberhood]

Agreed, please sell us more snake oil Mat ;-)

[@AlpineTheHusky]

Please do less audiophile stuff, I hurts seeing it.

[@KatouMegumiosu]

You meant to say "more snake oil expose"

[@Haydos]

@@AlpineTheHusky yes that's why i love seeing it 😂

[@Haydos]

@@KatouMegumiosu yeah but it's still audiophile stuff. I also like non snake oil stuff

[@combatking0]

Once you've done shaving the outer edge, colouring it with a marker and demagnetizing, it's important to clean the dust from your CDs by using a steel brush in gentle circular motions. This will not only remove dust but also improve the overall sound quality thanks to the power sun spots.

[@pfarnsworth84]

The concentric grooves should help keep the laser from slipping out of the track!

[@combatking0]

@@pfarnsworth84 Oh, so that's how it works!

[@CmputrBlu]

Don't forget to finish off with a nice coat of paint 😁

[@lucassolomon1079]

This made me feel slightly physically sick.

[@RilsR]

Afterwards be sure to install the red light filter onto your laser for even clearer red-free sound.

[@crescentfreshsongs]

Best audiophile device I've found to this day is good old fashioned THC. Make your 1998-era MP3s over cheap earbuds sound like a concert hall! Even has a built-in visualizer sometimes.

[@esprit101]

Yeah, I heard from... other people... that they suddenly found trance music irresistible, despite not liking that genre at all while sober.

[@kakarotox]

Can I get this on ebay?

[@crescentfreshsongs]

@@kakarotox It'd be easier to find a dealer or go to a dispensary for it, but I'm sure someone's secretly selling it on eBay.

[@solenoidnull9542]

@@crescentfreshsongs Totally not Oregano

[@AsmodeusMictian]

This took me ENTIRELY too long to pick up on. For whatever reason I read THC but my brain processed it into THX and I heard that weird 'test sound' that usually came with the logo. Then I read the comment again. Very well played :'D

[@abborne1]

CD demagnetizer, CD chamferer, gold-plated optical cable, HD VMD player -- I love how you took every opportunity to turn this into a hall of shame highlight reel!

[@nobodynoone2500]

There is a whoile industry devoted to this kind of scam, its called 'Audiophile".

[@turokforever007]

The mega rich paid for it all but everyone else called out the BS.

[@Zullfix]

for the record, just about every gold plated cable is bs. They always plate the shell in gold but never the contacts.

[@fearlessfreep]

"As it is it turns out I can talk about things longer than I imagine I can." That is the essence of Techmoan.

[@thexboxfurry745]

Hw could pick up any random electrical device and talk about it for an hour, and I would still listen

[@ddanielmiester]

"techmoan talked briefly" one of the biggest lies ever told.

[@joechisten7176]

I'm loving this new "junk audiophile tech" series

[@blau8lichtneu606]

This contraption reminds me suspiciously a CD rewinder...

[@rickszabo4312]

I bet if you purchased the $800 power supply and mounted the unit on spikes and sprayed the disc with an audiophile degaussing fluid, you would have noticed a slight increase in depth of sibilance on Adel's 4th track on her debut album.

[@travis1240]

You need speaker cables made from pure silver and installed in the correct direction in order to pick that up.

[@gdp3rd]

@@travis1240 Silver tarnishes; you need rhodium-plated platinum wires.

[@demef758]

When I incinerated Adel's debut album, miraculously all of my other CDs improved in quality in immeasurable ways...

[@jobsjobbed5125]

Must’ve missed Adels first 3 releases. He’s Adele’s brother right?

[@michaelthomas3646]

wonder what they will come up with next? a sulphuric acid de-greaser for discs?

[@The_Original_Cujo]

I can confirm the findings in this video, I ran Metallica's Death Magnetic through the demagnetiser a couple of times and it still sounded awful afterwards.

[@GamesFromSpace]

You probably demagnetized it upside down. That disc also sounds better when played upside down.

[@PaulTheFox1988]

@@GamesFromSpace I've heard rumours that it sounds better being played on an angle grinder while using a brick to read the data off the disc, not that I've tried it mind, I don't hate myself that much to listen to metal licker* :D *just kidding, I do genuinely enjoy some of Metallica's work so I hope no one takes it seriously

[@Hykje]

The problem is that the magnetic disappears leaving the CD soaking in death.

[@michealmccann]

🤣

[@The_Original_Cujo]

@@GamesFromSpace I find the best playback is inserted vertically in a toaster

[@jimbo573]

I adore your choice of the Ultramagnetic MCs for the test.

[@Tom2404]

It's just gonna be silent

[@VinylBlair]

A really kool (Keith) idea…!

[@robinsutcliffe_video_art]

such a great album.

[@thegrimyeaper]

That's why there was no difference, it's still going to be magnetic unless he scratches out the band name.

[@DeGuerre]

It's possible that Monster Magnet might be even more magnetic.

[@TeraAFK]

Having an understanding of how data is read from a cd, how a digital signal differs from an analog signal, and having a rudimentary understanding of sampling theorm and digital audio compression is a lot more than most consumers at the time would be knowledgeable about. It's the perfect snakeoil product

[@M4D0GG0]

Also deMAGNETise OPTICAL media

[@alext3811]

CD's aren't compressed. Unless you're talking about sampling or limitations of bit depth.

[@realvanman1]

I’m surprised you found that much inside the device. It would function equally well at fooling the sucker with a resistor, diode, capacitor, and the push button and led.

[@TheAdatto]

Yeah seeing the coil that big was impressive. Still useless.

[@xaeon]

With the electronics present, all claims made by the manufacturer are either subjective and/or highly conditional. It would be easy for them to claim in this video that either his disk simply lacked any of the ferromagnetic impurities they claimed, or that his player was simply not one that could be affected by the disk's level of magnetization. As long as the device does indeed attempt to demagnetize objects, then it's not technically a crime.

[@RaineStudio]

@@TheAdatto If it was even copper. Could have been spray painted on top!

[@YourAliasIsNotAvailable]

@@xaeon So if I at least TRY to be a heart surgeon there is no harm done and it's not a crime? I doubt that.

[@nihonam]

what a waste of copper

[@StasIvanov23]

How did you not notice! The musicians stopped playing off-key. The singer began to hit the notes! Everything has changed! The disc sounded softer, lampier, crystal clear. Thanks for the review! Good mood and good weather!

