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Rainbow foil tweak revisited

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Posted on April 20, 2012 at 13:04:39
magiccarpetride
Audiophile

Posts: 1523
Joined: March 31, 2010
 About a month ago I've applied, out of curiosity, a sample rainbow foil tweak to my listening environment. Wasn't able to detect any difference, so I wrote it off.

Then, about a week later, I've started hearing some improvements, but because those improvements coincided with the tweaks I was doing to my digital transport, I wasn't sure what was the cause of the perceived improvements.

Last week, however, I've reverted all the tweaks I did to my digital transport in order to apply a major upgrade. Reseting my digital transport was supposed to set it back to the stone age, because in its vanilla configuration this transport tends to be very noisy. Out of habit, I gave it a test listen, as I always do when I reset it back to square one. Any time I do that and have a listen, I am amused at how grainy, pixelated and harsh it sounds. However, this time around, it didn't really sound all that bad!

I then applied the series of tweaks that were designed to tame the digital noise and the harshness and brittleness. Sure enough, these tweaks improved the transport, but this time around the contrast wasn't as stark.

I'm not sure what to think of it, but one crazy idea is that perhaps due to the presence of the rainbow foil the vanilla harsh transport is now sounding better than usual. Anyone had similar experiences?

 

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What is this Rainbow foil tweak you speak of?, posted on May 25, 2012 at 09:46:22
gme109
Audiophile

Posts: 17817
Joined: April 3, 2001
 Please to explain, or provide a link.


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RE: Rainbow foil tweak revisited, posted on April 21, 2012 at 05:16:03
geoffkait
 I suspect there are too many variables to draw any conclusions. It's a bit like trying to solve two simultaneous equations in three unknowns. I also find that even without making any changes to the system, keeping everything constant, the sound tends to vary from day to day and from morning to night. No one said it would be easy, McGee.

 

RE: Rainbow foil tweak revisited, posted on April 23, 2012 at 09:50:14
magiccarpetride
Audiophile

Posts: 1523
Joined: March 31, 2010
 It is true that innumerable variables influence our experiences. My question pertains to the situation where a certain configuration, which you know sounds bad, all of a sudden doesn't sound that bad. Is it due to the rainbow foil tweak? Has anyone experienced similar impressions?

 

RE: Rainbow foil tweak revisited, posted on April 23, 2012 at 10:35:29
May Belt
Manufacturer

Posts: 681
Location: Leeds UK
Joined: March 16, 2005
>>> “My question pertains to the situation where a certain configuration, which you know sounds bad, all of a sudden doesn't sound that bad. Is it due to the rainbow foil tweak? Has anyone experienced similar impressions?” <<<

You can do an interesting experiment with something you have experienced as ‘sounding bad’.

Most people have, somewhere, a CD which they have never liked the sound of since they purchased it. Usually they bought it because it was of a favourite piece of music, or by a favourite musician but after initially listening to it and being disappointed in it’s sound, they now never play it.

Hunt it out, listen to it to confirm that it still does not sound good, then apply one or two strips of Rainbow Foil to the label side, and then listen again.

You will have experimented with a “known certain configuration” and should be able to answer your own question – that is if it can now be listened to without rejecting it. It is not a question as to whether it suddenly becomes your favourite CD – merely whether (to use your own expression) it “all of a sudden doesn’t sound that bad”. When all you have done is apply two strips of Rainbow Foil.

Regards,
May Belt,
Manufacturer.

 

RE: Rainbow foil tweak revisited, posted on April 23, 2012 at 12:39:50
magiccarpetride
Audiophile

Posts: 1523
Joined: March 31, 2010
 That's a good advice, however I'm not using CDs, so I'm not in the position to try that test.

 

Do a search on this forum, posted on April 20, 2012 at 13:15:33
unclestu
Dealer

Posts: 5851
Joined: April 13, 2010
 There has been much discussion about this topic. I can hear a difference, but I do not attribute it in any way to the Belt explanation.

Stu

 

RE: Do a search on this forum, posted on June 5, 2012 at 12:27:33
Awe-d-o-file
Dealer

Posts: 21037
Location: 50 miles west of DC
Joined: January 10, 2004
 I could find the topic discussed but not what rainbow foil actually is. I read it is implemented by putting a piece over the center circle atop a CD. Any help is appreciated.


