Stephen Mejias

Back in the '80s I tried one of these on my hair and it turned out big, crispy and dry. Hmm. Sounds familiar.

Static isn't an issue with CDs. All of the information is stored as pits on the surface of the disk and is read by a laser within the CD player.Audiophiles are often accused of being prone to suggestion and falling for snake oil and techno-babble in advertising. This is a classic example.Put your mind at ease, don't waste money on demagnetizes for your CD collection, and just enjoy the music!

Over the years there have been many devices or special tones that when applied to a cd/dvd or played through your system have been purported to take you several steps closer to audio nirvana. I theorize that in particular the special tones, or in this case hair dryer, act as an auditory refresh. I suspect they perform the same task as coffee beans at the perfume counter or crackers at a wine tasting. I don't recall any "real" measurements showing how the disc or system was changed to cause said improvements. I therefore am led to believe these improvements occur somewhere between our ear and brain. That being said I will continue to eat crackers at wine tastings.It might be interesting to test the hair dryer trick by treating one of two identical discs in a room where the test listener cannot hear the process. Better yet, next time you get out of the shower listen to a couple of tracks and then blow dry your hair and listen to the same tracks again and if there is no difference at least you

So, can I use this method to warm up my tubes before listening? I mean, all electronics sound better when they have 'warmed' up.Seriously, the additive amount of particulate matter, dust, and debis this method will ?blow? into a component in a matter of weeks will equal a decades accumulation in normal, non-forced air usage. Dust + electronics = doom. overheating. shorting on the board. screeching CD drawer mechanisms. grinding resistor controls. ETC.Ugh, I mean; ugh. No matter the improvement; the objective hazards of this are ridiculous.

Shoot! I just dropped my tinfoil hat. If you have seen me lately I think I have all the ions I can take at the moment. Now, if this would stop my students from telling me "my dog ate my homework!" I be in.

I was urged by a friend to try this some months ago but thought it incredibly stupid. A few weeks ago I happened to notice my hair dryer had the ION feature and I had failed to switch on since my wife bought the appliance months ago. So I figure, what the heck. I pulled down the window shades and closed the door so I wouldn't be seen by anyone. I blew the air over the disc on the cool setting and the ION switch turned on. The results were great on my CAL Labs CL-15 player. The sound is less hazy and aggressive sounding from the upper mid-range on up. This has always been a problem area in CDs for me at least. It is what I have always associated with the sound of Digital playback. I have since run some simple tests and found CD discs are easily charged and are readily attracted to another charged surface, when you suspend it by a string where it can move freely. Not sure how this is affecting playback but the ION dryer sits near the system now.

Possible reasons for the positive affect on a CD when neutralizing any static charge on the surface: The spinning charged field of a Disc is generating a current in the nearby focusing system coils, causing modulation of the focusing system.The attraction or repulsion of a charged CD to the focusing coils is altering the speed of the spinning Disc or the position relative to the lens.The charged Disc is deflecting the position of the plastic lens as it floats in the magnetic field generated by the focusing coils.

I too have tried snake oils like green paint on CD edges, Mats, cleaners, etc. If you listen carefully you may think you hear a difference when using them. But the differences are so subtle that it's not worth the time and effort, much less the price of admission. Such was not the case with the Ion Generating Hair Dryer. It works in my system and to such a startling degree it's undeniable. Your first impression is that the system volume level has dropped but such is not the case. The higher frequencies are no longer over emphasized as they were before neutralizing the charge on the Disc. You can easily make comparisons by imparting a charge back to the Disc using a piece of silk or wool cloth rubbed against it. The tense and bright presentation of digital comes right back. If you've ever wondered why your system sounds better some days than others, I suspect static buildup has something to do with it. So laugh it up all you want but you'll only deprive yourself of an easy and cheap system i

"The sound is less hazy and aggressive sounding from the upper mid-range on up"... . .If I had a high end CD player, like a CAL; and it sounded hazy and aggressive... ... I would not have a high end cd player like a CAL. Hmm.

Yet another ridiculous waste of time. When will the "high end" ever grow up. At best, this will do nothing more than provide yet another placebo for the neurotic audiophile. At worst,this is a really good way to eat up anything made of rubber inside your CD player. Think belts, idlers, rubber suspension, etc. Ozone will mess up those parts badly. So enjoy the "improved"sound...while it lasts.

