FORUMS
3 months ago I wrapped my headphone cable in ERS Paper that was hanging from the cable with scotch tape, the ERS Paper was 5mm from the surface of the cable. It made it sound worse so I had to remove it.
Today I tried it again and used toilet paper rolls and a cotton thread to suspend the cable inside. Now the ERS Paper is separated 1+cm from the cable. I'm not hearing any weaknesses at all, it made it better in every way!
Sounds like a first class tweak!!!! I'm sure some "expert" reviewers and listeners would approve, and hear the improvements. You must be one of them audio geniuses.....Ever think of marketing it? I'm sure there are suckers...ooops, I mean audiophlakes that will understand the science involved. Imagine what this tweak would do on a $100K TT and $6500 cartridges!!! What river, mountain, or rodent will you name this pioneering device?
Impressions: The background got quieter which revealed more bass information. It gave the illusion of heavier bass. But the bass is more solid and doesn't interfere with the rest of the music. Everything is faster and more distinct, there is higher resolution.
The high frequencies are cleaner and whiter as well. It made everything more revealing and the jitter of my transport is more apparent now. The differences between tweaks for my transport is bigger than before.
The low-level details are clearer than before, but now I'm also hearing new detail that used to be cut off. The quiet sounds extend further and they are audible because of more clarity. A new world of very quiet detail has opened up. Those sounds aren't quiet because of dullness, but because they really are so quiet. The music sounds more true.
There are no weaknesses, everything got better. But the improved dynamics made it more fatiguing to listen, it reminds me of 16 months ago when I got my first vibration isolation rack where it took 2 months for my brain to get used to the extra speed.
Since there is more information in the music everything sounds louder, the only way I can keep listening is to reduce the volume with 3dB. My amp and DAC were fully wrapped in ERS except for the headphone cable, and now when I wrapped the last part of my system it made the biggest difference. Now the bass is so heavy and fast it makes me sick!
Is it Cottonelle or Charmin toilet rolls? do you think it matters? Which tape did you use to secure the stuff together? Did you apply the tape left to right or right to left? This could have a dramatic impact on the signal, don't you think? And how long before one of the energized boxes overheats and goes up in smoke? Please post pictures of the aftermath of the fire. I'm sure ventilation of electronics is bad for good sound right?
Thanks for sharing this with us, Patrick. I must say, it looks very unusual, but you've obviously put a lot of time into it. And I'm happy to hear that the results were worth the effort. It's absolutely great that you're getting closer to a musical "truth." Congrats!
With all due respect, Patrick, have you considered that it may be the appearance of your system with all that magic cloth/paper strewed around on it that made you sick? I certainly hope it makes you happy, because it wins the prize for all time ugliest tweak hands down. Given the investment you made in time and money I can't believe there wasn't a better way to achieve your desired end. You have my sincere sympathies.
Me thinks he's goofing on ya's all. I suspect the covered up ventilation for any energized electronics there is adding to a perception of warmth overall.....not a perception probably close to being too warm. If it was red or orange color would it change the pace and timbre of the goings on. Brighter colors make the brain race? thus deluded oneself into thinking things are going faster? Did you try this at home, even though you where warned NOT TO? Get a FuruFake and demag it all, it is certainly gonna add some more improvement to the improvement you are now getting. About zero. I mostly like the CLEAR pictures, nice camera work 
This stuff is supposed to help with EMI/RF rejection. I've never seen it taken to this extreme, but I have heard of people putting it inside transports and around power supplies.
I could see me trying it sandwiched between some dampening material.
I must agree that this is either quite the visual parody of tweaking, or indeed the best way to insure zero future female companionship. Perhaps you need Pat needs another viewing of The 40 Year Old Virgin and take better notes...
Remember: Truth almost always ALSO equals Beauty, rarely does truly ugly
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Sounds like a first class tweak!!!! I'm sure some "expert" reviewers and listeners would approve, and hear the improvements. You must be one of them audio geniuses.....Ever think of marketing it? I'm sure there are suckers...ooops, I mean audiophlakes that will understand the science involved. Imagine what this tweak would do on a $100K TT and $6500 cartridges!!! What river, mountain, or rodent will you name this pioneering device?
He can't be all that bad. After all, he appears to be watercooling his PC. I wonder what kind of Overclocks he is getting on that puppy. I just hope he didn't wrap the CPU in the ERS Paper, as I don't think it would make the best thermal compound. 
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Impressions: The background got quieter which revealed more bass information. It gave the illusion of heavier bass. But the bass is more solid and doesn't interfere with the rest of the music. Everything is faster and more distinct, there is higher resolution.The high frequencies are cleaner and whiter as well. It made everything more revealing and the jitter of my transport is more apparent now. The differences between tweaks for my transport is bigger than before.
