As I know that there are quite a large number of our customers who do not have access to the Internet, I have compiled another selection of 'postings' which have appeared on the P.W.B. Internet Discussion Group over the last few months.
I feel sure that this selection will be of interest as an addition to this P.W.B. Newsletter.
The P.W.B. Internet Discussion Group can be accessed via:-
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PWB/
31st December 2002 from Richard Graham. UK
Subject: Some Green Tips
Whilst rather surprised at the hushed silence that has accompanied the introduction of the Green Cream (don't take 'Silent Night' too far!), I thought it would be good to usher in the New year with some tips.
Firstly, as you may have read, it is great to upgrade your Clip and Tweezers - see the last Newsletter for details; if you can't find them, I can post them here tomorrow.
Secondly - if you think as laterally as I do, you will realise that the wood-pulp tissues used for the Super-Wipe can be enhanced by a smudge of Green Cream. I usually put a trace of the stuff on the edge, well away from the Black Dot. There is no particular reason for this, just convenience. This then, when activated gives you a Really-Super Wipe. Really!
Thirdly - that old chestnut (roasted, seasonally, or otherwise): light bulbs.
All previous treatments are wildly enhanced by a smudge of the Green Cream; I tend to smear it across the join of glass and metal, which gets both parts in one. Whilst this will improve your sound etc.., the quality of the light is quite something. Hard to describe, but it makes the light seem slightly 'dimmer', and softer. This then has a very peculiar effect upon our vision.
There are clearly many more little tips to come, but I found these impressive.
The only other thing to bear in mind is to apply the stuff where it can't be wiped off.
Richard
31st December 2002 from Ken Hyam. UK.
Richard,
Many thanks for your messages. May I wish you and all P.W.B. creators & users a very Happy New Year. I was given a model of Elvis' Pink Cadillac for Christmas. There is a button which, when pressed, produces a recording of Elvis' voice. At first it sounded muffled and vague. After Green Cream it sounds... well... like Elvis is in the room!
Headphones also have improved enormously with just a touch on the vinyl ear rests.
Ken
1st January 2003 from Geoff Kait. USA
Subject: Re: Happy New Year
Happy New Year, I am almost out of the green cream ... again; there is so much wood, aluminium and glass, not to mention record collection, CDs, copper cables/wires...my trusty Bounty super-wipe has gotten a good work-out the last few weeks, re-buffing windows, furniture, CDs, cables, foils, labels, etc.. It's not like I don't have other things to do haha... I did manage to finally get inside all my electronics with the green cream, altho' I wasn't exactly looking forward to it...
Geoff
lst January 2003 from Geoff Kait USA.
Richard - I applied cream to caps, resistors & wires inside my DVD player, DAC, Tube receiver, and Electroclear parallel line purifier; at the same time I took the opportunity to apply Marigo white and green (no relation) dots to PCBs and caps, so it was a long job. But I can hear & see the results - much better, but I'm probably hearing a combination of the dots and cream, naturally I was simultaneously treating other things around the pad, so b=not very clear cut to attribute the results to specific treatments... Oh, I also clipped all caps & wires just to be on the safe side, and applied a few of the newer foils that I had skipped the first time thru... then there are all the photos in various rooms... the improvement to sound of the latest round of tweaking is especially noticeable in the soundtracks to DVDs (played back at full 24/96)...examples are "The Man Who Wasn't There" with wonderful Beethoven Sonatas and, as one might expect, the battle scenes, even the scenes out in the countryside, in Saving Private Ryan. Lifelike dynamics and emotional impact.
Geoff
USA
5th January 2003 from Ken Hyam. UK.
Subject: The Mystery Deepens
I would like to report a continuing mysterious phenomenon. At first it sound like a classic case of P.W.B. applied treatments resulting in a better sound but, as Geoff Kait points out in a recent posting, one cannot be sure which links in the chain of cause and effect are responsible for which effect.
For years I have owned two turntables - a Rega Planar 3 and chunky little Panasonic. The Panasonic has the advantage of allowing a separate phono lead to be plugged into it. I was supplied a P.W.B. treated phono lead several years ago with various coloured ring ties attached (it has since been updated to a much more effective version, I discovered through this site.) Even in its early form this P.W.B. phono lead so much transformed my little Panasonic turntable that it has always given the hierarchically far superior Rega a run for its money. One thing I forgot to mention is that the Panasonic also has a line out option. This means it has its own preamp and can be plugged into any line input on the amp. and it is in this guise it so defiantly kept neck'n'neck with a Rega Planar 3.
The mystery is as follows.
I recently purchased a Nad phono preamp. largely because I thought it would help me transfer records to CD on the computer. Oddly it did not help with the particular problem I was grappling with. So, I decided to try it in my Hi Fi system. I plugged the Rega into it and then used a line in to the amp. Wow! Good old Nad, I thought. The sound was crisper, deeper, better than the Rega had yet produced. I then Belted the Nad, using up all that is left of my Green Cream sample plus some foils and clipping. Again the result was stunning; this time the sound stage leapt into a new focus.
All this is as you might expect: a combination of superior electronics sharpened and honed by P.W.B. treatments to produce a leap in experienced Hi Fi sound. I remembered a report from the Newsletter about breaking morphic fields by taking equipment through the "wrong" input. Perhaps this was it. The turntable that went in through a line would always benefit over the received wisdom of the old phono stage.
However, when I listened to the Panasonic through the old Phono socket, using, of course, its Phono Out, it had lost nothing of its power and presence.
I would have expected it to fall behind the Rega but somehow it has still managed to keep pace. It is almost as if, dare I say it, the Nad Phono Stage has, through it its recent Belting, become a device which improves the whole amplification system, not just a single part of it.
Ken
Subject: the mystery deepens
First of all apologies to Geoff - that was a typo. Secondly, on a test track Elvis in Hawaii, the Rega through the Nad phono stage definitely has the advantage. However on Schubert's 'Unfinished' the two turntables were about equal. One thing stands out: whatever piece of equipment you have, its full potential is never tapped; the equipment's sound can only be enhanced and improved by adjustments we make either in the chain of Hi Fi separates or in the treatments of the equipment and environment through P.W.B. It is just so hard to tell which is which. Perhaps we should just enjoy!
Ken.
6th January 2003 from Tom Marsden. UK.
Subject: Morphic Green Cream .
Like a few fortunate others around the world this Christmas, I was also privileged to receive a sample of the new Green Cream. Doesn`t look much does it? The day the sample arrived was quite a hectic one so I put off trying it out until the following day. However, by late evening that day, after a few mesmerising hours , I was busy on the Internet ordering up a full jar plus a strip of 10 gold squares. How can one describe the new Green Cream ? The word amazing comes to mind but it doesn`t seem adequate enough. All P.W.B. products are amazing but Green Cream is amazing even by P.W.B.`s amazing standards. A "smidgin" of green cream in a tiny jar arrives one day and by the following evening the sound I hear from my audio system has been transformed by a major upgrade and all accomplished completely free of charge - what better Christmas gift to a hi-fi enthusiast - thank you very much indeed to all at P.W.B.
I usually find that with a new P.W.B. product it seems that the first application has the most profound effect . Perhaps something in the brain has been triggered to switch on or switch off or could it be something is switched around? Whatever the reason this was again the case with Green Cream. The first time you listen to a CD after treating with Green Cream you know that from now on unless the CD has had the treatment you will not be hearing/ feeling the full emotional experience available from the CD.
I have to say that the first thought that came to mind while listening to the first CD was - what on earth is going on in this world when a smudge of cream on a CD can produce such a vast improvement to sound quality and what else is operating/influencing/controlling us at a level beyond our sense of awareness. It would seem P.W.B. have some of the answers and if Green Cream is the beginning of a new range of products then we are in for more hard to believe sonic spectaculars.
Besides the usual items for treatment; Green Cream is excellent for use on wood. Most items of wood in my listening room have now been treated. Treating each individual piece of wood in a doorway results in such worthwhile improvements that you begin to wish there were more doors in the room. What is so remarkable is the minuscule amount of cream required to be effective. When the sample jar became `empty` I resorted to bending the end of a needle to form a hook so that I could scrape the precious green gunge from within the thread of the jar top and screw cap. The now, apparently, totally clean jar sits on my amplifier as another P.W.B. Device.
For the last four months my `telly` viewing has been with a Panasonic 42" plasma screen with the preferred input signal being S Video; this is noticeably superior to the alternative composite video signal which, in comparison on the large screen, appears soft focussed and colours subdued.
Just before Christmas a fault developed on the S video input which now produces a black and white picture. I was not at all happy at the prospect of viewing inferior pictures over the Christmas holidays but events have changed all that. With all the Green Cream treatments the composite video picture quality has improved so much that I don`t miss the S video pictures at all, however , I still can't wait to get my S video signal pictures back just to see how much better they are now .
This News Years day like every News Years day going back a long time; I watched/listened to the Strauss concert from Vienna. Without doubt the sound quality I was hearing this time was the best ever and actually this year I had to listen to my video recording since I wasn't able to listen to the live broadcast as I would normally. All confirmation to me of the results of the remarkable products P.W.B. have brought to us during 2002. If 2003 is half as good- what a year to look forward to.
Thanks for the tip Richard i.e. to apply Green Cream to the Clip and Tweezers. I find that after the Green Cream treatment applying Morphic Liquid and a final Super Wipe ( what an incredible gift from May that is) enhances the treatment even further.
Best wishes for 2003 to every one,
Tom
8th January 2003 from Richard Graham. UK
Subject: Really Super-Wipe Update
Following the recent excellent postings about the Green Cream, my mind forced those geniuses at P.W.B. to answer a simple question: "Can we go further?" Not unsurprisingly the answer was a definite 'Yes'.
The answer this time related to applying the Green Cream to the label on the bottle of the Morphic Liquid. Presumably, then activating this with a GC-Clip (Green Cream - Clip), takes the wipe to the next level.
A Really, Really Super-Wipe?
Richard
13th January 2003 from Kevin Kehoe. UK
Subject: P.W.B. Morphic Green Cream
I too received a small sample of the new Green Cream over the Christmas holiday and was astonished by the results. Over the last few years P.W.B. Products have got more and more potent and I think some sort of "law of diminishing returns" (if such a law exists regarding P.W.B. Devices) had been in mind. Anyway, after its use on water pipes and electrical wiring, the lift to music was equal to anything yet experienced using Belt Devices. What I thought was perfectly good sound just got a magnitude better! If there are any limitations as to how far P.W.B. can take sound improvement, I have obviously not reached that point yet. I have now purchased a jar of the stuff and already half way through it. I've also used it as per Richard's instructions and made the "super wipe" into one I would now call "Stellar"
Thanks to everyone for your tips and experiences regarding all things P.W.B.- It just keeps getting better!