[@Fluteboy]

_Good mood and good weather_ - That is such a wonderful greeting!

[@demef758]

My dog's mood brightened as well after the disk demagnetizer treatment! But honestly, Rover did not enjoy being crammed into the demagnitizer either.

[@WorksOnMyComputer]

My first thoughts on seeing the thumbnail. "This should be good. Today I am going to learn how to demagnetise plastic." I wasn't disappointed. Thanks Techmoan for finding these weird and wonderful gadgets. Looking forward to the series on how to save electricity with a gizmo in your powerpoint.

[@RaineStudio]

Magnetic audiotape has a relatively high coercivity. The bulk erasers I used back in the analog era drew several amps and buzzed loudly enough to be heard from another room.

[@Roxor128]

I've heard of IT departments using them for wiping backup tapes. Maybe the manufacturers sell the same devices to both?

[@derekheeps1244]

That and the likes of Weircliffes had a prominent sign on the front panel telling you to remove wristwatches and leave them at a safe distance .

[@stevesretroloft]

It's the sort of product my Hifi enthusiast cousin would've owned and swore blind he could tell the difference it makes. He once boasted about being able to hear the drummer picking up his sticks on a CD with his setup, my brother with his cheap sharp hifi put the same CD on and could hear it as well.

[@ArlenMoulton2]

I can hear John Lennon shout "WOAHHHH, F***ING HELL!" in the background of Hey Jude on my HiFi... I can also hear it on a £5 portable FM radio, it's all about what you're listening for.

[@eddyrocks]

@@ArlenMoulton2 can also hear it from a compressed Spotify stream. Totally agree.

[@AkosJaccik]

Oh, wow. When a product makes the CD shaver a semi-reasonable idea in comparison, you know you have something beautiful at hand.

[@BriBCG]

At least the CD shaver made your discs double as throwing weapons.

[@agevenisse3252]

The CD shaver will damage the disc and potentially expose the aluminium layer, causing oxidation over time. The CD demagnetizer is better, since it does absolutely nothing to the disc. ;)

[@AkosJaccik]

@@agevenisse3252 Good, for more than 300 GBP I expect it to do _something,_ even if it's annihilation of data over literally just introducing reactive power into the grid.

[@ian_b]

Considering how every tweak widens the sound stage, modern audiophile setups must make it sound like the members of The Beatles are playing on different continents.

[@hegedusuk]

Don’t forget it separates the instruments

[@Alefjj]

High fidelity has reached a level that even sounds like John Lennon is playing from the afterlife.

[@paulstubbs7678]

Like the instruments in one continent and the singers in another

[@BrunodeSouzaLino]

That widening of the sound stage is most likely the huge reverberant untreated room these nutjobs put their equipment in.

[@Alefjj]

@Bob They are re-releasing the Revolver album with a modern mix, quite different from the old mixes.

[@Uultraaaviolettt]

Using an ultramagnetic MCs cd is hilarious, you’ve also got a great taste in music from what I’ve seen I remember you showing a dr. octagon cassette in a video a while ago

[@plainswell]

I would have to be most concerned by all the 'reputable?' audio publications giving the glowing ticks of approval. It's the 'Monster Cable' scam all over again! Good job again, Techmoan...

[@Ciborium]

I remember when someone did a test between a Monster Cable and a wire coathanger and there was no discernable difference with analog audio.

[@moosemaimer]

@@Ciborium Nothing irritates a person with preconceived notions more than a double-blind study. See: orchestra auditions, wine tasting, fast fashion, etc.

[@davidlong1786]

They have always done so and always will when ad revenue is their main concern not truth.

[@wbfaulk]

​@@moosemaimer What sort of double-blind studies are you proposing to test "fast fashion"?

[@moosemaimer]

@@wbfaulk There was a discount shoe store that set up a "fake" boutique location where they put the same shoes up for sale at vastly inflated prices and people went crazy for them.

[@mysock351C]

The reason the LED fades out like that is they are using a PTC thermistor for the coil (Edit: Or possibly a thyristor circuit since it was ready to go almost immediately again for the flip-side, but the function is essentially the same). The idea is that it slowly tapers the alternating field from the coil off to zero so there is no residual magnetism. It was a very simple and ingenious way to demagnetize old CRT monitors. At least they got that part of it right, but it was probably a copy of something else originally that was useful before it was bastardized into this.

[@iNerdier]

Makes me wonder if this would be a cheap screwdriver demagnetiser

[@Thermalions]

@@iNerdier Not based on the (lack of) effect on the cassette tape.

[@romangiertych5198]

@@Thermalions Would probably do something to the tape if it was put directly on the coil rather than through the wood piece and the plastic box.

[@nofider1]

@@Thermalions He neglected to rewind the cassette before playing.... ergo no erased audio. I would buy one tomorrow just to reduce the width of my wallet. By the way I'm still looking for an IR filter for my tube amp to help prevent wallpaper peeling............. :-)

[@movax20h]

I do not think they use PTC for that. I see IC there, my bet is this is 555 timer.

[@13donstalos]

The "Ultramagnetic Mic's" CD, along with the 3 magnets left on it overnight, was probably the best choice ever.

[@echoes89]

I’d say The Magnetic Fields could also have been a good band for this test

[@jreese8284]

We had to replay some bits because we laughed so hard that we couldn't hear your next words....didn't want to miss a moment of this gem. "Demagnetizing vinyl" indeed! On the other hand, perhaps if I demagnetize my socks, it will improve the timbre of my voice; maybe I can sound as good as you!

[@edsvlogs9245]

4:16 “With that $399 they could have got themselves some nice gold plated optical cables.” Made me laugh so hard 😂

[@Mentski]

The 300 quid gold plated optical cable will always be my favourite piece of audiophile snake oil.

[@NigelDraycott]

Does it help if you keep the gold plating polished

[@FhangMedia]

That's like people buying HDMI cables with a gold connector instead of plastic thinking that it will improve something somehow even though it doesn't make contact with anything

[@CptJistuce]

@@NigelDraycott Polishing it actually makes it worse. Removes all the microharmonics. May as well just use plastic at that pointd

[@ZeusTheTornado]

@@FhangMedia It's true, but you know what? I'd still pick the gold plated HDMI because gold plated connectors are resistant to corrosion. A big deal in humid places like my town

[@wotnvideos]

The RD-3 does seem to still be easily available brand new here in Japan. It's priced at 48,000 yen (330 USD or 297 GBP) and is currently at 4 stars on Amazon Japan with a bunch of reviews featuring audiophiles absolutely swearing that it makes their CDs sound so much better. I'm personally more amused by the negative ion bullshit, though.