The low-level details are clearer than before, but now I'm also hearing new detail that used to be cut off. The quiet sounds extend further and they are audible because of more clarity. A new world of very quiet detail has opened up. Those sounds aren't quiet because of dullness, but because they really are so quiet. The music sounds more true.
There are no weaknesses, everything got better. But the improved dynamics made it more fatiguing to listen, it reminds me of 16 months ago when I got my first vibration isolation rack where it took 2 months for my brain to get used to the extra speed.
Since there is more information in the music everything sounds louder, the only way I can keep listening is to reduce the volume with 3dB. My amp and DAC were fully wrapped in ERS except for the headphone cable, and now when I wrapped the last part of my system it made the biggest difference. Now the bass is so heavy and fast it makes me sick!
You forgot to mention that the blacks are now so deep and dark that it makes your tailfeathers stand on end.
I think you may be onto something here, but I think we will need to convene a review board to come to some consensus on how much of these effects are based on the actual wrapping of the equipment/cords and how much is based on improved absorption in your room due to placing ERS Paper along oblique reflection paths. Sure, you are using headphones it looks like, but perhaps your ears are so great that you are hearing the improvements to the reflected sound outside your cans!
Just a heads up. I tried this idea on my tube amp by wrapping all of the tubes with tp and then placing the empty roll over the combination. The visual was exciting but the smoke and fire was not a good thing.
I don't recommend.
Also using the TP rolls could create resonance problems unless tube length and diameters are carefully chosen.
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Just a heads up. I tried this idea on my tube amp by wrapping all of the tubes with tp and then placing the empty roll over the combination. The visual was exciting but the smoke and fire was not a good thing.
I don't recommend.
Music you can smell... "The heat is on."
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Also using the TP rolls could create resonance problems unless tube length and diameters are carefully chosen.
If the diameter is the correct size, properly terminated and coated, one could use these to target a particular problem frequency like a Helmholtz resonator.
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If the diameter is the correct size, properly terminated and coated, one could use these to target a particular problem frequency like a Helmholtz resonator.
Cover them with copper foil and you can also realize the benefits of a Farraday cage.
Star grounding and mono block amps
After my PS Audio Gain Cell pre-amp broke I thought it was time to try all those tweaks I was scared to try before because I didn't want to mess up the synergy. I removed all the ERS Paper, removed the ICEpower modules from the GCC-100 amp and put each one on top of Magix levitation feet. Under the Magix I have Solid-tech Feet of Silence for further removal of vibrations.
I also sliced open a couple Nordost Valhalla power cords and did star grounding to a single point ground above the system. The ground wires are stiff so it's like a tent where I can later hang ERS Paper on. I used 55cm length Valhallas plus a 1m Valhalla as ground wire to plug into the wall.
I also replaced the modded 44cm Valhalla interconnect with 27cm Valkyrja speaker wiring because it is easier to hardwire. It's also more neutral with more low-level detail and smoothness.
For my amp, I replaced the 1m Valhalla with a couple 55cm Valhallas, I plugged each mono block amp into their own Isozone of the Premier Power Plant. The difference was similar as plugging them both into a JuiceBar with a Noise Harvester on it. Without the Harvester it sounded edgy and fatiguing, with the Harvester it sounded full and heavy. Removing the Premier Power Plant and plugging everything to the wall sounded fine also, as long as the Harvester was there. I rather spend the money on ERS Paper than a power conditioner, because ERS Paper doesn't have any weaknesses if applied correctly. Wrapping a 1m Valhalla with ERS Paper gave a much bigger difference than wall vs Premier Power Plant.
The low-level detail was surprisingly good even without any ERS Paper. It sounded very open and smooth, I could listen for hours without any fatigue.
Baking with ERS Paper
Since I removed all the ERS Paper I had a lot of small pieces of ERS Paper, I didn't know what to do with them, so I made a Valhalla with toilet paper rolls in 3 layers. The live and neutral signals are inside their own tubes, Tara Labs style.
I didn't think it would take so long to make, minutes turned into hours, hours turned into days. After 12 hours I already started hallucinating, it felt like someone was in my room looking at me. I didn't want to spend the time drinking water because I wanted to finish the cable. I didn't want any toilet breaks either. After a while my vision started getting blurry but since I'm no quitter, I just kept on going to the end. At one point it felt like I was baking rollcake.
It was the first and probably the last time I ever make a cable with 3 layers of ERS. The ERS Paper around my 1m Valhalla power cord costs almost a grand.
I used a dozen toilet paper rolls, cotton thread, packing tape, packing foam, dozens of sheets of ERS Paper.