Regards to all,
Kevin.
13th January 2003 from Tom Marsden. UK
Subject: Re: Really Super-Wipe Update
Nice one Richard. Another stunning upgrade made possible with existing products. Arguably the cost of Green Cream is justified by this upgrade alone. The downside is - I am spending much to much time being fascinated in listening to the before and after effects.
Tom
13th January 2003 from Richard Graham. UK
Subject: Re: Really Super-Wipe Update
Totally agree Tom - it's getting silly just how good a tissue can be!
Just as an aside, following discussion with Peter, I tried a smidgeon of the Green Cream on a leaf of an indoor plant. There are complex reasons for why this might help, and I have no evidence yet as to whether the plant may die, or turn into a Triffid. But the difference to my perception of sound was just weird in terms of how good it was.
As those nice English ladies might exclaim "Whatever next!"
Richard
13th January 2003 from: John.
Subject: Where to start?
I am convinced these products work but, to date, have only used the original foil on CDs.
I listen primarily to vinyl, but in many instances play CDs. I'd like to start treating my home and car environments.
Which products should I consider first?
John
14th January 2003 from Richard Graham. UK.
Subject: Re: Where to start?
John,
This is always a tough one.
Depending upon budget, Electret Cream and/or Spiratube and/or Sol-Electret Oil are a good start.
If you like Foils, the X Foil may be a good next step. Or you could go a long way with the Red X-pen.
If you're feeling affluent, the Quantum Clip is always great.
What you ideally need to do is slowly build up a kit of the basics, whilst planning for such things as the Clip in the longer term.
Best wishes,
Richard
17th January 2003 from Paul Topic. Australia.
Subject: Re: Where to start?
Hey there John,
Some of the cheaper ones that I found to be very effective would be Spiratube, Powerplug charge barrier, smart metal (which improves with treatments to the soldering iron, such as a couple of red coloured electret ring ties). Cream Electret can go a very long way if you remember that the cream only needs to be spread one atom thick. I love polishing record covers with this one, The picture comes to life. very uncanny.
A more expensive one that some people can't live without on their CDs is the violet chunky pen.
I now use exclusively with a few exceptions the frosted rainbow foil which is a more powerful version of the silver rainbow foil. I have found a 2 mm strip of frosted foil to be more effective than a 3 mm strip of silver foil and worth the extra money. I use the silver foil only on tapes cds and videos that are going to spend most of their lives in storage and which sound and picture quality is not so important.
A good focal point to start with in the car would be the battery and fuses which all in the above list would treat quite thoroughly. And the sound in your house will improve at the same time. I have just bought a new old car and done some battery treatments. The sound is already better than it should for the old 80s radio and crappy speakers it has. I do hope I will be able to demonstrate to my passengers how sound and music should be when I get my quality tape deck playing vinyl recordings. A strip of frosted rainbow foil in the centre between the two spindles of a tape does absolute wonders. Tapes will be obsolete in the coming years I suppose but the strange thing is that buying a good tape deck off a friend is what started me on this audiophile road when I realised that my tapes (with a quality tape deck) had a nicer and more detailed sound to the CDs and three CD players later it is still true, I have given up on current digital technology. I will wait till the sampling rate is in the Megaherts before I take it seriously again. P.W.B. treatments have improved my CD playback enormously but at the end of the day with digital I can hear that is a guitar and analogue I can hear that a 1985 Stromberg guitar with Siamese cat gut strings and the expression that goes with it.
A large eski may be a good investment for defrosting those amplifiers and cables and car keys that you will soon be freeze treating.
...Yes.. you will..
Paul.
23rd January 2003 from John.
Subject; Where are you from.
Hi Paul,
Thanks very much for the detailed, thoughtful reply. (Please reply to both addresses as I try to read and reply in the office, time permitting.)
I have comments and questions and will try to address them in the order in which your e-mail reads.
1. What is the Powerplug charge barrier? I couldn't find info on the P.W.B. Site.
2. Where on the car battery would I apply the cream? Where do I apply the cream for treating the uses.
3. What other treatments should I consider for the components in the car? Amps, crossover boxes, head unit, speakers?
5. Is the Red 'x' pen as useful as the violet chunky pen?
6. What applications do you recommend for the Smart Metal?
I have experienced the phenomenon of applying and removing foil off the same CD and playing with and without. The difference was immediate and obvious. Given your recommendation, I will opt for the frosted foil this time around. In reading about the violet pen, it seems a very worthwhile treatment. I think it will be added to my initial purchase list: cream electret, frosted foil, violet pen, spiratube. I'm not sure of the powerplug charge barrier since I didn't see info on the P.W.B. Site.
7. Excuse my ignorance, but what is an eski? (I have read the stuff on freezing; very interesting. I don't see the jar on the product list. Does it come with the freeze effect foil?)
From the tone of your e-mail, I think you must be the audiophile friend I've never met! I can see my wife's face as I try to explain freezing my power amps. I think you're correct. ... Yes.. I will...
John Tverdik.
23rd January 2003 from Paul Topic. Australia.
Hmm Eski-must be an Australian term One of those things you throw your beers and sausages in then chuck ya Ice on top when you go on a picnic. The pure foam ones are the best. I think they are hard to find in some countries. This reminds me of the time I was in Ireland trying to communicate to someone what a Beanie is when I had left mine behind. Ill let your imaginations fly on that one. I have an eski story while where at it. There were some Australians in England who went to watch a cricket match. They took an Eski in full of beer and Ice. Someone in the crowd wondered where they got all the Ice from as you can't buy big bags of ice up at the local supermarket like you can in Australia. It turns out that they had started a week earlier making continuous batches of Ice cubes in their freezer to have enough ready in time for the game. Now that's preparation. And please don't get me to explain what Cricket is.
The only info I have on the power plug charge barrier is this.
Wherever there is an interface of two materials an inverse energy pattern will develop across the interface. In most instances, this adverse energy pattern will have an adverse effect upon our sense of hearing. One of the to occur is between the AC power plug and socket. Other interfaces such as screws or bearings should be treated by having a layer of P.W.B. Sol-Electret applied to them.
I mentioned the Charge Barrier because it is rather cheap
and I find It to be particularly effective. I have also tries the Sol-Electret
but did not find it to work as well as I expected. But others have used the
Sol-Electret and found it to be truly fantastic. So what to choose to try is
really just what you feel like at the moment or whatever is in fashion at the
time.
I can't really comment on the violet chunky pen as I do not even have one yet, It is the very next thing on my list though. With the red 'x' pen I have found it to be most useful on tapes and CD's And have lots of fun tracking down those nasty barcodes scattered around the place. I am still finding to this very day barcodes in my listening room that have always been there since the two years that I have owned a red 'x' pen. The 'x' pen is fun but I have a feeling that the violet pen may be more effective. on tape and cd.
The smart metal is used mostly it seems on the ends of fuses, light globes or at any solder joint. I am planning to build a kit amp using only smart metal. I think someone may have completely desoldered and resoldered an entire amplifier once. Its good stuff. but May does recommend to have at least two red ties attached to the soldering iron power cord. It can be enhanced also by going over the solder with the violet pen. Again I can't really comment on how effective the smart metal is because I have only recently bought some and have been using it in conjunction with the new green cream. But the overall results are very good indeed. And the Smart metal is a mandatory staple in many peoples P.W.B. Kits.
The Electret cream can be applied anywhere. Over labels or writing on the battery would be a good start but not over any electrical connections. I am not sure if it is better to cream the whole battery or just a small area would do. I guess a small patch on each face would be o.k. I should make a quick mention that the new morphic green cream really works very well and worth considering, especially while it is at the special introductory price. At this moment in time, If the budget is a concern, I would opt over the green cream than the violet pen, and buy the violet pen at a later stage. the green cream I am sure will do wonders for your car as it treats everything from components inside your amplifiers to the shock absorbers. Of course for best results both would be great.
As for treating the car, the list is endless. I have not tried a lot of P.W.B. due to having a sort of double life, one in Europe and one in Australia And spending lots of funding on travel. But the thing to remember about a car is that you are encapsulated in a very hostile environment so the greatest benefits may come from elsewhere than treating the actual sound system itself. My untried suggestions would be Magnadisks on the glass windows. I don't know exactly which colour it is to be used on glass. I have heard of someone, again I can't recall which colour, perhaps Violet? but they pulled the back off the pen and poured a little ink into the home central heating system. It worked well and is a Possibility for the radiator? I do wonder about violet pen around wheel rims and all exterior rotating engine parts. A new product this year that may be good inside the car is the inside foil, you place it in places that are out of line of sight of which there are many places in a car. I think by special order you can get a photo wallet where you put a photo of the car inside the wallet and have the wallet inside the car. I have only just got a new car going after a year without one. My old head unit with all the new treatments is just going through its last defrost cycle. I don't know of anyone getting real serious about treating their car sound with P.W.B. I didn't bother much with my old car because of real bad incurable resonance problems (29 year old Volvos were not really designed with Hi Fi stereos in mind but what a nice car otherwise). Perhaps you will be our car sound pioneer and write your knowledge into to the P.W.B. Gold standard recipe book.
We have realised a bit of lack of an easily accessible knowledge base for P.W.B. treatments. A poor fellow a few months ago asked some basic questions of which none of us had the energy to reply. I have volunteered myself to start programming a new P.W.B. web page which will include a description on each product and a recipe book on recommended treatments for different objects. We already have a Gold standard light Bulb recipe, which is in the archives of this forum somewhere. After a very busy year' I am starting to get a bit of free time now and am beginning to get interested again in the programming idea. The best for now would be to read the old newsletters. Which is a lot of reading. I am hoping to get something started before I head off to Switzerland again in a couple of months time.
Paul.
P.S. The spell check on my computer does not know what an eski is either Any guesses on what a beanie is would be highly amusing.
2nd February 2003 from Gary Lee. USA.
Subject: Where to begin.
Welcome to the club, John. That's a question I'm still asking myself after using P.W.B. products for 2 years.
It is doubtful anyone would contradict that the Cream Electret is extremely versatile and cost effective. Although in terms of potential cost effectiveness, perhaps the Quantum Clip is the champ, since almost anything in the universe can be "clipped". And the results engendered by the Quantum Clip are amazing.