[@Weareonenation303]

Some audiophiles will believe any bullshit improves the quality of audio.

[@gl_tonight]

If you send me your CDs I have a team of 11 thousand monks, 5 chess masters, and an ostrich who will pray for better sound and for only $10 per disc you can increase fidelity by oh... I don't know... at least 7%

[@coriscotupi]

*"audiophiles absolutely swearing that it makes their CDs sound so much better"* That's why it was mentioned in another thread in the comments here that audiophiles are laughing stock for audio engineers.

[@glyph241]

@@gl_tonight Sold. Where do I sign?

[@hicknopunk]

@@gl_tonight the prayers of chess masters never fail

[@SidewaysCytlan]

I was one of those people who suggested ripping the CD and comparing checksums in the last video. Glad you explained why you don't want to do that, and your approach makes a lot more sense now. Thanks!

[@romangiertych5198]

@@BlackDuke235 It isn't, there are even entire databases which rely on those to identify discs. Look up Exact Audio Copy, it produces such accurate rips and creates a log file containing checksums and other data for every track.

[@GamesFromSpace]

@@BlackDuke235 If it went through an audio encoder, maybe (and even then, I'd expect a modern software based solution to be deterministic). If it's being dumped directly to bin, no, it will be perfectly identical assuming no errors.

[@johanneswerner1140]

Yup, because audiophiles tell us that 'you cannot measure clarity and instrument separation' - if there is a difference you are able to measure it. Especially with digital signals.

[@zoomosis]

@@romangiertych5198 Exactly. For Macs there's also X Lossless Decoder (XLD), which does a very similar thing. Great bit of software.

[@romangiertych5198]

@@BlackDuke235 You were responding to someone suggesting ripping - that isn't a recording, and that would be identical. A recording wouldn't match without being trimmed identically of course.

[@agentmith]

I would have liked to see a magnetic field viewer passed over the disc, just to show that it can’t be magnetized

[@pulsefel9210]

anything can be magnetized with enough effort. given the output of a nuclear reactor you could magnetize a human.

[@ethzero]

Damn. Just deleted my redundant comment 😀. But yes, would love to empirically prove this.

[@ethzero]

And also put the magnet field viewer on the unit itself!

[@techadmirer6475]

same here

[@DoubleMonoLR]

It's irrelevant anyway though, it wouldn't make any difference. Heck a number of CD players used magnetic clamps to hold them in place while playing anyway, including pc drives which could read at up to 52x with no errors...

[@MrNside]

Another thing to check out (if you haven't already) is the gold CDs that were sold in the mid 90s. Instead of aluminum, they used 18k gold (supposedly) as the reflective layer within the disc. I had a copy of Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon that was gold. IIRC, it was around $45-$50 back then. EDIT: I remembered incorrectly. They were advertised as using 24k gold, not 18k.

[@pfarnsworth84]

That actually makes some sense, though - as gold is a basically inert and non-reactive metal, it will never get cd/laser rot. It's not going to sound any different, of course, but it should last longer, 'archivally' speaking.

[@danbance5799]

That's a different case altogether - there are 2 legitimate reasons to use gold as the reflective layer in the disc. Aluminum is very prone to oxidation and oxygen can very slowly migrate through the protective layers of the disc to reach the aluminum. Over time, this will damage the aluminum and after a period of time - say, 50 years? - the disc might be unreadable even if it is in otherwise pristine condition. Gold is used in archival grade discs that are intended to be readable hundreds of years in the future. The second reason, of course, is the bling factor. It looks awesome and you can brag to all your friends that your gold CD of Dark Side of the Moon will be playable by your great-great-great grandchildren. I've been re-ripping my old CDs. When I first ripped them, hard drive space was very limited and I encoded them at very low bitrates. Now that disk space is no longer an issue, it makes sense to rip them again. This has been a very slow process because my drive is reporting all kinds of read errors and that simply wasn't the case 20 years ago, and in some cases this affects the output file. Most of my discs are around 25-30 years old - I bought them in high school and college, many of them second hand. They certainly have their share of scratches and surface defects as well. So this would be a really great experiment to run - my copy of Dark Side of the Moon vs yours - how many read errors does that generate? And would that be helped if I used a disc polisher on the disc? It may also be that modern Blu-Ray/DVD drives just aren't well suited to reading CDs. That's another possibility and I don't have any information on if that is the case.

[@AlainHubert]

There is a slight advantage of gold over aluminum for CDs. Gold doesn't oxidize or rot as aluminum can if the polycarbonate layers aren't sealed properly on a CD over time. As far as gold CDs sounding better? Definitely not if they're both made using the same audio source.

[@MrNside]

@@AlainHubert Yeah, the durability argument makes sense, but their marketing was focused on supposed better sound quality and supposed ability to reach frequencies unattainable by normal CDs. All hogwash, of course.

[@holidaywednesday4069]

24 karat gold, according to the label-- I have a gold copy of Master of Puppets.

[@bkzach]

I love you Techmoan never change, "turns out I can talk about things longer than I thought" and I wouldn't want anything else, your videos always manage to impress in both terms of tech and your presentation and sense of humor

[@dingdong7440]

If, as the manufacturer states, the interior of a CD/DVD player has many components that can magnetize a CD/DVD, even if that demagnetizer worked, as soon as you slide it into a player, it would become magnetized again, besides all the paint trash they state in the first place. Totally absurd. Great videos by the way!.

[@jamiemarchant]

Oh wait that's a valid point, so it would never work.

[@EricLS]

“Uhhh it takes a while….to collect magnet…points…..because it’s weakly magnetic….so the instruments take a while to mix together on the CD”

[@dingdong7440]

@@EricLS yeah, it also takes a while to collect the coin pot at the end of a rainbow.

[@Tahngarthor]

those gold plated optical cables may not gain anything from being gold plated, but at least the cables are functional, which is more than can be said for this device

[@kosh604]

I am curious to know if that device did anything at all except than lighting up the LED. Maybe BigClive could reverse engineer the circuit?

[@stupidfanboyph]

It looks like it can act like an induction cooker

[@VincentvanLeijden]

I was actually looking for this comment, before posting it myself. TBH I was briefly disappointed when you already opened it up yourself. Still, I would love to see BigCliveDotCom reverse engineer this.