All the layers of ERS Paper are separated with 1cm, because less than 1cm makes it sound muddy.
Listening
I have a 1m Valhalla plugged into the wall that has a single layer of ERS with 2-3 layers around the connectors. I switched to my newly baked triple layer Valhalla with nude connectors. It sounded a little smoother but the difference was very small. I switched back and forth and eventually didn't hear a difference.
Then it was time to compare a nude Valhalla vs my triple layer one. I had nude conductors hardwired into the Toroidal transformer of my DAC1 and the other end was plugged into Premier Power Plant. I replaced it with the triple layer Valhalla and the difference was HUGE. The whole openness flavor had shifted into blackness with more low-level detail, it is scary with new sounds all over the place. Based on previous experiments, the improvements with ERS Paper are cumulative. The more you wrap, the bigger the improvements. After the full system is wrapped and you have a tiny gap somewhere, it is audible.
Next I'm going to wrap my amp.
Gee Patrick,
Sorry to hear your preamp broke. Any idea what happened?
RG
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Sorry to hear your preamp broke. Any idea what happened?
It got scared? 
Patrick, your posts are always great fun!
It probably suffocated! What thickness is the tape? Perhaps you should experiment with different thicknesses? Keep an open mind, and an empty toilet paper dispenser. What effect would differetn color ERS paper have, I'm sure it would have an effect, anyone with an open mind would certainly wanna try. But some are so open, teh wind blows through it, sometimes called empty headed, listen for the breeze through the open mind....
With todays green concern, one must be careful with the amount of recycled material used in your paper shield.
100% oxygen free paper is required for best results.
How far can you recycle toilet paper? Has anyone ever seen toilet paper labled RECYCLED? 
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How far can you recycle toilet paper? Has anyone ever seen toilet paper labled RECYCLED?
Same old shit.
Crap in a hat.
This newly baked 'Triple layer ERS Paper cotton thread dielectric packing tape & foam toilet paper roll separately isolated 1 conductor Nordost Valhalla power cable' made the biggest improvement I have ever heard.
After my system broke and I put all the leftovers on the floor, I isolated the amps from each other and did star grounding. I heard new rear soundstage but it sounded muddy from a crippled system. But I couldn't deny the rear soundstage was deeper than ever before. Magix levitation feet does this. I got the same improvements when I removed the P300 Power Plant transformers out of the chassis and put each one on top of their own Magix. And I also got the same improvement when I removed the vibrating Toroid out from the chassis of Benchmark DAC1 and put on top of Magix. Both of those tweaks made the biggest improvements I have ever heard. And now when I isolated each amp channel from each other, maybe I got an equally big improvement, but since my system was nude on the floor I didn't hear it properly.
Wrapping my DACs Valhalla cable with ERS Paper again made me hear it. The huge and open soundstage is blacker and clearer now. I hear new sounds I never heard before. My system broke, but instead I ended up with something much better than before, just by making all the tweaks I was scared of doing, and the best thing of all, my system now costs a fraction of the price than it did before.
Without my Valhalla wrapped in ERS Paper my system had less low-level detail than before, but after I separated the Valhalla conductors and put each one into their own 'Triple layer ERS Paper cotton thread dielectric packing tape & foam toilet paper rolls' my system has more low-level detail than before my system broke.
The pre-amp inside Benchmark DAC1 is not bad. My Gain Cell pre-amp was better, but the tweaks I did made much bigger differences. Even with the cheap integrated pre-amp inside DAC1 I'm hearing better sound than ever before. This DAC is only $975. The tweaks are where the real improvements come from.
Thanks Patrick. After showing my wife this thread she doesn't think that I am so strange.
Patrick, why are there never any speakers in your pics?
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Patrick, why are there never any speakers in your pics?
That's were his real breakthrough lies. He won't show it to us until the patent paperwork is secure. Gotta protect this amazing new technology. Word is that there is no 30 guage wire involved.
Patrick,
Your way too humble. We all know the major improvements reaped from your point to point wiring.
RG
wow this looks kinda hazardous j/k haha does all of this make a difference and does it cause your components to heat up?
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/zigmahornet/3.jpg Maybe he uses these speakers? The wires are on the floor though, better wrap em up? 
Each guitar is used as another midrange, the strings are tuned to resonate with teh speakers, can't get any more REAL than a REAL GUITAR used for playback
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Patrick, why are there never any speakers in your pics?
I know Patrick from Head-Fi. He uses headphones.
This guy is a lethal weapon and a tool. Wrapping electrical items and mains up in paper is hazardous very dangerous and soon or later your silly idea will get someone killed.
Talk about Looney Tunes, this guy fits in with the
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