The red 'x pen is also very versatile, especially for those pesky bar codes, as others have pointed out. I recently discovered that all the outlets and parts installed when my place was rewired had bar codes. I nearly passed out. How does one deal with that? They're all tucked in the wall.
I still find the Rainbow Foil excellent, and again, very cost effective due to it's versatility. However, it is obvious some of the Frosted Foil must be tried after the glowing recommendation.
The great thing is that with the audiophile penchant for playing with equipment the P.W.B. products offer almost a lifetime potential for treating not just equipment, but the entire world! (I'm still just trying to get the living room and kitchen "Belted")
Good luck. It's always nice to have another "convert" here. Let us know how you fare.
And Paul, it would seem that eski is a truncation of Eskimo, correct? I use my ice chest to slow down the thawing of items that have been frozen. In the desert finding cool spots is always a challenge.
Gary.
2nd February 2003 from Brian Elliott. USA.
Subject: The Green Cream Saga
When I first rec'd my sample, I used nearly all of it on pipes and wires. The special foils were attached to the outer cases of a few pieces of equipment and suddenly I was out the new magic. Shortly, a full order arrived and I was on my way again.
As I had been "under the hood" of each piece of stereo equipment with foils, creams and the red X pen at least twice, I was feeling a little lazy this time around and decided to just use a little green cream and a foil just on the outer cases of everything. When it was all done, including mirrors, all wiring and piping, several light bulbs, telephones, etc.., it was time for a listen.
To say there was an increase in information wouldn't even begin to describe the greater level of detail. It was rather amazing, but I felt there was a definite loss of musicality. Everything seemed to be very etched and often hard sounding. Not to fear, I figured that it just needed a few days to settle. Well, a few days didn't change the effect very much and I was perplexed. What to do?
I decided to forget about my main system and experiment with the Green Cream on a much more humble system that resides in our bedroom. It's comprised on an old Rotel transport (RDD980, I think), a Van Alstine DAC, Denon Receiver (100w per channel), and two small Mission speakers on stands. This system is usually only played at very low levels and the only thing I've done with P.W.B. was to put a smidge of Cream Electret on each item and clip with the Quantum Clip.
The Rotel transport had never made me happy. It had been in several systems and it always seemed to make the music two dimensional had electronic sounding. I assumed it had something to do with jitter. With a gleam in my eye, I pulled the cover and began applying Green Cream to every component I could touch with the tip of my finger. For good measure, I applied some key foils, the red x pen, Sol-Electret, a buff with Morphic Liquid, and plenty of clipping. It took about an hour and the immediate results were very, very satisfying. I jumped into the DAC and Denon receiver with the same treatments and finished up applying some Green Cream on all wiring and the speaker drivers. At this point, I was clearly enjoying the sound of my bedroom system more than the main system. Horrors!
It seemed that my only choice was to begin removing the covers (again) of each piece of equipment in my main system and apply Green Cream to each component that was reachable. I decided to start with the DAC (Audio Mecca) and transport (EVS) to see if I could get back some of the musicality that I seemed to have lost. The results were far more that I had hoped for. Just these two pieces brought back 90% of the musicality while retaining the increased resolution. For my ears, this was audio heaven. The following weekend, I treated a Monarchy DIP that sits between the transport and DAC, and an Ortho Spectrum unit that's between the DAC and preamp. All the musicality, and then some, is back and realism is at a much higher level than ever before.
Remember that all this equipment had been fully treated with P.W.B. Nearly all circuit board components, to very good effect, had been touched with Cream Electret, all foils applied, red x, etc.., etc.., etc.. I've used nearly everything that Peter offers. The Green Cream, though, is in a category of one. I have no idea why my system became unbalanced with the application of the cream to the room and the outer cases of each component. However, the end result, after taking the next step and applying the cream to nearly all circuit board components and interior wiring, is wonderful.
What about my preamp and mono amps? Another grandchild, Ben, was recently born and my wife and I have been busy helping out. He may have a small medical problem, we'll find out in a couple of days, so my mind has been elsewhere. Hopefully in the next weekend or two I'll feel okay about carving out some music time, but my system sounds so good right now, I'm almost reluctant to touch anything. (I've probably said that at least fifty time over the last thirty five years.)
Anyway, happy new year to all of you. Get that index finger slicked up with the green stuff and go to work!
Brian
19th February 2003 from P.W.B. Electronics. UK
Subject Further to Brian Elliott's latest posting.
Dear All
When you read Brian Elliott's latest contribution, you can feel his excitement and amazement, particularly on how he has improved the sound by `treating' his modest `bedroom Hi-Fi setup'. Peter and I can still be `knocked back on our heels' when we achieve additional improvements to the sound - even after all these years of working in this particular area. We have demonstrated all the techniques which Brian describes (although obviously not the new Green Cream which is completely new) on inexpensive equipment, on modestly priced equipment and on very expensive equipment and we were demonstrating all these 'improvements to the sound' to audio equipment reviewers, to audio equipment retailers, to audio equipment importers and to audio equipment manufacturers 18 years ago !! For the people who have had such fun and have obtained such incredible improvements with our new Green Cream, just imagine the effect on the whole audio industry if manufacturers of (even) modestly priced Hi Fi equipment began to `treat' their equipment with the new Green Cream. The audio industry in general has believed, all the time, that they have been in a continuous race to see who could produce the best sounding equipment - but, little do they know, the race has not even started yet !! It will be interesting to see who is going to be left behind. Many of our customers are already way ahead of the audio industry in this respect.
Just how much longer is it going to be before the audio industry comes to terms with the fact that there `is something going on', that there is `something having an effect on the sound' which they are not taking into consideration ? There are numerous reports about various `tweaks' which `improve the sound' and if these `tweaks' are presented to the magazines with an explanation that fits in (however tentatively) with conventional audio and electronic theories i.e. something having an effect on the audio signal or something having an effect on the acoustic air pressures in the room, then the `tweak' is allowed to be mentioned in the traditional audio magazines. If, however, a different explanation is given, even if that explanation gives a more valid explanation for the majority of the `tweaks', then that explanation is not allowed to be mentioned if it does not fit in with conventional theories - so nothing moves further forward.
One of the most frequent questions I am asked is "How can one possibly change the digital information, stored on a Compact Disc, by applying strips of Rainbow Foil to the label side of that disc ?" My answer is always "You do not change the digital information - but you can change the sound ! You cannot change the analogue information stored on a vinyl record or stored on an audio tape by applying strips of Rainbow Foil to the label or to the case - but you can change the sound ! Because what you are changing is the human being's reaction to that disc or tape (or any other item) and it is the human being's changed reaction which causes the change in the `sound'." In exactly the same way, you cannot change the audio signal or the acoustic air pressure waves by applying any of our Creams - either Cream-Electret, Quantum Cream or the new Green Cream - but you can change the `sound'. When you experience something like that and you claim to be a `professional in audio', then you should be `knocked back on your heels'. Which is exactly what happened to Peter twenty years ago. This I explained more fully in my original reply to Greg Weaver early in 1999. It did not make sense to Peter when he discovered that he could change the sound (from making it worse, then better, then worse again) by applying various chemicals to objects in the room. It only began to make more sense when, months afterwards, we read an article describing how certain plants produced a particular chemical when under stress and the particular chemical named in the article as a `stress' chemical was one of the chemicals we had been experimenting with and which had made the sound worse !! Peter realised that it must have been us (human beings) who had been detecting the energy pattern caused by the `stress' chemical and going under tension, thereby causing the perceived sound to be worse. We later read that some plants are known to communicate with each other and we realised that this method of communication could only be by chemical means - and not by sight, not by sound, not by touch and not by smell. That this method of chemical communication must carry information, not only information about danger but also reasurring information about that danger receding. We realised that the earliest methods of communication between the earliest of early living things must have taken place long before the sense of smell, the sense of touch, the sense of hearing and the sense of sight were developed - and that that earliest communication must have been by chemical means and must have carried information about danger approaching and danger receding and that, somehow, via evolution, we (human beings) have retained that ability to `read/sense' certain energy patterns and react subconciously. That we must be sensing/reading' various energy patterns and interpreting them as `danger/intruder/predator' and going under tension. Peter began to realise that what he was gradually discovering were ways to reproduce `reasurring' energy patterns which then enabled us (human beings) to come out of the tension/anxiety state and to be able to perceive more of the information which is present in the music we are trying to listen to.
One particular saga I have been following with great interest in the world of audio is the freezing saga. We, and many of our customers, have been freezing things and obtaining excellent results for more than 15 years. I remember seeing Ed Meitner's cryogenic freezing techniques reported in `fringe' audio publications over 13 years ago, but still the freezing technique (either using a domestic deep freezer or applying cryogenic temperatures) is only floating somewhere in the background mist surrounding the audio industry and does not show any sign of coming to the fore or of being investigated more fully. The usual debate that the temperatures of a domestic deep freezer cannot possibly be effective in comparison to the extremely low temperatures of cryogenic freezing is a Red Herring. Because, if EITHER of the freezing techniques can give an improvement in the sound, then that fact alone should be sufficient to knock the audio industry `back on it's heels'. The usual explanation put forward for improvements in the sound by the cryogenic freezing of cables, of CDs, of components, of equipment etc. is that of `an effect on the audio signal', but this explanation does not stand up when scrutinised more fully. When all one freezes are the cables, the components and the equipment one is listening to, then the usual explanation appears perfectly valid. But, when one carries out further experiments, when one `freezes' passive cables in the room, passive items of equipment (just sitting passively on a shelf in the room), things such as photo frames on a shelf, batteries in battery clocks, batteries in remote controls not associated with the actual audio equipment, and many more seemingly unrelated items in the listening room - and one experiences an improvement in the sound EACH time, then the original explanation put forward (of the freezing technique having an effect on the audio signal) does not hold up under further scrutiny.
Over these past 18 years, I have seen audio journalists and manufacturers of various products attempt to push, squeeze and manipulate conventional electronic and acoustic theories in an attempt to explain phenomena that they have experienced. I do not challenge their observations, I do not challenge the descriptions of the improvements they claim to have heard, but I do challenge their explanations. What the majority of the audio industry have been trying to do is to try to fit new facts into old theories.
For the people who have had good success by trying the freezing technique, imagine audio equipment manufacturers and audio cable manufacturers `treating' their cables and equipment with our new Green Cream and then, in addition, freezing these items. A new renaissance in the audio industry can (at the moment) only be imagined. However, many of our customers are delighting in being at that advanced stage already.
May Belt.
19th February 2003 from Gary Lee. USA.
