Green ink
jack d ii -- Tue, 05/26/2009 - 11:59
Whatever happened to the practice of putting green ink on the outside edge of cds? This used to be a big topic but has not been brought up in a long time. Are present players so good as to make this practice inconsequential?
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I have not heard of anyone marking the edges of their CDs with a green felt pen for quite some time. I heard the effect when I tried it in the early 1990s, but it wasn't significant enough to continue the practice. It was more of an experiment. I don't think that today's players address the issues that cause the green pen to work. I should go back and try it again with modern discs and players.
Not only could you use green ink but you could also buy green edging strips that fitted onto the edge of the disc! A bit more expensive than a felt tip marker (the makers must be laughing their heads off - another one born every day). I've still got them but not sure of their effectiveness. Ce la vie
What we achieve in life - echoes through eternity YNWA
I have been using an audio disk lathe to make CDs round and angle the edge....on which I put a black coating. As a net result on a CDP the improvement seems clear...less digital harshness/brightness....much more musical...at least to me....and to a few musical friends...who were quite surprized.
I agree with you but would state it more strongly.
Robert
I did a test for you. I had a CD that had previously been cleaned with Methanol (Lab Analysis Grade - leaves NO residue - hard to source btw) and its inner and edges heavily blackened - outer edge, wrapping around the edge as much as possible, inner edge and clear land around the centre hole, both sides blackened.
I demagnetized the CD and got a good fix on its sonics. Much of the printed side was then blackened (I used a Staedtler permanent marker /German/ the biggest I could buy with a 12mm felt ink 'tip' from a graphics supplier.)
There was a subtle but noticable difference - the music was more accessible, strings less clogged eg. The difference became more obvious after I demaged the fully inked disc.
I'd supposed the improvement was due to a reduction of laser scatter, with an increase in the S/N ratio of the HF RF stream coming off the disc.
(Why didn't I start with an unblacked disc you ask: I'd sometime ago satisfied myself blackening the edges and cental land is beneficial.)
So blacking CDs makes a difference ? Yes
Worth it (for a portion of my discs ) ? Yes
For everybody ? No too messy / black fingers.
Is green better: don't know, being a cheap skate - black is supposed to absorb all frequencies and much cheaper.
Better still is the Audio Desk CD lathe/ trimmer (plus blackening). It makes a more fundametal difference.
Thanks for sharing those impressions. I don't think that there's anything special about the color green; it might have been a chance discovery at some point.