[@llaeeZ]

Hell yeah. Big Clive should def have a look at this!

[@skylined5534]

@@VincentvanLeijden Put it this way, the 'erase' light is certainly being powered by a capacitor which gets a momentare charge by a brief press of the button. I bet if Mat had held it down it would have stayed lit... showing it's super-demagnifying that there CD!

[@tomclanys]

@@skylined5534 it's lighting up when it's discharged, it lights up on power up by itself.

[@nutsnproud6932]

Thanks for the video Mat. It's almost as much fun as the DVD rewinder!

[@LillyP-xs5qe]

Oh fudge, that thing was real, I was sure you were joking about a DVD rewinder

[@kelvin1316]

It kinda reminds me of my mum when I started her on the Web, she was convinced that before you could close the browser you had to hit the back button until you got to the "start" page. Took me ages to convince that you can just close the software. I could see where she was thinking for doing it and I love my mum ♥

[@markmarkofkane8167]

I'm surprised there's no talisman to remove evil forces from CD's. Great video!

[@sysghost]

I bet there is. You just have to look where shakra crystals spill into the audiophile world.

[@SteveLBMK]

You need the bespoke CD cases from Lourdes.

[@anderson9244MLG]

Lmao 😆😆😆😆😆😆😆🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂

[@tommy5675]

My last CD player came with a Dream Catcher, that had the double protection of a hanging cats paw AND a white rabbits foot......The sounds were amazing, but only when orientated to lay lines that bisect Crop circles that are aligned with Orions Belt. That last part is vital :D

[@PSUQDPICHQIEIWC]

@@sysghost I inherit a lot of junk electronics on the terms of "see if you can fix it; otherwise, throw it out". I have laptops and radios and phone chargers with quartz crystals taped to their cords -- taped with gooey cheap black electrical tape. A part of me wants to tell them that the crystal is why their shit broke.

[@katiebunn]

This is as always a great video. Love the dismantling of audiophile crap. Most of all just makes me want to pull me hair out that this received good reviews by contemporary sources.

[@DanHarkless_Halloween_YTPs_etc]

Makes me wonder whether payola was involved. I mean, surely folks reviewing stuff like this are aware of the need for blind A-B testing…

[@damonappel]

Of all the long videos I've watched on KZbin, I don't think I've ever felt I've 'wasted time' watching TechMoan. -- Keep on talking it up!

[@emilholmgrenmusic]

Hi, Mat! Loving these "debunking audiophile nonsense" videos, keep 'em coming! A way you COULD improve CD performance back in the day was to get a better D/A converter after a few years. The ones in early players weren't particularly good. The same goes for vinyl and RIAA amplifiers. Next to a new pickup or stylus, the biggest improvement you can make to your playback chain is a new one of those.

[@8bitwiz_]

But that's improving the player, not the CD.

[@emilholmgrenmusic]

@@8bitwiz_ It's improving the playback quality, which is the aim for any upgrade.

[@magicscreengames4353]

You CAN improve a CD if you remove the dust from it. I had a very dusty CD and it had a very interesting sound.

[@straightpipediesel]

@@avsystem3142 No, the error correction on CD audio is fairly weak because people are tolerant to glitches in the audio. CD players use error concealment, usually by replaying the last segment of correctly decoded audio. Another problem is tracking, CDDA has no way of identifying information to less than around 100 ms, so dust or scratch can cause track skipping, like a record. That's why when CD-ROM was added, they used an additional 12% of the bits to ECC, and labeled all the sectors.

[@edwardallenthree]

True, but there are diminishing returns, and some of the "highest" end DACs today are awful, objectively. The reality is that a DAC chip with a noise floor of -100 dBm can be small and cheap enough to fit in a USB-c dongle for pennies today. The fact that so many DACs are so bad when the technology is "solved" is pathetic.

[@JessHull]

I like how you're delving into this area of audio quackery. There's so much silliness to explore and call out.

[@BrumKid]

Wow how time gone by fast i remember the first time i came on this channel it was when i watched the review on the G1W car cam review back in 2013 and now the channel has got even stronger in 2022 and has over 1.2 million subscribers, my hat is off to you and your channel.

[@GreenShark4]

God, I love you reviewing audiophile placebo accessories. Remember that story about people running audio through gold plated cables and then a wire clothes hanger and people couldn't tell the difference?

[@robinsutcliffe_video_art]

He nails it with the wrap up at the end, SOME things make a difference to audio, UP TO A POINT! There are so many ways to define technical audio, watts, ohms, db, dbu, dbv, it's endless, the comparisons and specs given even by low end consumer audio are ridiculous' contrary and confusing. So it's easy to make shit up that appears plausible BUT YOU CAN"T HEAR IT. You can spend 1300e on a power chord (a kettle lead) so you have pristine AC. Can you hear it? No.

[@jonathonshanecrawford1840]

I've done something like that, running audio through Golden wire ($10+/metre) and through optic fibre, no differentce at all or about 0.000% difference!

[@JoQeZzZ]

@@jonathonshanecrawford1840 That sounds amazing! You could get a Nobel prize out of that I reckon, passing electrical signals over an optic fibre

[@steviebboy69]

Didn't they have Monster Cables or some similar name and they were real thick speaker to amp interconnecting cables. All I had was cables that cost maybe $5 AUD a Metre but I got quite a lot of that for free when I purchased my Yamo' 707's years ago.

[@KellyMurphy]

I've worked in IT forever and remember Best Buy had several brands of Toslink cables on the shelf. The guy tried to tell me that the gold plated $60 Monster cable would give me much better sound then the $10 one sitting next to it. I looked at him deadpanned and said, "its optical, ie light, and digital. The data either gets to the other end or it doesn't, if you are hearing music it will be the identical no matter what optical cable you use."

[@Robothut]

“There’s a sucker born every minute and two to take him.” Thank you for sharing these rip of devices with us.

[@erik365365365]

Even if these thing did do something, truly the cd standard’s error correction would make it a moot point, that was the wonder of a cd.

[@BICIeCOMPUTERconGabriele]

@@erik365365365 Exactly. Let's just take a moment to celebrate the 40th anniversary of this wonder, that just happened last Saturday!

[@Sembazuru]

Nah, P.T. Barnum was wrong. It's more like every second. (I can't take credit for this. I saw this nugget of wisdom in an old .sig random quote list. I have no idea the source.)