Subject: Pesky bar codes
It would seem that bar codes can now define the word ubiquitous. It is almost overwhelming. My, perhaps silly, question is how you cross out bar codes with the red x pen. Is it okay to draw through them free hand or must a straight edge be used? I was using a straight edge but it takes less time to do it free hand. Perhaps we could swap some notes on unsuspected locations of bar codes. I noted earlier that all the outlets that were put in when my home was rewired had bar codes on them and the bar codes are not easy to get at. Any one else have some insidious locations?
Also, if it's not practical to cross out the bar code, would a spot of Quantum cream do the trick, or at least help?
Gary
24th February 2003 from Burkhard Smusch. Germany.
Subject: human being's reaction to any item
Dear All,
May Belt wrote at 19.02.03 in "Further to Brian Elliott's latest posting".
"Because what you are changing is the human being's reaction to that disc or tape (or any other item) and it is the human being's changed reaction which causes the change in the `sound'."
I found another item (not TV/Video/DVD ) which is changed to better by the human beings reaction after treatment. More than 10 years ago I started with experiments. I found that P.W.B. treatments changes taste too.
My regular treatment of wine, tea, whiskey,., is: yellow hammer with bag red x pen (barcode and messages) morphic liquid and superwipe clipping.
I am still surprised about the results. Do you have any own experiences?
It seems that treatments are working on sound waves, QED (TV) , and chemicals (for taste direct and not as indirect in the example `stress' chemicals from plants (is that the sixth sense?)). What does this mean?
Burkhard Smusch
26th February 2003 from Paul Topic. Australia.
Subject: P.W.B. > O.K.
O. K. Here we go
It is coming up to the next newsletter time and I am as yet not so inspired to write a new article. (well perhaps I do have some unfinished observations brewing ) But from just reading Mays response, I am happy to announce that I have begun writing a P.W.B. users web page of which the first introductory page (which is my First Web Page ever deigned) explains all about the origin of P.W.B. and the stressed out plants. There has been so much interesting and informative information available, but not condensed and made to an easily accessible format. I hope to begin to resolve this problem.
Although the initial stages are up and running on my computer it is uncertain as to when I will publish officially on the Internet. either it will be at the end of this month or in about 3 months time when I return from a trip to Switzerland. when I will change my Internet plan to include a few megabytes of webspace. The time delay may simply result from my lack of time to develop the web page. I don't wish to have a stagnant skeletal web site in operation. But it may be nice as a preview of what is to come and I am open to suggestions comments and revisions including revisions to any incomplete or inaccurate information. So perhaps the sooner the better.
Paul Topic
27th February 2003 from Gary Lee USA.
Subject: Paul's web page
Excellent idea, Paul. And thanks for the work. The more P.W.B. sites and info, the better. I am eager to see it.
Gary.
27th February 2003 from Jean-Francois. France.
Subject: Re: Paul's web page
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO SPEAK FRENCH,
THE FRENCH SITE OF YOUR FRIEND JEAN-FRANCOIS
Bonjour,
Je vous rappelle que depuis un an, mon site présente les produits de Peter !
Je sais, je dois le mettre à jour, cela viendra au printemps, promis !
Je sort d'un divorce + un déménagement, veuillez pardonner ma "disparition"
ces derniers mois.
Amitiés
28th February from: P.W.B. Electronics UK.
Subject: Re: Pesky bar codes
With reference Gary's query about marking through bar codes with the Red 'x' Pen. You do not need to make a straight line, marking through a bar code free hand with the Red 'x' Pen is perfectly OK. Don't forget the bar codes on daily newspapers, magazines books etc..
Now, if you have a book or books (or anything else) with a bar code which you do not wish to deface with the Red 'x' Pen, then get a tiny amount of Cream-Electret on your finger and wipe across the bar code with your (creamed) finger. Similarly with books or Compact Discs/DVDs etc. which you are borrowing and you do not wish to mark with the Red 'x' Pen.
The one problem with the Cream-Electret being transparent is that by using the Cream, you can never tell, at some later time, which bar codes have been 'treated' and which haven't because the Cream is invisible. Whereas, when using the Red 'x' Pen or using strips of Rainbow Foil, you can always tell, at a glance, which item has been 'treated'.
One thing which has always amused Peter and me. The bar code on the Hi-Fi magazine you have just purchased or which has just been delivered in the post has an adverse effect on your sound and has to be 'treated' !! During a talk I gave in 1998 to a group of P.W.B. customers, I described how Peter discovered the adverse effect of bar codes. Perhaps I may attempt to describe it again in print for the next Newsletter.
May Belt.
4th March 2003 from Richard Graham. UK.
Subject: Re: Pesky bar codes
May, this is timely.
I have long wondered about the balance between treating environment vs equipment, often falling for the old belief that if you treat the equipment it will be better. Now able as Peter's products are, certain limitations in an object cannot be totally overcome. A 78 disc cannot sound as good as an LP etc.. Equipment breaks down, or is superseded. Formats change. And it is agonising losing 'treatments' on equipment lost for one reason or another. You show just how much can be done with simple devices that make everything in the home 'appear' better, whether treated or not. I for one will be focussing more on the environment for a while, and will post of my adventures.
Hopefully some will go to Paul's website!
Richard
13th March 2003 from Massimo. Italy
Subject: Digiplus
Dear All,
I'm not completely newbee with P.W.B. products but absolutely not skilled as most of the recent contributors to this ML.
Walking for Green Cream I'm still enjoying more basic devices, and currently Digiplus is driving my attention..
My trouble is that I have no available RCA socket to insert the Digiplus, out of the digital output of the CD player (currently I'm using the analogue out).
The reason is that most of my stereo equipment is self-built, wrongly I have the habit to build 'exactly' the minimum I need.
Do you have experience with Digiplus utilised in this "irregular" socket?
Thanks and ciao
Massimo
14th March 2003. from Richard Graham. UK.
Subject: Re: Digiplus
Massimo, it seems my previous response went into the ether, so this will be brief.
Yes, a Digiplus is great on a digital output, indeed on a video, analogue or digital output.
Years ago, Marantz (and others?) used to include a shorting/blanking plug with their CD players for the digital output. Whatever happened to that?
I'll try and post some more on this issue shortly.
Richard
18th March 2003. From Rende. The Netherlands.
Subject: HF filters
Hello everyone,
I'm new to the group and only beginning to explore the PWB products, but I just had an interesting experience. In the last couple of weeks I've been sticking strips of rainbow foil on every disc I play and several other objects as well. Also I rubbed Cream Electret into equipment covers, interlinks, AC cords, speaker cables etc.. The result being an increasing depth, awareness of space and more detail. But after the last creaming session the sound became a bit 'oversaturated' and tiring on the ears in the sense that the ambience was pushing the details away. That was a bit disappointing and I wondered what to do about it. Then I remembered the HF filters I had attached more than a year ago to the tweeter connections of my Rogers LS5/9. At the time it gave a nice result; milder highs and more sense of space and 'aliveness'. I took them off and all the oversaturation was gone. My set has never sounded so detailed and had such a deep and wide soundstage. In this case HF filters and electret foil and cream definitely didn't go together.
Best regards,
Rende
19th March 2003 from Geoff Kait. USA.
Subject: Re: HF filters
To All:
For those that have treated all light bulbs/fixtures, an interesting thing to try is turn on all lights in the house or apt. for a period of about two hours, allowing the "treated light" to irradiate the entire house, including all equipment, cabling, as well as the carpets, walls & ordinary items in all rooms. Following this procedure you should notice quite an improvement in the TV picture quality including more saturated colors, better contrast and more 3-D images; can sound quality be far behind?
Geoff
machina dynamica.com
20th March 2003 from Paul Topic. Australia.
Subject: Re: HF filters
Hi there Rende,
This is very interesting. I am wondering, were the filters treated before you took them off ?
If they were not, then I would be very interested to know what happens when the filters are treated and then put back on again. I have found that sometimes an imbalance can occur by applying too many treatments in one area and missing on others. Or it could also be the filters have been blanketing over a problem that the P.W.B. treatments have now cured.
I found when I started using P.W.B. treatments that my record player was beginning to sound less than perfect. It turned out that it was slightly out of alignment and with a few small adjustments, it was sounding better than ever. The thing is a record player in the end is tuned by ear. Before P.W.B, I could not quite get it and after P.W.B. I could easily hear a difference with the most minute of adjustments.
Paul.
21st March 2003 from Rende. The Netherlands.
Subject: HF filters
Hi Paul,
No, the filters were not treated. I just put Cream Electret on them and for good measure put them in the freezer for a while. I'll reinstall them tomorrow night and will listen for any changes. I'll let you know.
If on the other hand I have created an imbalance by putting cream electret on all cables, interlinks and inside covers of equipment, and some morphic message strips on equipment, telephones, fax and computer, then I don't have any idea how to put that right.
A complicating factor is that I just got my amplifier (Nakamichi-Threshold-PA7) back from some repairs and modifications (replacement with Black Gate capacitors and Audio Note resistors), so that changed the sound too. Theoretically one should change one thing at a time, but it doesn't always work that way.
Thanks for the tips!
Rende
21st March 2003. From Rende. The Netherlands.
Subject: PS HF filters
Just a PS to my last posting; I was listening to Giuliano
Carmignola playing Vivaldi (amazing!) and still found some 'oversaturation' in
the sound. Then it occurred to me that storing my rainbow foil on a shelf 5 cm
above my cd player might influence the sound. I put the foil away and
immediately the whole soundstage 'cleaned up'! Apparently we have to watch
where we store the P.W.B. products.
Rende
26th March 2003 from Richard Graham. UK.
Subject: Re: HF filters
Geoff,
As the bulbs are devices, bringing them into action should really help. For myself, I find switching on extra bulbs pays the most dividends when spraying with the Morphic Liquid. That way you seem to be able to lock the benefit into the irradiated objects - after clipping of course.
Richard
26th March 2003 from Richard Graham. UK.
Subject: The Treatment of CDs/DVDs
I promised to write some more 'state of the art' pieces some time ago, and think this is a good one.
Beware though, if you start to treat every disc to a high level, you may regret it, as the time - if not money - of treating your collection may be draining. Still, some or all of the following can be applied.
1. Remove backing of the case to get access to the barcode. Apply Green, X, Quantum and Frosted Foils to the barcode area. Spray and Super-Wipe this area. Draw red X-Pen line through barcode, sign and 'x 26 'x the area. Apply Cream to the Foils, and Super-Wipe. Apply a little Green Cream, Clip, and return to case.