ET
ET

"If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking till you do suck seed" - Curly Howard 1936

 

RE: Do a search on this forum, posted on June 8, 2012 at 16:55:11
geoffkait
 Rainbow foil is holographic silver foil that has been extensively treated. The foil comes in packs of 170 mm lengths that are cut into 4 mm width foils. The foils can be used in a great many ways, including on CDs directly on the COMPACT DISC logo. There is almost nowhere the foil cannot be used, but some of the more interesting locations are any glass window, mirror, light bulbs, computer screen, TV screen, any wooden object like bookshelves and tables, on cables, ICs, power cords and power cord plugs, any electronics box, any speaker cabinet, for starters. In addition to Rainbow Foil, there are many other types of PWB foils, some of which are quite complicated in construction and have more specific applications.

 

RE: Do a search on this forum, posted on April 20, 2012 at 15:44:24
magiccarpetride
Audiophile

Posts: 1523
Joined: March 31, 2010
 I can hear a difference, but I do not attribute it in any way to the Belt explanation.

I don't care about the explanation, I only want to establish if the improvement is caused by this factor or by that factor or by some other factor. As for why, couldn't care less -- life is too short for that kind of a fall down the rabbit hole.

 

Well, then,, posted on April 20, 2012 at 15:46:39
unclestu
Dealer

Posts: 5851
Joined: April 13, 2010
 you've answered your own question, haven't you?

Stu

 

RE: Well, then,, posted on April 20, 2012 at 16:07:02
magiccarpetride
Audiophile

Posts: 1523
Joined: March 31, 2010
 you've answered your own question, haven't you?

I've posed my conundrum explaining how the improvement I'm hearing could be attributed to a variety of factors, and how I'm not sure which of those factors deserve the credit. I fail to see how, by doing that, have I answered my own question?

 

Sigh...., posted on April 20, 2012 at 16:42:35
unclestu
Dealer

Posts: 5851
Joined: April 13, 2010
 You expect the answers to all pressing issues in world to be answered here? If you do not care to explore the rationale for how it works, then don't expect any one to answer your question. As for the other factors, wouldn't it be a very simple experiment to simply remove them one by one? Seems to me any one doing a series of changes without evaluation after each one is simply asking for trouble when searching for causality.

Further, you did say you couldn't hear any significant difference on Tweaks. If so, I believe you have answered your own question.

Stu

 

RE: Sigh...., posted on April 24, 2012 at 11:38:35
magiccarpetride
Audiophile

Posts: 1523
Joined: March 31, 2010
 You expect the answers to all pressing issues in world to be answered here? If you do not care to explore the rationale for how it works, then don't expect any one to answer your question.

I'm not expecting any answers, I was merely asking if anyone else had a similar experience where something that used to sound glaringly bad all of a sudden sounds not so bad.

As for the other factors, wouldn't it be a very simple experiment to simply remove them one by one? Seems to me any one doing a series of changes without evaluation after each one is simply asking for trouble when searching for causality.

I've placed over 30 strips all over the place. I don't feel like revisiting all these places, peeling the strips off, then taking them out of the house. That's why I was asking my original question: anyone experienced a bad sounding component becoming more acceptable? Yes or no, simple question, not expecting any explanations, nor any causality to emerge in full force. Correlation is as good as it can get for me.

 

Well, posted on April 24, 2012 at 14:38:55
unclestu
Dealer

Posts: 5851
Joined: April 13, 2010
 Since you have experienced it, who cares what others have experienced?

Stu

 

RE: Well, posted on April 24, 2012 at 14:43:02
magiccarpetride
Audiophile

Posts: 1523
Joined: March 31, 2010
 Since you have experienced it, who cares what others have experienced?

I care.

 

The view from 40,000 ft., posted on April 24, 2012 at 16:11:54
geoffkait
 You have only seen the tip of the iceberg.

;-)

 

RE: The view from 40,000 ft., posted on April 25, 2012 at 09:27:40
magiccarpetride
Audiophile

Posts: 1523
Joined: March 31, 2010
 You have only seen the tip of the iceberg.

Are the polar ice caps melting?

 

Yes for 25000 years, though only the North....nt., posted on June 4, 2012 at 15:35:04
goblin141
Audiophile

Posts: 620
Location: So California
Joined: December 26, 2000
 .

 

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