[@FranLab]

This looks like they simply re-marketed a device for erasing magneto-optical discs so that they could keep selling the bulk erasers long after the drives were no longer being made.

[@dlarge6502]

Magneto-optical discs can not be erased by this either. The magnetic fields on such a disc can not be changed unless you heat the material to its curie point.

[@peterpiper0815]

Didn't know that such thing exist. I still use MO-Disks (as storage device for my AKAI MPC2000) and IMO for this type of devices ('old' sampler with SCSI connector) it's the best option. I wonder how these MOD eraser work cause the benefit of the MOD is to be insensitive to external magnetic fields unless the Disk is heated above the Curie temperature.

[@cdl0]

@@dlarge6502 Yes, this is correct. A laser is used to heat the media for recording and erasing data.

[@nikibordeaux]

I love that you chose a CD by Ultramagnetic MCs for this experiment. 😄

[@bolesawmayzel6476]

Hey Mat, I think that this magnetic tape visualizer could help visualizing the field that this device creates. Video as always great and huge thank you for keeping me entertained every week!

[@Kualinar]

Wouldn't be surprised to discover that the coil is not connected to anything. Discovering that it not even be conductive wouldn't be a surprise.

[@FalloutofContext]

It's insane how much stuff like this exists and how expensive it is for doing nothing haha

[@markfergerson2145]

The audiophool market exists because some people just will not make the effort to understand how things work and what changes are actually discernable. There's also the ego/elitist component to the phenomenon in that they believe they have superior hearing, so superior that mere technology cannot discern differences that they can.

[@ricardlupus]

Well, it probably does something, after all someone did spend the time to wind a magnetic coil and build associated drive electronics...that's not saying that it does anything useful in its intended context of course.

[@yodab.at1746]

@@ricardlupus they do that to fulfill the imagined necessity of the person buying it. If it was an empty box, it would be harder to CONvince someone it did anything. Unless maybe it was filled with esoteric air which, btw, is the next thing in infinite baffle speaker technology......

[@tonyzed6831]

"A fool and his money..."

[@favoritemustard3542]

**cough** snake🐍🛢oil **cough**

[@Max_Mustermann]

5:40 - maybe the CD player has issues with reading your CDs because they've become heavily magnetized over the years.

[@Thermalions]

Maybe he needs a CD Player demagnetiser to resolve the issue?

[@fsmoura]

He'll have to build a specially isolated studio, demagnetized and deopticized to settle this issue.

[@llaeeZ]

@@Thermalions They already exist... Not specifically for CD players but for audio electronics in general. Usually just a stone or something that is placed ontop of the unit... Yes, its as stupid as it sounds.

[@electron_greg]

I am always astounded that so called audiophiles (who usually spend a LOT of money) cannot apply simple logic to ruling out such piffle.

[@lakerfan2874]

For me, it's about what they listen to and what albums they highly praise. I like Space Oddity more than Dark Side of the Moon, and I believe that Space Oddity is better than the latter. One's a drag, and you can't figure out which track you're on besides "Time" and "Money" while Space Oddity has longer songs, and it makes a story with what is on the album, while Dark Side of the Moon is a bunch of rubbish fit in between 2 great tracks. I won't mind listening to it, but I think I might be listening to it wrong as I'm listening to it sober instead of being stoned or on LSD.

[@drewzero1]

I'm really enjoying this series of audiophile pseudoscience products. Keep em coming!

[@Roxor128]

Audiophool products more like it.

[@crackedemerald4930]

AudioFaux

[@meandmyEV]

I worked at a radio station in the early 2000s. By then, all of the music, commercials, etc was digital but we had one of these devices collecting dust in the corner of the studio. Apparently someone believed it worked. I wonder if they had ever used it.

[@moonshine3333]

I could sell you a dust remover for £3,999.99. It’s a little bit scratched where it used to say Dyson😳

[@Thermalions]

You just know the pointy-haired boss bought it.

[@LatitudeSky]

Might have been sent over on spec by the company. If they could get even ONE DJ talking up this product, they'd probably quadruple sales. But it sounds like it didn't impress. They should have paid DJs to push it.

[@jublywubly]

Evidently, the person who bought the machine didn't know how CDs work. lol

[@musicandfilms9956]

@@Thermalions Dilbert!

[@xavierrose8208]

This is the epitome of industry laughing at audiophiles

[@e8root]

Audiophiles come cut from different cloth. Some hear difference in completely BS products, some think they can hear things which do affect measurements and some will honestly say they cannot tell the difference or at least clearly. These last are as much minority as first group really but they cannot generate revenue and first group can. Then you have lots of valid products and few audio-voodoo BS products and these last products skew perception of people that audiophile == idiot. Imho worth keeping this in mind.

[@ronanzann4851]

I have to say that Willow S. absolutely nailed it when describing "audiophiles". I feel for them at times when I try to imagine going through life in a world over-populated with predator/scamers and con-artists and at the same time being so ill-equipped to recognize let alone deal with these ubiquitous threats.

[@AsmodeusMictian]

That problem can be fixed by these 11,000% premium priced gold and unobtainum plated audio cables, friend. Don't spread this around, but I can get you a pair of these cables for the almost criminally low price of $15k each, but BE QUIET ABOUT IT. At that price I'll have people beating down my door trying to get me to sell them some!!

[@severalwolves]

YES! I’ve noticed SOOO many (generally younger) people complaining about audio quality of various podcasts I listen to, which really sound fine and totally acceptable… I’ve been starting to wonder if maybe ~20 or so years ago the moms of the world just suddenly started giving birth exclusively to babies with pristine, solid gold ears haha. it’s like, settle down guys; no one cares how much you spend on headphones

[@solhsa]

It would be interesting to see ferrite dust patterns both from the magnetized cd as well as the demagnetizer.

[@tommy5675]

I can remember reading stories in the early 90s about storing your CDs in the freezer as the colder temperature will somehow help the lasers retrieval of information. I never tried it, but there seem to have been a bit of a history of trying to malign CDs as somekind of "Impure" media

[@lasskinn474]

🤔 how the hecks that supposed to work. extreme temperatures can damage cd's though

[@talibong9518]

This one is actually true, I used to freeze my scratched PS1 games to make them be able to load again.