2. Attach X, Quantum, Frosted, Red and Inside Foils to booklet. Apply Red Foil to disc tray.
3. Attach Green and 3cm Clear film to front of case - I usually put them down a side.
4. Attach Green, 2cm Clear Film, X, Real, Black 26, Blue Z, Safe Hole, Communication, Comfort, Quantum, Frosted, Grey Clip and Freezer Foils to rear of case.
5. Attach two strips of Rainbow Foil (one over the CD logo), one X, Real, Black 26, Blue Z, Safe Hole, Communication, Comfort, Quantum, Frosted, Grey Clip and Freezer Foils to label side of disc.
6. Spray the disc and case with Morphic Liquid and Super-Wipe.
7. Apply Blue pen to the disc case centre, then Black and Purple inks to the disc.
8. Apply Cream to all Foils except Freezer Foil, and Super-Wipe.
9. Write 'x 26 'x and sign both disc and booklet.
10. Apply Green Cream to non-foiled areas of disc, booklet and case.
11. Tap all Foils except Freezer Foil, with Cream jar, and then tap Freezer Foils with Freezer jar.
12. Clip each 'x written, and then place Electret Disc inside case, close and Clip case.
13. Freeze CD.
14. Play disc...
This may seem madness but it is my ultimate approach - does anyone add anything else?
Playing discs with the Electret discs then helps further. The only problem is with DVD and DVD-Audio, and I hope Peter can introduce a heavier version one day that copes with DVD drives.
Otherwise, bliss!
Thoughts?
Richard
26th March 2003 from Richard Graham .UK.
Subject: More on the environment?
Just out of interest, does anyone else still ensure items such as fuse boxes, water tanks, gas meters etc.?
I've also been having a go at some pipes I missed with fat Spiratube - quite shocking really how good it is.
All flows from entry points.
Richard
Rende. The Netherlands.
Subject: frustration
Hi everyone,
I just spent two days freezing and very slowly defreezing all my interlinks, speaker cables and power cords twice. Finally I could put everything back together again and sit back to hear the improvements, when at the last moment a pin breaks from my pre- to power amp interlink! The only spare I have is much inferior and I can't solder the pin back because it is one of the Van Den Hul hybrid interlinks with carbon in it.
How's that for frustration?
Rende
27th March 2003 from Richard Graham. UK.
Subject: Re: frustration
I had a similar problem with a Van der Hul optical cable. If something is well made it should survive a few degrees lower temperature. A good use of forums - avoid Van der Hul me thinks.
Sorry you couldn't enjoy the fruits of your work though.
Richard
28th March 2003 from Rende. The Netherlands.
Subject: Re: Re: frustration
Fortunately I have a good audio dealer who is sending the Van den Hul back to be repaired (or replaced) and who lent me an Audio Note interlink in the meantime. Sounds quite good, though not as smooth and fast as the Van den Hul. Also, now I know what the 'bullet plugs' look like that were mentioned a while ago.
Rende
2nd April 2003 from Tom Marsden. UK.
Subject: Re: Re: Treatment of CDs and DVDs
Richard, from your reply obviously you are aware of the older coloured pen treatments that I was thinking about but then I would have been surprised if it had been otherwise. However I wonder how many newcomers and not so newcomers to P.W.B. realise that these additional treatments are in existence and still give excellent results whether or not the Chunky Violet Pen is applied. For myself these older pen treatments are required standard practice. Occasionally I double check to satisfy myself that they really are still worthwhile and the answer always comes back positive. Turning now to Front/Back Clear film. I apply these in parallel as close together as possible but making sure they do not touch each other. The pair will be applied to the front and back of all equipment and CD cases but on the CD itself it can only be put on the label side of course. This double arrangement produces a more powerful effect.
Regards Tom.
3rd April 2003 from Richard Graham. UK.
Subject: Mains Plugs
A few ideas on these items; for clarity I will be referring to an MK Toughplug - 13amps for UK supplies. I hope much of this translates to other areas.
1. Apply Smart Metal with treated Soldering Iron to end plates of fuse. Spray and Superwipe fuse with Morphic Liquid. Apply Violet Ink to soldered end plates. Write 'x 26 'x onto barrel of fuse with Red Pen. Apply Electret Cream to the barrel, and wipe. Apply Green Cream to barrel. Tap Violet coloured end plates with cap of Violet Pen. Clip the 'x's, and end contact points. Put on one side.
2. Apply Smart Metal to Tips of Plug pins, and fuse holder. Spray and wipe. Allow to cool. Apply Green Cream to inside/non-contact area of pin eg near screw.
3. Meanwhile apply strips of X, Quantum, Frosted Foil and Grey Clip Film to Plug cover inside. Spray, wipe, Cream and wipe.
4. Reassemble plug, and apply Sol Electret to contact point of fuse/fuse holder. Apply smidgeon of Sol Electret to all screw threads.
5. Screw cover on, and apply Freeze Effect and Inside Foils to face of plug, where accessible to jar etc.. Attach Red (purple if you're flushed!) Magnadisc to rear of cover. In this way when the plug is inserted into the socket, the Inside Foil is concealed and the Magnadisc visible.
6. Sign and 'x 26 'x the faceplate, and apply Green Cream
to Inside Foil, and to cover.
7. Tap Freeze Effect Foil with jar, and Clip pins, and 'x's.
8. Freeze 2x.
Is there anything else?
ps Put one of these plugs into an empty socket to boost your sound. It's like a Digiplus.
9th April 2003 from Richard Graham U.K.
Subject: An experiment?
Do any of you have all of the following?
1. WinMx
2. CD Burner
3. CD Player capable of playing 320kps MP3 files.
If so, more later.
Richard
10th April 2003 from Richard Graham. UK.
Subject: More on an Experiment
If my last posting was rather too cryptic, here's more.
I am interested to see if the benefits of treatment could transfer electronically, as they do to recordings. However in the latter context, there is the reality of recording in a treated environment.
I use WinMx file sharing protocol (could use others) to download mp3 files for music I cannot source in the UK, and either convert the files to wav. for playing on almost anything, or as mp3 files on my disc player.
I could make available some mp3 conversions of fully treated discs, via WinMx, which others could download, and burn to a CD-R. If you had the same disc, you could convert your own to mp3, and compare the two CD-Rs.
This may be too much hassle, and certainly needs broadband connections to make it cost effective, but I am getting such good results with discs at present, I thought I would share it.
I'll let you know how to spot which files are mine on Sunday (late).
Richard
10th April 2003 from Tom Marsden. UK.
Subject: Re: Mains Plugs
Richard, I use the MK Safety plug for connecting up all the power supplies to my audio equipment. This plug is manufactured from urea formaldehyde and will withstand a lot of heat ; as will be explained shortly. The brass conductors are made up of several parts which are compressed together under high pressure - I assume the MK tough plug uses the same parts. Every one of these compressed interfaces will introduce noise into the audio equipment when current is passed through the plug. To overcome this problem I solder across every one of these interfaces and also flood the bottom of the fuse holder with solder ( where there is another compression joint). For this operation I find a 75 watt soldering iron is preferred and hence the plug will get very hot. All the soldering is initially carried out using ordinary solder and when the pre-tinned mains leads are finally connected to give a final touch solder with Smart Metal solder. When rapping the wire around the plug pin before finally soldering (note, I solder the wire to the pin ) the technique is to wrap the wire around the live pin clockwise and to wrap the wire around the neutral pin anti-clockwise. All the above is strictly applicable to the British Mk plug but mains plugs in other parts of the world may have similar features . Where ever there is a pulsating current in a cavity I place a small amount of Holo-fibre in the cavity and this, of course, applies to the inside of a mains plug.
A final note ; I understand some UK hi-fi enthusiasts claim that the round pin mains plug in use before the present day 13 amp flat pin type will produce a superior sound. These plugs are still available and some day - soon I hope - to check this out for myself. If the results are positive then the question will arise whether the improvement is due to the shape of the pins or morphic resonance.
Tom .
14th April 2003 from May Belt. UK.
Subject:- Compact Discs.
The latest issue (May 2003) of the British Hi Fi News magazine carries a free Compact Disc attached to the front cover. This is an ideal opportunity for UK readers of Hi Fi News to do the P.W.B. 'freezing' experiment (if they have not already done any freezing experiments). This is an opportunity to obtain two identical CDs at a relatively small cost, to keep one CD untreated as the control and freeze the other CD using a domestic deep freezer.
After freezing overnight, make sure you let the CD return to room temperature very, very slowly - this is usually achieved by wrapping it in a towel.
The subject of 'freezing' by such as the cryogenic method has appeared, yet again, on the Internet audio discussion site "Audio Asylum". Such postings usually start by someone stating that they have had a lead or component or item of equipment cryogenically frozen (or are considering having it done) and asking for other people's experiences. This type of 'posting' just seems to provoke an avalanche of people who only want to respond by attacking or ridiculing such a suggestion.
The free CD on the front cover of the latest Hi Fi News magazine reminded me, yet again, of the question I have asked myself (and others) over the past 15 years. Why, oh Why, do some people find it so difficult to carry out experiments for themselves ? Why are they so reluctant to just try things ? I have said many times before and I repeat it again. It has always been so easy to carry out some simple 'freezing' experiments. Everyone who has a Hi Fi system will have at least one Compact Disc which they purchased, listened to, found that they were disappointed in the sound of that CD and have never listened to it again. Just what have they to lose by finding that particular CD, listening to it again to confirm that they still do not like the sound of it, then putting it into their domestic deep freezer overnight, then slowly defrosting it and then listening to it again ?
Likewise, everyone who has a good, fairly expensive Hi Fi system will usually have an inexpensive interconnect (which came already supplied with the CD player/tape machine and which they have subsequently replaced with a more expensive interconnect) somewhere in a cupboard, a drawer, or on a shelf - which they could listen to again, one more time, and then 'freeze' it and listen to it again to see if it has improved soundwise !
Regards, May Belt.
14th April 2003 from Richard Graham. UK.
Subject: Re: Re Compact Discs.
May,
I have often had similar thoughts, although find that there are plenty of different music magazines that lend the same opportunity - such as the Gramophone. Even cheaper are those free CDs that sometimes come with a Sunday newspaper now - not a full disc, but enough music to play with.
As for the experiment phobia that is endemic in mankind - it's very sad. Many want just to follow a leader regardless of consequences, and there are as many media dictators as any other, and these are duly followed.
