I mentioned John Atkinson's name yesterday and several of my readers were horrified–said they could not trust him–because he had heard a difference on a process that intellectually offended them.
Rubbish.
Let's examine this notion. The offending item is the demagnetizing of CDs. I may be thrown out of the cool guy's club for saying this, but I too have experienced the demagnetization of Cds, and like it or not, it works. John reported this very fact and has now been labeled a heretic. Well, add my name to the list of the disgraced.
For those not in the loop, here's the deal. Place a CD in your player and give it a critical listen. Pick a track that is well recorded, natural sounding instruments, perhaps a vocal that is well done. Remove the CD. Take an old time tape demagnetizer–the handheld ones work best–and use it on the CD as if you were degaussing a tape. Then listen again. You will hear a difference and, depending on the resolving power of your system, not a subtle one. Like it or not, this actually works.
You might ask two things: have I been partaking of Colorado's legal herbs, and if this works, why do I not do it and recommend it to others? To the first question, no. To the second, it's because I am offended.
Yes. I am intellectually offended that this works. I cannot explain it. It seems wrong, it makes no sense. I don't practice it, I don't recommend it and up until my friend and colleague John Atkinson was ridiculed and ostracized, hesitant to even admit to it. That's just wrong of me and it stops here.
Just because we cannot explain something does not mean we should fold our arms and deny it does not–cannot–exist.