[@thesteelrodent1796]

putting a CD in the freezer will make the binding layer brittle (of course depending on how cold a freezer we're talking here) and you risk the reflective layer peeling off, besides the disc most likely will condensate when you put it in a cd player. If anything it will make the disc sound much worse and possibly even make it unplayable

[@MEGAMIGA]

It was probably by the same people who believe that "Vinyl sounds better than CDs AnD iT's A fAcT!!!!!!"

[@e8root]

Hmmm, maybe going freezing cold is the way to remove that darn jitter. You know, the jitter that even your PC will pick up and store in analog substrate on which data is recorded and which you cannot really get rid off once it is there because it will affect how jitterly data is recorded and will make electronics in your computers jittery. Like you could rip jittery CD to one file and clean CD on the other and copy the files from PC to PC, even over internet and store it on various digital device types (like RAM, hard disk, punch tapes (probably the best to study jitter!!!!!!!!!!), flash, cd-r, etc) along the way and file from jittery CD will have more jitter than from non-jittery CD even if bits are identical. You know, this is serious issue... gotta go clean my head now from audio-voodoo magnetism to resolve it ;)

[@rpb424]

These supposed ‘improvements’ are always described in the same audiophile generic terms as well. Every product always provides all of the following - ‘better separation’, ‘wider soundstage’, ‘improved ‘clarity’. Any one of those missing and it’s obviously no good. I’ve always found that having an even number of books on the shelf in my listening room helps enormously. An odd number seems to muddy the sound to some degree.

[@vintageaudioemporium]

Interesting by these generic terms, technically moving your speakers farther apart achieves ‘better separation’ and ‘wider soundstage’. By their logic I guess how hydrated you are would matter too lol

[@donreid6399]

I ran into this product a few years ago at my local high-end audio store. Being an Electronics Technician who repairs cd players (among other audio equipment), I was more than a little dubious about a product that promised to 'demagnetize' aluminum and polycarbonate compact discs. The owner of the shop assured me it worked, despite my insistence that - even if such a thing were possible - a laser wouldn't be bothered by a bit of residual magnetization. Once again, the owner was adamant that he could easily hear the before and after. I finally agreed that yes, I BELIEVED HE COULD HEAR THE DIFFERENCE...just that there WAS no difference! Thanks for this review! 🙂

[@ajkarman]

I’d love to see this technique of testing used to see the difference between an inexpensive cd player vs a player considered “audiophile” quality.

[@tigerchills2079]

13:02 okay, this part really blew my mind. I didn't even expect them to put a real coil in it, even though it would not have any effect

[@stale2665]

I wonder if the coil is actually hooked up at all. Might be interesting to check.

[@mattsword41]

love your approach to these gentle and extremely funny debunking episodes :) Your videos are always a joy :)

[@yourTurb0]

Now we want a schematic of it. Please send this thing over to Big Clive, he takes it completely apart and gives us more details what it does or doesn't do. So mayby you could erase old harddisk with it, they manufacturer advertised the product wrong then.

[@gabrielv.4358]

Yes!

[@creamcheese746]

Love him! Yes!

[@hashbrown777]

If it cant even distort an unshielded tape it cannot hope to touch data on a harddisk. You can whack huge neodymium magnets on disks to no effect.

[@Jared-91]

I used to consider myself an audiophile, until I started reading on the internet all the crazy great lengths they will go to achieve the best sound. I no longer consider myself an audiophile. I'm just an audio enthusiast.

[@davidshepherd265]

Yeah, same. I like my music to sound good, but at 37 after several rounds of ear surgery, my ears aren't what they were in my teens or early - mid 20's, and even if they were perfect, I realise there's simply a limit as to how good you can improve things until you reach a point where there's zero noticeable improvement. Not to mention snake oil like these devices and interconnects that cost as much as a new car.

[@jort93z]

audiophiles buy a bunch of placebo stuff and pretend to hear a difference, lmao.

[@wtmayhew]

The difference: audio enthusiasts listen to the music while audiophiles listen to the flaws.

[@cbsboyer]

Same here. In my younger years, I worked retail in an electronics store and sold all kinds of Monster Cable to AV fanatics (including gold plated optical cables), but I certainly never had any trouble with store brand speaker cable and inexpensive patch cables.

[@rsnowdowne]

@@wtmayhew That's not even strictly true. Audio enthusiasts listen to the music and try to make it sound as good as possible. Audiophiles spend heaps of money on stuff that can't possibly do anything, and then imagine that they hear the flaws (which weren't there in the first place) being eliminated.

[@paulmaunder3007]

Thanks for another informative video. I remember this kind of product being promoted by hifi magazines in the 1990’s. The manufacturers were able to actually sell them because, as you mentioned, a lot of the buyers were accustomed to the analog era and didn’t understand that most of the tweaks which might work with analog gear simply don’t apply to digital equipment such as CD players. I remember another piece of advice from the time which was to freeze your CDs overnight and then defrost them. What HiFi claimed that this would somehow ‘de-stress’ the plastic and improve the sound quality. It was around this time when I stopped believing anything they printed. I’d be interested to see a test of a mains conditioner at some point. I bought one of these several years ago, based on the excellent reviews in hifi magazines. Eventually I became dubious as to whether or not it was actually doing anything to the sound quality so I recorded the output of my CD player into Pro Tools twice, once with the CD player plugged into the mains conditioner and once with it plugged straight into the wall. Sure enough, the two recordings phase cancelled to nothing.

[@startedtech]

I'm not familiar with what they're used for in the audiophile world, but mains/power conditioners are useful established products. Like noisy/loaded AC power (such as when running an air conditioner in an old house) can produce image instabilities/lines on CRT monitors/TVs. They're also frequently used with generators since they tend to produce rather "dirty" electricity. (Very noticeable with cheap LED bulbs, they'll slightly flicker)

[@dwaynezilla]

I like how this channel gives you reason to buy this stuff and test it. We get to see it and you get answers and the sting of buying the thing is much less when it turns out to be a scam (which is usually the case), because you've got some content to pay for it, haha. Also (from a viewer's perspective) it makes for some interesting videos!

[@Zactivist]

I think there was a whole cottage industry of maguffins like this designed to separate 'audiophiles' from their money. I've met people who swear up and down that because they paid $1000 for a cable, the sound coming through it is magically amazing. I'd be willing to bet someone who paid $300 for that thing (probably a lot more in the original year value) would believe they were hearing some difference, and in their mind, maybe they are.