There is a tiredness now though even in the magazines - no particular championing of particular brands, which may add further to any confusion. The particular edition of Hi-Fi News that you refer to is a case in point, with at no point one thinking 'I'd like to hear that'. Where has all the fun of tweaking gone?!
Richard
14th April 2003 from Richard Graham. UK.
Subject: Copper
Peter has done much work on both the unfortunate 'evolution' of this element, and it's unfortunate omnipresence in our electrical products. Green cream etc. may help, but it is clearly better to have less of a problem in the first place.
I then found myself wondering about those of you who may have tried silver wires, or even the Van der Hul carbon ones. If you have used them, do you apply the ring ties in the expected pattern?
I'd be interested in any views on this matter.
Richard.
14th April 2003 from Richard Graham UK.
Subject: Yet more on an experiment
I am starting to make a few MP3 files of treated discs available, and will start to list them here tomorrow.
I am starting to feel this is all getting a bit much for many of you though, and so have a different idea.
I will copy one of my treated discs onto an untreated blank CD-R, and post it to the first twenty respondents. Ideally it should be a disc you have, so let me know, and I'll check if I've got it. I have broad tastes, but so far have nothing by Gareth Gates, Bob the Builder or Westlife, and this is unlikely to change; tough, but there it is!
Let me know.
Richard
15th April 2003 from Gary Lee USA.
Subject: CD offer
Richard, your offer to send out cd's is most generous, but I'm a little unclear as to the experiment. Is it to see if it is better as a source and that the treatment carries over to copies?
I was a little overwhelmed reading your detailing of treating a cd, although the information was much appreciated. It takes me 20 minutes to do about 1/3 of that. Plus, you mentioned several foils that are not listed at the P.W.B. site. Do you have them from previous years?
Also, it almost seems like I'm not noticing as much of a change when I treat cd's and other items these days. Does one sometimes reach a plateau of perceived improvement? Or maybe I'm just tired.
A thanks for all the interesting posts from everyone. I, for one, always enjoy new information and different experiences.
Gary.
14th April 2003 from Rende. The Netherlands.
Subject: Re: copper
Hello Richard,
At the moment I'm trying out a full silver interlink by Audio Note. Compared to the copper Audio Note there's more detail, resolution and 'sparkle' and it's faster, but it leaves out a bit of the warmth and 'musicality' of the copper one. As an example; I compared Schubert's Octet (Nimbus recording) and with the copper interlink I could distinctly hear the wooden body of the clarinet when the keys were pressed down. With the silver interlink I could hear more detail in the clicks of the keys being pressed down, but the sound of the wooden body of the clarinet had disappeared. My Van Den Hul 'the Integration', which is a hybrid, combining silver plated copper with carbon, combines the qualities of both Audio Notes but unfortunately broke after freezing and is now being repaired. I'm curious about comparing it directly with the silver Audio Note when it comes back.
I had a similar experience when I was choosing new loudspeaker cables. It was narrowed down to Nordost Blue Heaven, which is copper core with silver around it, and Nordost Super Flatline Gold, which is pure copper. Although the Blue Heaven won on details, I eventually chose the SFG. because the overall picture was more musical, gave a wider and deeper soundstage and gave a more convincing timbre to accoustical instruments. They did respond well to a total rubbing with Cream Electret and a little dab of Morphic Green Cream.
I haven't tried out ring ties yet.
Rende.
15th April 2003 from Richard Graham UK.
Subject: Re: CD offer.
I think I was most interested in whether the treatments could be 'downloaded' first using an MP3 file-sharing protocol, but then thought I could just as easily send out a few non-treated CD-Rs, to see if people found my copies different from their own. I certainly feel that my copies are good, although not always as good as the originals at the top end. But I am comparing a CD-R with the treated CD. I appreciate this is hardly rigorous science, but might help us evolve a more precise test. It's also holiday time.
Richard.
15th April 2003 from Richard Graham UK.
Subject: Re: experiment
I am fairly convinced that the treatment does transfer to any recording, whether photograph, analogue tape (including video) or CD-R and DVD-R.
What might be interesting to see is how much could be preserved through the Internet.
We previously tried something a little similar with the Proms/live TV a few years back, and thought with more people around the globe, we could try something more modern.
I have also offered to send some of my copies to a few interested parties on a disc, to see what they think. This is clearly not a controlled experiment, but that would not diminish the possible interest.
Hope that helps.
Richard.
15th April 2003 from Richard Graham UK.
Subject: Shared WinMX Files
Sorry to be so slow, but the following discs/files should now be available as 320kps files:
Best of Sade
Showbiz Kids - Best of Steely Dan
Year of the Cat - Remastered - Al Stewart
Spirits Having Flown - Bee Gees
If the discs may seem a bit unusual, it's to make identifying them a bit easier. I think my user name is something like RDG587, and they are all on a D drive. Oddly the first two are in a WAV folder!
I'll add more tonight, including the Pink Floyd compilation 'Echoes', 'Station to Station', some Michael Jackson remasters, Best of Fleetwood Mac (not the recent remastered one), some Frank Sinatra, Goldfrapp, Kraftwerk, and Joan Sutherlands remastered 'Art of the Prima Donna'.
I'm happy to receive requests, and the PC is running.
If you can't get access, I'll just allow the above files to be shared, so the other stuff on the drive doesn't force you to queue.
I've also got a fast Broadband service at present which should help.
Richard
15th April 2003 from Richard Graham. UK.
Subject: Re: copper
What is interesting for me is how copper evolved into being the core conductor for most electrical wiring. I'm sure many electrical engineers will quote reasons for this, but they may not be entirely the reason.
I am rather rusty, but I think Silver is not part of any enzyme or metabolic process in the body (nor gold for that matter), so perhaps it is less warm/human. Yet it is costly - a precious metal - perhaps with good electrical properties.
I'm sure there is much to debate on this matter, as clearly what we respond to is not the just the passage of electrons, or qualities of wire. If we could understand more of this process, it might help with decisions about cables.
I remain curious as to how Ring Tie patterns may shift with different elements in the cables.
Tom Marsden, where are you?
Richard
15th April 2003 from Gary Lee. USA.
Subject: CD treatment
In my last post I noted that treated cd's don't sound as different as they used to compared to untreated cd's. Something just occurred to me today, however. Although there is still much to do, more of my equipment and environment is treated than before. Would that reduce the difference between treated and untreated cd's? In other words, wouldn't untreated cd's sound better automatically since there are other treated items in the listening environment?
Of course, I am still amazed that a very mediocre Gershwin recording has become a reference cd since it has been frozen and received many "Belts".
Gary.
16th April 2003 from Richard Graham UK.
Subject: Re: CD treatment
I kind of know what you mean, and it harks back to my preoccupation that we should be spending more time on the fixed aspects of the environment that do not change, short of moving house. In a treated environment, the difference remains there, but untreated discs don't sound anywhere near as bad.
I guess if you buy or borrow a lot of discs that might be a good way forward.
There is a twist though. Treating discs to a high level, painful as it is, provides you with a device that makes untreated discs better. So treating discs improves the environment.
What can never know is whether in an infinitely treated environment, the difference between treated and untreated discs is infinitesimally small. Has anyone tried that test...?
Richard
16th April 2003 from Richard Graham UK.
Subject: The Experiment
I have organised things that the following discs/files are available via WinMx.
They are 320kps MP3 files, and as such very close to CD quality.
Hope you have some of this eclectic bunch.
Portishead - Roseland NYC Live
Pink Floyd - Echoes (2 discs)
Michael Jackson - Bad and Invincible
Joan Sutherland - Art of the Prima Donna
Fleetwood Mac - Best of (1988 version)
Kraftwerk - The Mix
10cc - Best of (remastered 1997 edition)
Tina Turner - Wildest Dreams
Frank Sinatra - Classic Sinatra
Goldfrapp - Felt Mountain
Thompson Twins - Singles Collection
David Bowie - Station to Station
Steely Dan - Showbiz Kids
Sade - Best of
Al Stewart - Year of the Cat
Bee Gees - Spirits Having Flown
All of these have been treated to the highest level, and the PC has seen a bit, and ripping was done with room device in the room to maximise transfer.
Anyone who downloads stuff - could you post some feedback?
Richard
16th April 2003 from Rende. The Netherlands.
Subject: Re: experiment
Richard, as a new angle on your experiment wouldn't it be interesting to try the following:
I make 2 copies of a cd, personalise them by signing my name on them (as a way of making a 'Quantum connection') , send you one copy, which you then give the full treatment you described a while ago, and then see whether that influences the sound of the copy I've kept at home.
What do you think?
Rende.
16th April 2003 from Richard Graham UK.
Subject: Re: experiment
Mm....
I can see some flaws in this - most of them personal!
I would agree to do this as a one off, since it is in the spirit of investigation. The only question is whether you will remember what the disc sounded like before.
I am reasonably sure this would work - to some degree - indeed Peter tried much the same some years ago using the free discs with the Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine. Actually it was so successful with one disc that I refused to play it more than once, as it was so much better than even the treated disc I had (on the free disc was an excerpt from the 1951 Karajan 'Meistersinger' - so good it made one almost weep!).
I am not capable of such greatness, but will give it a go.
Do you have my postal address? It's in the Newsletters.
Choose something you know well, and send the copy.
Richard
16th April 2003 from Rende. The Netherlands.
Subject: Re: Re: experiment
I didn't know Peter had already done something like that. If it worked so well, my curiosity is satisfied -I suspected that there would be an effect, but not that powerful - and I don't necessarily need to repeat it. Thanks!
Rende
19th April 2003 from V.R. Sola. USA.
Subject: Wild and wonderful P.W.B.
Environmentally safe wild and wonderful P.W.B.
I used to clean CDs and DVD with eyeglass cleaner .It is safe, biodegradable and cheap--12 Ozs Costs $2-88 at Kmart. It is a good cleaner. But does not improve the sound. After reading several reviews about Auric Illuminator and walkers vivid I switched to them. These are both wax like chemical semi solid in consistency. The marker pen supplied with auric Illuminator is a safe one and does not smell bad like sharpie markers. None of them improve the video and makes audio marginally better Last month I froze discs treated before with both of them. They sound remote sounding and dull, last month I requested some samples of rainbow foil. I consequently I ordered full rainbow foil, cream electret and morphic fluid all at a total cost of 135$.
Several of the interconnects I own cost more than that each and they did not perform any better than these 3 products.
Of course the process of creaming, application of foils and morphic fluid is time consuming.
The results are wild and wonderful
You treat the toilet, light bulbs and windows, the audio improves. It is like taking a laxative for constipation and the arthritic knee gets better.