If there were significant quantities of Ozone generated by common high voltage sources the case on your TV set would destroy itself and the ION hair dryer would have warnings about bleaching your hair and burning your lungs. For those with a less cynical perspective, let me answer any concerns about Ozone that might attack plastics and rubber in your CDP. The Air Freshener device mentioned in the original post does generate Ozone (you can readily smell it) and in my opinion could be a problem on rubber belts in a CD player drawer. If you have concerns about Ozone from a hair dryer (although I can smell none) the mineral Tourmaline is available in hair dryers and generates Ions with Zero Ozone but must be used on a heat setting. A wide selection of Ion Generating hair dryers is available at any Wal-Mart and they have a very liberal return policy. One of these will easily remove any accumulated charge on a Disc for your increased listening pleasure at no risk.

I am not really sure if best practices have emerged around things like that, but I am sure that your great job is clearly identifed. I was wondering if you offer any subscription to your RSS feeds as I would be very interested and can’t find any link to subscribe here. Please come visit my site San Diego City Business Listings when you got time.

CTR color TV's when operating properly didn't generate ozone. It's only when there was HV arcing that this happened. And old sets were notorious for crumbling plastic parts due to heat and ozone oxidation from insulation breakdown. Putting an ion generator "under the hood" of a CD player has the potential to concentrate ozone in a very confined space. In any event, my skepticism comes from over 40 year in the audio business. If all these tweaks worked as advertised, God should be appearing between our speakers by now.

There's a lot of money to be made from easily impressionable minds. A placebo can do wonders to those that choose to let it. I have found that a good whitening toothpaste can really lighten up the presentation of darker recordings if used twice a day for at least 2 weeks after meals---and avoid coffee and blueberry pie.

I use a Saviair 5000, which I bought (brand new! whoo!) at the goodwill store--for $40. Yes, a $3k air cleaner and ionizer for $40. I'm such a Scott. But at least I'm good at it. I'm no going to take a shot at this device you speak of. I've seen them....

Recently I began upgrading my system slowly as my finances would provide. Being new to tweeks and low on cash I have been doing a lot of DIY projects from making cables to building my own racks so I am naturally a skeptic when it comes to tweeks. One of my neighbors is a member of the Space Coast Audio Society invited me to Sunday's meeting which I attended. Chris had various ion generating devices which he would turn on in various combinations doing a-b comparissons. In almost every case the ion generating devices changed the soundstage, the overall sound, or both, sometimes drastically. In some cases I felt the change was for the better, and sometimes for the worse but there was change. While one may or may not enjoy the results, I can say this tweek's not snake oil.

The writing style of the positive comments all reads the same. MS Word adds an objective (I suppose) agreement to their similarity when checked.

What a crock. Anyone who believes this has no idea how a cd actually works. Unless there were some other factor - eg debris on the cd or cd player then this can have no effect. A simple wipe of a cloth should of had the same effect.What's more - on clean disks (no matter how much "static" charge there was) - this would have no effect.

I heard another ridiculous story. Some people claim a common bread mold can cure systemic germ infections of the human body. What a crock. They call it Penicillin. Whoever believes that has no idea how biochemistry works.

Yep, there is some real profit motive here. All that Conair stock I bought is sure to go through the roof if I spread enough rumors about the benefits an ION generating hairdryer has on Audio CD Playback. Man I should be able to retire after the markets close tomorrow. Thank goodness for easily impressionable minds. Oh No! I just thought of something, if people buy hairdryers like the Conair Infiniti 213X and it doesn't work to improve the sound of their CDs, they'll just return them back to the store and get their money back. OH Woe Is Me! My stock in Conair will be worthless. What's an entrepreneur to do?

I predict the same Trolls and Playground Bullies expressing so much useless rebuke in this blog will one day be extolling the virtues of neutralizing the charge on a CD and saying stuff like, "I knew that 40 years ago. The reasons it was affecting playback were obvious to any intelligent person." And if they don't make such statements, they'll still be critical but secretly have a selection of charge neutralizers stashed away at home.

I have a Bell part number 89107-FE12 DC negative ion generator that you can buy at Pepboys a few inches behind the transport in my CD player and another one in my power amplifier between the transformer and main circuit board. Pepboys also sells a 10' with 1' extension with a cigarette lighter type receptacle plug on the ionizer. I'm powering them from a 12 volt gel cell but because I thought that anything I connected to the power them from AC such as a small switching 12 volt power supply or 12 volt transformer wasn't as good as when I use the separate battery supply. First I tried just the CD player by itself and that was so amazing that per Chris Vogel's suggestion, I tried another ionizer on the power amplifier which was additive and another great leap in fidelity. I've have a remote control switch that make it easy to test. I hear the negative ions begin to take effect within 5 seconds and by 10 seconds it's already very good and the effect dissipates in about the same am

