I am pretty sure it's true that we are all subject to several psychological phenomena but I also think that psychological issues can usually be resolved through careful testing. Nothing is more dangerous that going along with the crowd and then getting arrived away with it. I call this the Getting Carried Away Sydrome. Case in point: someone I know read somewhere that a black magic marker is good for the sound used around the outer edge of a CD. So, he tried it and more or less assumed it must be working, since the black marker idea makes perfect sense, what with absorbing the scattered laser light and all. He didn't actually stop to AB the black pen. Note: actually the black pen around the outer edge doesn't usually improve the sound, I'm afraid that's a myth. The black pen does improve the sound around the inner edge, however. But I digress. So, next my friend,,having what he assumed was good results with the black pen decided, and here's his big mistake, in Getting Carried Away, to color the entire label side of not only one CD but his entire collection of CDs which numbered around 2,000. It was his new project. So, to make a long story shirt, my friend, who I actually didn't know at the time this all took place, stumbled on a thread on AA titled Anyine Else used Colored Pens on CDs, I mean colors other than Green and Black? It was thus how he found out, much to his chagrin, that using Black on the outer edge and the Labels of CDs might not be such a good idea after all. This was his first Oh, Crap moment if you will. To make a long story even shorter he did in fact discover to his horror that yes, black on the outer edge and on the label does ruin the sound. Next step, removing the black permanent marker from 2,000 CDs. That was his next project. A two month long project.

Geoff Kait
Machina Dynamica