There is no fulfilment of expectations here. In the past several cables, power conditioners I purchased after reading the glorious reviews at twice the cost did not do any better.
There are few surprises treating the twin electric fans of my Honda CRV changes my perception about its drivability, for better Morphic fluid on my rear view mirror reduces the glare.
Treating TV improves the audio more than video. Frozen SVHS cable does improve the video.
Thin cables with thin insulation such as the home grown audio silver cables show great improvement after freezing than the thicker crayon diameter sized cables to a lesser extent.. 80-85% of the CDS sound better after application of rainbow foils and morphic fluid spray. Of course with application of a single pair of red tie clips, or the samples of morphic message labels there is not any perceivable improvement so far. Still some more experimentation is needed.
For the sake of fun I tried sharpie red permanent marker and made some >O.K. labels knowing fully well, the ink is made of spirits (smell it -one can go high) and can erode the coating of compact disc. With in 15 minutes I removed them all as the sound turned harsh.
I also tried few freebies, turning the screws on the face flats horizontally .It made me uncomfortable for first one hour. One can easily feel the effect. Freezing twice (second time after application of cream electret made a bigger change). The biggest improvement is my system is with thinner Inter connects.
The postings in the message boards are not helpful for a beginner. It is like experts talking among themselves. Perhaps a beginners guide on budget or serial sequential recommendations by experts will be of help.
V.R. Sola.
20th April 2003 from Gary Lee. USA.
Subject: Beginner's help.
V.R., there are a lot of posts that should be of help. However, it will take some looking through the archives. Have you gone to the P.W.B. website and read the newsletters? That can be a lot of help. In almost each newsletter there is a review of a product. This can be useful in learning about the various treatments available. Also, there are testimonials and vignettes about products and treatments that have been useful to others. Plus, if you post specific questions, you will find people willing to help, I believe.
Glad you've had such good results so far. Reading of someone's new-found enthusiasm helps recharge my own, and undoubtedly, others as well.
Gary Lee
22nd April 2003 from Rende. The Netherlands.
Subject: P.W.B. at the audio dealer
I just had a funny experience. A friend had asked me to help him choose a new hi-fi set. We went to the best audio dealer in town armed with a small collection of cd's we know well. Everything went smooth until it came down to comparing two cd-players; a Vincent and an Audio Note. The dealer was convinced that the Audio Note was clearly the better player, but when I put in a treated cd ( 2 rainbow foils and cream electret) the Vincent clearly sounded better. My friend and I were convinced but the dealer was very confused and tried to find details that sounded better on the Audio Note, but didn't really succeed. In exasperation he cried 'but the Audio Note always sounds better!'.
This seems to indicate that some cd-players respond better to treated cd's than others. Can anyone explain this?
Rende
22nd April 2003 from V.R. Sola USA.
Subject: Treating large leather Sofas.
I have a few large leather covered Sofas in my listening room. I am not sure what kinds of morphic imprints they have. They are on metal frame. Do they need any treatment?
I sprayed morphic fluid in a non-conspicuous area. There is no discoloration.
What is the effect of dead animal skin on sound perception?
How one should treat them?
Thanks
Sorry too many questions
V.R.Sola
27th April 2003 from Gary Lee. USA.
Subject: Equipment feet
First, Rende's experience with the cd players is very interesting.
It never occured to me that differenct equipment might respond differently to treated cd's. That has not been apparent on my two cd players, an Arcam CD92 and a Rotel RCD-855. But somehow, I'm not surprised. Not as much surprises me with Belt products and their effect on things.
On to the feet on audio equipment. I took the feet on the two cd players because the stock feet aren't supposed to sound as good as alternatives. I put Isoblocks under the cd players instead. The same thing was done with my preamp. The Isoblocks had some treatments too. I put 4 Isoblocks under each piece of equipment, one in each corner, same as the stock feet. Now I'm wondering if it would be best to use 3 Isoblocks instead. There would be no problem with stability, since none of the equipment is that heavy and the Isoblocks are considerably larger than the stock feet. Of course, the thing to do is try 3 instead of 4 and check the sound. I just wondered what thoughts or experiences others might have.
Thanks.
Gary
28th April 2003 from V.R. Sola. USA.
Subject: equipment feet.
I have 4 feet (Half cut athletic balls from wallmart) smeared with cream electret and underneath one support I kept a small piece of white paper-may be it effectively makes it 3 feet.
Freezing - some cables the thinner one , like Kimber, Home grown audio showed a big difference in the first freeze itself. Thick cables lag behind.
In my office room with computer, printer, 2 fluorescent lights, my Sony recorder does not show significant audible difference. I changed it to another room. There is a big difference.
May be in some rooms with lots of smog minimal P.W.B. treatments are not enough.
V.R. Sola
29th April 2003 from: P.W.B. Electronics. UK.
Dear Gary,
Yes, Gary, I would definitely recommend three feet under equipment instead of four feet.
One of the earliest 'freebies' which Peter described to our customers and to journalists was to place a plain piece of paper under one of the four feet of any and all items of equipment. All our 'freebies' (techniques which people can try without any cost to themselves) have been given over the past 18 years so that people could experiment for themselves and discover that there 'was something going on which affected sound' but which could not be explained by either conventional electronic or acoustic theories.
The 'placing of a plain piece of paper under one of the four feet of equipment' technique is one of the techniques which has provided much ammunition for the 'ridiculers' and for the people who just want to deride and attack Peter. One source for such derision came from a particular UK television programme which Peter took part in. It was a somewhat light hearted programme where Peter was seen demonstrating placing a plain piece of paper under one of the four feet of a piece of audio equipment belonging to the TV host and playing some music, then removing the piece of paper and playing the music again. What the TV viewers did not see, however, were the faces of both the cameraman and the sound recordist - where they both smiled and nodded at the better sound when the paper was placed under one foot and where they both grimaced at the sound when the paper was removed.
Another time, Peter was interviewed for a BBC radio music programme and, again, demonstrated at the interviewers own house on the interviewers own audio equipment, placing a piece of paper under one of the feet of a piece of audio equipment and having a beneficial effect on the sound. During the recorded broadcast, one could hear the interviewer say "Listeners will not be able to see my face, to see my reaction, but I can assure you that my jar is down, my mouth is open with amazement at the effect and I am, at the moment, lost for words".
The placing of one piece of plain paper under one foot is a very simple way of altering a 'linkage' with the 'four feet' energy pattern.
May Belt.
30th April 2003 from Richard Graham. UK.
Subject: Re: Reply to Gary Lee's chat posting 28/04/03
Wise words May; I was going to suggest this as part of the Sofa treatment too - not many three-legged sofas about.
But this is a simple and free tip for any item with four legs, including all furniture.
Only P.W.B. have anything to improve upon the paper.
Richard
30th April 2003. From Richard Graham UK.
Subject: The Experiment
Over the Easter week, due to a brief break, I switched off my PC which made downloading the tracks nigh on impossible.
Since Sunday they have been back online 24/7, and if it is not you Belters downloading, there must be some very happy folk out there.
Incidentally - has anyone tried downloading a file to an MP3 Player; does the benefit carry over to there?
Incidentally II - I've changed my user name to RDG-PWB941 to help identify the files.
Presumably there are 940 others with the same user name prefix. How weird is that?
Richard
lst May 2003 from Gary Lee. USA.
Subject: Downloading files
Richard, I would like to avail myself of your kind offer but don't know where the files are. Perhaps, as my ex-wife was fond of doing, you won't mind telling me where to go.
Also, is there a discrete way to put paper under furniture legs? Can it basically be a large dot? Half a sheet of the Sunday funnies under the coffee table puts my sense of aesthetics in direct conflict with my love of good sound. (Though I realize no one suggested that.)
Thanks.
Gary
lst May 2003 from Richard Graham UK.
Subject: Re: Downloading files
Have you downloaded WinMx (from www.winmx.com - No longer an active site)? If so search for any of the titles listed before, and set the audio rate for 320kps when using search. I hope that reveals them.
As for the paper - well it needs to be large enough to cover the footprint, but no larger. You could try a smaller piece to see if it is just as effective, and maintain your home aesthetic!
Richard
lst May 2003 from Rende. The Netherlands.
Subject: cd recorder experiment
Over the past couple of days I've frozen a batch of previously foiled and creamed cd's twice, with some spectacular results. This was very satisfying, but what is interesting is that when I put one of those cd's in my cd-recorder (passively), the cd that is playing in my cd player suddenly sounds much better - more air around instruments and voices, wider and deeper soundstage, more engaging etc.. This is probably comparable to the frozen tape experiment that May described, but what surprised me is that there is a marked difference between the sound with the recorder on or off. When it's on the sound is much better than when it's off, but even that is better than with no cd in it at all.
In an old newsletter I came across a suggestion that we alert one another to good buys on the cd market. I don't know whether that still goes, but here's one. In Holland there's a wonderful pharmacy chain that also sells cd's. Although they got scathing remarks at first about displaying Beethoven next to diapers and deodorants, their cd's started getting good press from the serious music magazines. They either buy the rights from other companies (Nimbus, CRD, BIS, etc..) or they make new recordings with excellent young musicians. And they sell these cd's for around one pound a piece ( 1,5 euro/dollar). They generally sell them in boxed sets, and through them I have acquired the complete symphonies of Mozart, Mahler, Shostakovitch, Haydn (!) and much more, all excellently played and recorded. The good news is that they've just gone international and sell their cd's on line. They'll probably not come as cheap as one pound, but they'll still be bargains. Many of the recordings you can look up (on their original labels) in the Penguin good cd guides of a couple of years ago.
Their website is: http://www.brilliantclassics.com/
Do have a look; I can't guarantee that everything is a winner, but there are some true gems there, definitely the ones I mentioned above.
Rende
6th May 2003 from Paul Topic. Australia.
Subject: Active passive equipment -- Re: cd recorder experiment
Thanks Sarah for reminding me about the effects of passive equipment. The most heavily P.W.B'ed piece of equipment in my house is the CD player. I did discover a while ago that when listening to a tape or record the sound is in fact improved when I turn the CD player on. I neglected to continue doing this though because My CD player has some hard to find NOS valves in there that I did not want to burn out quicker than necessary. I decided to try it out again. And wow does it make a difference. It seems to be a stronger change this time to when I first discovered this phenomenon. Perhaps because the CD player is now is more heavily treated. Anyway I don't care about them valves anymore. I am just missing too much listening to a fine record with the CD player switched off.
Paul.
6th May 2003 from Rende. The Netherlands.