[@johnpekkala6941]

The absolute worst things I have seen are magic stones for 1000s of dollars that u place on your equipment to somehow magically improve the sound. Another one is an ethernet cable for over 1500 dollars claiming to improve the sound quality on the music you stream over internet (of course using a servce like Tidal wich have lossless quality). First of all, the cable is digital and second it ignores completley the 100s of miles of ordinary ethernet cable (unless you have optical cable all the way to your house but it does not matter, as said the signal transmitted is digital). I consider myself to be an audiophile but a pair of good quality Cervin Vega XLS12 speakers and a decent Yamaha reciever I find are good enough to give me really nice and dynamic sound I can really enjoy weather its Beethoovens 5 or Psy trance. Im an all eater when it comes to music but I like good dynamics in general and sure CW might not be "neutral" speakers but as I said I like a bit extra punch in the music as I enjoy good dynamics and it still sounds 100% clean and accurate to me.

[@FuSiionCraft]

@@johnpekkala6941 .... a good ol' focusrite scarlet and Audio Technica headset for a whopping 500$ in total will give you studio quality. Know why ? Because they are used in studios. For speakers, AT or a singer amplifier if you want volume, ~200$ You *don't* need all other shits.

[@piratetv1]

I always love this audiophile quackery. I used to do tv repair for a high end audio/video store. I once had a client that had his speaker wires on tiny telephone poles going across his living room. He told me, "the floor crushes the Flux in the wires so you need to keep them off the floor". At my next and current job, we had an hdmi cable factory rep try to show us the difference in audio between his cheap cables and his expensive cables. 2 of us in the audience were technicians instead of the salesmen he was used to. I noticed he was playing an audio file and waiting to pause at a very specific place to change cables. I also noticed he never hit the back button. His file repeated at different qualities at the point he would pause each time. We called him out on it.

[@piratetv1]

@@feralfeline6137 his placement was good and there was a rug. He hand made a tube preamp that was on a table by where he sat so that there were no transistors or remote controls to spoil the sound

[@Fragger-1]

It's amazing the kinds of things audiophiles have been willing to buy in the past. Hundreds to even thousands of dollars worth of equipment, for negligible differences that essentially don't matter once you hit 30 due to how quickly human's hearing ability degrades. Nice headphones, with a well tuned mixer to your own hearing ability are pretty much everything you've ever needed, and even that is honestly a bit of a stretch for most people. I honestly think half of it is the disconnect that people have between repairing or regaining function/quality, vs directly improving it. Which you summed it perfectly, it can only sound as good as it originally did.

[@wtmayhew]

My parents were members of a big band. Mom keyboard, dad trombone. You’d think people who make music for a career would be excellent judges of reproduced music, which of course they are. Their hi-fi was composed of middle of the road Radio Shack components, which would probably turn self-proclaimed audiophiles ten shades of green. The deal was they were more interested in the music itself than any flaws in the reproduction which they casually disregarded.

[@amimartian]

Do you know a saying that 'a cobbler has the worst shoes around'?'

[@wtmayhew]

@@mutosanrc1933 I guess there are hobbies for everyone. A lot of the snooty audiophile stuff seems to be about nit picking and coincidentally usually spending a lot of money. It is kind of like flying a private charter to Paris to see the Mona Lisa and looking at the paint with a magnifying glass, but not bothering to actually look at the picture as a whole. My point is that even cheap equipment may be just fine for an enjoyable experience when one listens beyond focusing on insufficiencies.

[@wtmayhew]

@@amimartian Good analogy.

[@JawshMcCullaugh]

Man, how can they hear the difference in the music? They're too busy going deaf playing in a big band.

[@drwatson32bit]

@@mutosanrc1933 if you proclaim to be an audiophile, you are one. I don't see the purpose of gatekeeping that.

[@Vulpovile]

Perfect to pair with my DVD rewinder!

[@rolandbogush2594]

I guess this device isn't any more ridiculous in concept than many other 'audiophile' accessories. Personally, I think 'directional' AC power cords trump gold plated TOLINK cables. Wonderful video, Mat.

[@annother3350]

Sure, come back when you can spell cords and we might take you seriously ;O)

[@lasskinn474]

this thing gave me an idea of selling faraday cages for storing cd's and for putting cd players in. 6000 per cabinet should be fine. marketing idea is that the cd being about half the wavelength of cellphone signals in length is receiving cell tower signals and degrading and can degrade your cd player while playing. though I'm pretty sure they're already selling faraday cages for hifi, at least that idea without the cd bit makes some sort of sense..

[@spykillergames8402]

yea those do exist....audiphjile grade line cords...heck you can buy audiophile grade plugstrips (extension cables) with choke coils in to "clean the incoming sine waves"

[@leglessinoz]

As a former electrician I can't say I've ever even heard of a directional power cable. I suppose it's possible to do but completely pointless.

[@GamesFromSpace]

Interference from AC power/ground is an actual problem with lots of audio equipment. It causes a humming sound, and can be pretty hard to track which device is doing it. So there's a germ of truth in it.

[@SVanHutten]

The device really works. I have achieved great improvement but just on selected CDs: _Les Chants Non Magnétiques_ by Jean-Michel Jarre and Metallica´s _Death Demagnetized_ to name a few.

[@GeoffreyFeldmanMA]

A proclamation to strangers without any kind of effort to measure the "improvement" or even describe it in objective terms. After watching the video what precisely do you "think" the "improvement" is in measurable terms? Why do people think unexplained, inexplicable opinions are worth sharing? HINT: They aren't. It's freakishly stupid.

[@techmoney5829]

@@GeoffreyFeldmanMA I think his comment has gone over your head 😂

[@ME-ik4ys]

Maybe irony is magnetic? 😉

[@jochenstacker7448]

@@GeoffreyFeldmanMA read the comment again. 😜

[@nameless-user]

@@GeoffreyFeldmanMA Indeed, a sucker IS born every minute.

[@digitalhare4516]

I'd love for Techmoan to do some collabs on things like this with BigClive. Mat testing these crap devices and Clive tearing down and finely analyzing the electronic internals. I mean, he already tears these sorts of things down as is.

[@DOCTOR_SONG]

In life EVERYTHING you will ever need to know is taught by my favorite teachers TECHMOAN,FRANLAB, BIG CLIVE AND KEN WHEELER. everything else is just clicky swipey crap.

[@mikesage9544]

That could be the Christmas edition!!! The sum of the combined works would be way grater than the parts used to make the vlog. In other words, something for nothing. Being a Tech myself, I have a lot of time for both of them.