Subject: Re: Active passive equipment -- Re: cd recorder experiment
Hi Paul, I sympathise with your valve dilemma; I always wonder whether I should turn my valve pre amp off when I think I'll do some more listening later on. Since turning it on and off doesn't seem to do the valves a lot of good either, I tend to leave it on for a couple of hours.
I also tried letting the cd recorder play the treated cd while the cd player was playing the cd I was actually listening to, but that diminished the quality of the sound.
Also turning on my tuner (with very little treatment) has a pretty bad effect on the sound when I'm listening to a cd.
By the way, Sarah is my wife; on the e-mail address it says Sarah en Rende - 'en' is Dutch for 'and' - I'm the second part. Best regards, Rende
7th May 2003 from Massimo. Italy.
Subject: Active passive equipment -- Re: cd recorder experiment
Hi Rende,
I reply as a self-builder of my valve equipment, for this reason quite aware of valve subject.
Usually preamplifiers (99% of commercial ones) don't use huge standby current, so the valves stay quite far from the maximum dissipation. Knowing the valve type I should be more precise but usually they works fine for about 10.000 hours, it means 10 years working 3 hours per day. They suffer more the "turning on" so it is better to leave the equipment "on" for 2/4 hours instead of shut off/turn on twice.
Of course IMHO!
Ciao
Massimo
7th May 2003 from Rende. The Netherlands.
Subject: Re: Active passive equipment -- Re: cd recorder experiment
Hi Massimo,
Thanks for your information; that makes me feel better! It is a 10 year old, but recently modified Octave HP200 with a PCC88 and an ECC82 (Siemens I think) that are now about one year old. I guess I don't have to worry about it for a while.
Ciao, Rende
9th May 2003 from Kevin Kehoe. UK.
Subject: The Experiment
A few days ago I managed to download five tracks from the files made available by Richard Graham. The tracks are all from the CD "Year Of The Cat" by Al Stewart. I copied them to disc and was astonished at the sound quality. I then purchased the CD (remastered version, the same as Richard's) to try as a comparison. From the very opening moments it was clear that the purchased disc was inferior. It seemed somehow "smeared" and "flat" after listening to the downloaded version. Just taking the Bass alone as a point. On the download it is much more weighty with the frequency of the vibrating strings more easily heard. Al Stewart's voice is also more clearly focused and easy to follow in front of a bank of instruments with loads of space around them. In short, if I had not heard the download versions, I probably would have been happy with the purchased disc (with a little P.W.B. Treatment of course). But now I would rather go back and try and grab more out of Richard's files. I think that says it all.
When I've finished making comparisons I will Treat the Purchased disc with as much P.W.B. devices as I have to hand to see how close I can get to Richard's tracks. I have some of the albums on Richard's list and intend to try and download some of the treated tracks to see how they stand against my part-treated versions.
It took me quite a bit of search time to finally get hold of the files off WinMx, so here is a little trick that seemed to help.
If your search keeps bringing up the same users or is slow, try the following. click on Networks. This will bring you to the connection page. Click on refresh, wait for the green light to reappear. Click search and then click on the search box just below. It seems to increase the number of different users available. I am fairly new to download sites so if this is a load of rubbish please excuse me.
Kevin.
11th May 2003 from Richard Graham. UK.
Subject: Re: The Experiment
Kevin,
It is good to hear how it worked out.
The amazing thing is that this is also at a reduced data rate, being an MP3 file (albeit at 320kps).
Later today - for those that have broadband like yourself - I'll share some wav files for better comparison. They'll be different discs, but hopefully everyone will find something they have.
Richard
11th May 2003 from Richard Graham UK.
Subject: More to Experiment with
The following files are now available as wav files (thus equal to your Cds)
They may take some time to download, and it looks like you need to set what is usually the MP3 button to Audio to search for wav files.
Anyway, the first ones are
Abba - Gold
Abba - More Gold
Soile Isokoski - Four Last Songs (a must for Straussians)
Enya - Paint the Sky with Stars
Anastacia - Not that Kind
Beethoven Nos 5&7 - Carlos Kleiber on DG Original.
The Abba are the most recently re-mastered.
All the prev MP3 tracks are still there.
More later.
Richard
11th May 2003 from Richard Graham UK.
Subject: More Again
The following albums and tracks are now online - 'scuse the Bowie leanings; it's a summer thing!
Aladdin Sane - Bowie
Diamond Dogs - Bowie
Station to Station - Bowie
Young Americans - Bowie
Low - Bowie
Heroes - Bowie
All the Bowie discs are the most recent Abbey Road
mastered ones.
Sibelius 1&4 - LSO/Davis
Sibelius 2&6 - LSO/Davis
More later!
Richard
12th May 2003 from: Heiko Wingender. Germany.
Subject: More Again
Hi, where can I pull these files?
Thanks
Heiko
12th May 2003 from: V.R. Sola. USA
cables, such as some Subject: "Freezing"
I think freezing effectively removes the differences between different interconnects, speaker cables. Good cables get better and come closer to some very expensive cables I have. Some silver braided interconnects, sound better with one freezing.
Some of the cables, thicker like a rope, needed at least 2 or 3 freeze - slow thaw cycles.
The second freezing made a bigger effect in the perceived sound because I applied Cream Electret and also the freezer is partly treated. My freezer is too big and I have no access to the power cable as it is heavy, loaded and difficult to move. I applied Cream Electret to the bulbs and to some surfaces inside and Rainbow Foils to some hidden places in the freezer. In the base of the freezer there is a plastic baseboard like strip - easy to remove and I applied Morphic Liquid, Cream and Spiratube to some coolant ducts. One added benefit from freezing cables twice is that new cables do not need a long break in period .Another is my TQ2 interconnects which, many claim, make sound from solid state equipment sound like tube equipment - Sounds similar to my other cables .
The biggest benefit comes from freezing power conditioners and Line - cleaners. I have five of them.
I also froze my wife's portable Sony CD player. It worked fine after freezing and sounds a lot better. No damage at all.
Well, this coming winter I will apply few more Foils and Cream to my car and let nature take care of freezing and slow thawing.
The differences I perceive after freezing and treatments are an increase in dynamic range , better low end and imaging. One thing that did not happen is the mid range, the tonality of the human voice is the same.
Freezing keys and spectacles did not do much to my perceived sound, but freezing remote controls and the cordless telephone handset does make a difference in the perceived sound even through the phone. Recorded compact discs for me needed freezing twice, (1) before recording freeze a blank disc- (2 )after recording re freeze it again for the second time. after applying Morphic Liquid or Cream.
There is a lot of reluctance by some people to do the freezing experiment. Why ?
Fear of the unknown, or that freezing may cause damage to equipment. ?
A friend commented to me that it may be the law of expectations. My several expensive purchases based on the glorious reviews in the audio boards-failed to impress me in the long run. But, with freezing, the expense is minimal - 60 dollars of Cream and Foils, a few freezer bags - one third to - one fourth the cost of a good interconnect with a impressive change in the perceived sound.
My wife asked me "Why are you applying Ponds Cold Cream to the wires?
P.W.B. treatments for me do not make a difference when I am not relaxed, such as after returning from work in a traffic jam. After an hour of rest- it is O.K.
In some rooms with computers, fluorescent lights , printers , lots of boxes - basic P.W.B. treatments do not work. Move the audio equipment to another room - it is O.K.
The results of treatments can be Linear- cumulative, Logarithmic and exponential.
Some times none. In my case the 3 three morphic message foils which came along with the newsletter made no difference
Single red ties on crocodile clips made no difference . Perhaps I need lot more. How about offering a bakers half a dozen with some advantageous pricing? Some times the results are explosive when an unrelated thing is treated - In my case treating the water heater and AC equipment.
It is very much possible to perceive a big difference in sound without treating even a single CD or in fact a player or an amplifier.
My copper standard treatments on budget are effective. These are basic treatments, not gold or even silver standard.
They are involved treatments, taking considerable time and effort.
V.R. Sola.
12th May 2003. from: Richard Graham UK.
Subject: More Again
It is difficult for me to say exactly how, as I don't seem to be able to find my own files via WinMx.
Presumably you are using WinMx, click on 'Search' and on the MP3 audio button menu you will see an Audio item. Click on that and then search for the below listed titles.
Kevin seems to have found a way of doing it, and so he may give better tips than me.
My user name is RDG-PWB941 - what else!
Richard
12th May 2003 from Richard Graham UK.
Subject: WinMx and legalities
Inspired by Kevin's experiences, I was thinking that this could be a great way of sharing what Peter's work could do to those online.
Does anyone know if I would be imprisoned or severely thrashed for publicising such file sharing of copyright material?
Richard
13th May 2003 from Kevin Kehoe. UK.
Subject: The Experiment
Hello Richard,
A severe thrashing is probably a minimum requirement. We will all most likely conclude this experiment in Prison. Remember poor old Napster! As I said previously, it took a good few hours playing about with WinMx before I got lucky. It also helps that we now have a Broadband connection, which speeds things up by quite a margin. The main points I found so far (I still don't know why the files I made available are not being accessed) are as follows:
When on the connection page of WinMx Make shure you have a green light before proceeding. Then, click "Search" at top of page.
Enter the Artist name (this has usually been enough) and below the Artists name box there is a small box which allows you to specify the type of file you are after (for example MP3 or .wav) and the Bit rate you would prefer. For Richard's MP3 files this should be 320 kbps. It all started to work for me when I discovered that you can greatly improve your chances by clicking on "Networks" at the top of the page. You then click on "refresh" and then await the green light. Then click "search" at the top of the page, followed by a further click on the larger search box to the right of the "Artist box". You can do this as many times as you like and sooner or later you will land on user RDG-PWB. Hope this will be of use.
Regards
Kevin Kehoe
14th May 2003 from Richard Graham UK.
Subject: Downloads again
To try and help, I have added my user name to all folders containing the wav and MP3 tracks.
If you search for RDG-PWB941 you should find them.
This was Graham's useful suggestion, and he may offer some other ideas which help too.
If we can work this downloading thing out, it may be worth going to prison...
Richard
15th May 2003. from Gary Lee USA.
Subject: ABBA et al
I finally downloaded Win Mix and am trying to retrieve some files.
Reading about the quality of the cd's really has me intrigued, especially the "Richard Special" being superior to the regular cd.
No luck so far, but I haven't tried doing a search with Richard's id - oops - i.d. (You have to be careful when you say id around a psychiatrist.)
So I will try again tonight.
Thanks, Richard, for letting us play this way.
Gary.