[@athompso99]

I was just about to type this out as a comment, but am unsurprised someone else beat me to it. This would be awesome. Heck, the same device could produce two videos: one here and a separate video for Bigclive!

[@procrastinator1842]

Yeah it would be nice if clive spent more than 5 cents on something he tears down.

[@williamwatson1532]

Big Clive is brilliant! The arch debunker

[@ColmMoore]

Your videos keep getting better and better. Well done mate!

[@chrislawuk]

At this point I think I could watch a video of Techmoan comparing different types of plain A4 paper and I’d still be rapt throughout. What an absolute legend. As a lonely nerd a new Techmoan vid is everything to me :D

[@stefanfrankel8157]

It's the voice, British but not overly regional.

[@scottperrin9655]

I've worked in broadcasting for over 25 years, and when I first started we used to have these demagnitizing boxes lying around. They were for erasing carts, used for commercials way before I started. Those demagnitizers would make a cart or cassette shake like an exorcism. Obviously quite a bit stronger than what you have there. Not that I think it make a lick of difference, but now you have me curious to try it and then compare with phase inversion as you've so awesomely done.

[@mhoppy6639]

Next week: testing the “flux capacitance” supercharger box for your Delorean. Reviews stated categorically that there was better capacitance separation and you easily able to reverse the polarity of the neutron flow. It was well worth the $999.99 😂😂 Brilliant vid as usual Mat!

[@johnsherwood2306]

Spot on Matt! Those among us who grew up with analogue equipment have a need to tinker and improve, and we are the perfect target for this kind of marketing. I really enjoy your channel and hope you keep these segments coming. Also glad you opened it up to show the coil inside, I wasn't expecting to see that.

[@veggiet2009]

You've managed to find a "technology" that makes last week's solution sound absolutely reasonable by comparison!

[@hicknopunk]

🤣🤣

[@davidspear9790]

Wow! The company certainly saw the audiophiles coming with this device!

[@alancrane4693]

Yep and for the amount of money for that rather put it towards a piece of equipment.

[@DJPhantomRage]

As do most companies.

[@phrtao]

Fascinating from an Anthropological point of view. It shows that superstition and witchcraft are still alive and well when people don't understand technology. It is just like more 'primitive' societies trying to use magic and ceremony to control aspects of the natural world like the weather. As always Techmoan makes it entertaining to watch as well.

[@VariantAEC]

Really crops up anytime someone doesn't understand a thing, whether it be audio equipment the shape of the world (spherical) what arial condensation looks like trailing behind aircraft engines (clouds) or what causes climate change (not human activity).

[@jbinary82]

it's like anti-aging creams, or baldness treatments...

[@mechadeka]

@@VariantAEC "what causes climate change (not human activity)" Funny how even research conducted by oil companies doesn't show that. Subhuman.

[@terencejay8845]

There was a notorious case recently of a UK businessman selling bomm detectors overseas. They were used at security checkpoints to detect any Xplosifs in a vehicle. He sold hundreds at a huge price. When the detector box was opened, it was just a battery with a flashing LED and a standard radio aerial. Totally, utterly useless. However, despite them being shown to be useless, many kept using them as the belief, by the vehicle drivers, that they worked provided a deterrent.

[@StormsparkPegasus]

@@VariantAEC There are 2 types of climate change. Natural climate change, which does happen, but takes place over geological time scales. Tens to hundreds of thousands of years. Then human-caused climate change, which happens on a human time scale (so noticeable changes in 50 years). Climate change is DEFINITELY caused by human activity.

[@JamesFord-g5e]

Hold on a sec I can't see well with glasses I am going to demagnetize my glasses maybe I'll see better. Lol

[@PiotrMichniewski]

Woohoo! Another audiophoolery video! Keep 'em coming :)

[@ranseus]

It would have been interesting to see a sheet of "Magnetic Flux Viewing Film" laying on the CD after it was "magnetized." It might not have been sensitive enough to show anything, but it would have been pretty definitive if it was.

[@stevesstuff1450]

You mean a 'before & after' test... it would have great to see no reaction in the film in both the before, and then the after tests!! 🙂

[@firesurfer]

I'd like to see if there is anything at all there. More than likely not. I'd like Techmoan to try using a compass or a gaussmeter or just some steel filings. Just to be clear, there is no chance at all that it would do anything, even if there is something. edit; I just had a thought that steel that is in the drive "might'' be affected. This holds the laser optical assembly. I know it's nonsense but I mention it on the extreme outside possibility.

[@startedtech]

@@firesurfer maybe crossover time with the Brainiac75 KZbin channel? He has some pretty fancy magnetic measuring equipment.

[@domosautomotive1929]

I need one of these to go along with my dvd/cd rewinder.

[@fireaza]

From the moment I saw this unit, I could tell it was made in Japan. I swear, every single Japanese consumer electronics company uses that same font, it's also used on the Micomsoft Framemeister!

[@Consequator]

I love these videos. I've seen a lot of these devices weathering away in windows of electronic/vague computer stores back in the late 90's. The only one that had any sort of valid idea behind it was the cd polisher to deal with scratches.

[@DanHarkless_Halloween_YTPs_etc]

That would be an interesting product class for Techmoan to cover. I've owned several of those, but they all just seemed to make scratched CDs either worse, or at least no better, and with the addition of swirly marks all over the data side.

[@darktetsuya]

wow sounds about as effective as a DVD rewinder, LOL! amazed to see all that copper wiring on the inside I half expected nothing at all on the teardown.

[@atsdroid]

I expected a slug of lead.

[@MrJef06]

If anything it goes to show the incredible reproducibility/stability of the CD reading process on the SPDIF output. Well done for an 80s consumer technology.

[@whompronnie]

CD really was a monumentally impressive leap from everything that preceded it

[@crossbow1203]

I was a mechanic for more years then I care to admit and had a customer complaining that his new Chevy had the ignition timeing retarded too far. I knew this guys and I had him leave it on the way to work. I checked it and it was dead on factory timing marks. He comes back and I tell him yeah it was a little behind so I advanced the timing. Give it a try. Next day he drops it off again with a note that said it was too far advanced. Pulled it in the shop and ate my lunch. pulled it out and when he came to pick it up I told him I turned it back that that it had slipped when I tightened the hold down bolt. The third day I got it just right. NEVER touched the motor! Perfection is in the mind of the customer. Even if they are nuts!