I tried the Bell Ion Generator (Air Purifier ID 89107-FE). I agree with the assessment of George Louis, the difference in fidelity was amazing when using it on the CDP. The same was true when I placed it near the air intake of the amplifier. I cannot speak to the precise timing of how long before the benefits begin or wear off but the numbers George gave sound plausible. I too used a battery for power. There was a remarkable difference unlike anything I would have expected from two completely unrelated technologies. My primary concern is the Bell Unit generates Ozone that you can readily detect by smell, although it's advertised as low in Ozone production. While the sonic benefits are undeniable, I would hesitate to use it long term as it could attack rubber and plastic compounds in a confined space like an AMP or CDP, not to mention oxidize any bare metal surfaces, including circuit board traces and other conductors. That said, it does work and profoundly so.

Amendment to prior comment: I have a Bell part number 89107-FE12 DC negative ion generator purchased at Pepboys a few inches behind the transport in my CD player and another in my power amplifier between the transformer and main circuit board. Pepboys also sells a 10' with 1' extension with a cigarette lighter type receptacle plugs. They're powered with a 12 volt gel cell because I thought that anything connected to the AC power line such as a small switching 12 volt supply or 12 volt transformer wasn't as good as a dedicated battery. I tried the CD player by itself and that was so amazing that per Chris Vogel, who first tried negative ions in components, suggestion, I tried another ionizer on the power amplifier which was additive and another great leap in fidelity. I've have a remote control switch that make it easy to test. I hear the negative ions take effect within 5 seconds and by 10 seconds it's very good. The effect dissipates in about the same amount of time when the io

This little 'tweak' reared its head almost a year ago on the forums at Canuck Audio Mart as an off-shoot of some thread about a USB powered ionizer that some guys had adapted to run off a wall wart and used for static 'control'. (If static can be controlled here in the cold and dry climes of Alberta.) It's all fun. If it works (either one of the ideas) then --- bonus! If it doesn't - oh well - wouldn't be the first time. jac Revival Audio Collections Edmonton, AB

I testing my Sony Playstation 3 that plays blu ray while it upsampled the regular definition movie "Friends with Money" with the negative ion generator resting and without the negative ion generator resting next to the disc drive. When the negative ion generator was on relative to it being off the presentation was better in every way. The picture was less noisy, more 3-D looking, better saturated and less jittery and it looked as if it was a blu ray disc. It was played on my Philips HD 1920 x 1080P HD LCD TV that's has the best picture I've ever seen and that includes the LED LCD and plasma screen TVs. The sound was somewhat better as well. Unfortunately the newer Philips TVs, in my opinion, don't have nearly the picture quality of my older Philips. I also tested the negative ion generator with the Atlanta Scientific HD DVR that Cox cable supplies and it seems to improve its performance as well but not as much. Perhaps I haven't optimized the placement of the generator(s).

I am so glad I never gave up the LP. Twenty years later (twenty years, ever see a twenty year old CD? heh.) the CD is vanishing like a dinosaur; and lo, the LP remains. Stronger than evah! EVAH!!!!The CD has been rife with riff raff since day one. The static cling thing here; it is another version of bad dress needs treatment. Phoeey.

(1)Speaking to Jac's comments above concerning the Canuck Audio Mart thread. It appears they were trying to control static buildup on LPs in a cold dry climate but there was no mention of a general sound improvement with CD's and Electronics in general. I live in the subtropics and we do not have as much problem with static buildup, so I don't think static is the only issue we are addressing here. (2)I have been trying various Ion generating hairdryers using High Voltage and/or heated Tourmaline, as per Chris Vogel's recommendation. In every case there seems to be a remarkable improvement in fidelity with more information and a more relaxed presentation. This was especially true when using the Bell Air Freshener discussed by George Louis. The Bell provides a continuous supply of Ions which seems to have the greatest affect. Again my concern is the Ozone generated by this device causing damage. (3)It seems I once read that Ions have an affect on EMI. Can anyone comment on that?

"If you haven't heard it, you don't have an opinion." - Ivor TiefenbrunLike Rob Cumming (above), I participated in the SCAS meeting at Chris Vogel's house where we explored the tourmaline tweak. The differences perceived were easily heard, repeatable, and musically significant. Tourmaline in mineral form seemed to have a greater positive impact than the electrical ionizers, without concerns about ozone's effects on electronic components.The positive effects were also cumulative. Use of a tourmaline hair-dryer (they're not all equal, and some have no or minimal effect - seek out the Conair 213X) on CDs, in addition to the tweaks applied to the components, yielded another large improvement - not only in 'audiophile' parameters such as soundstage, dynamics, and transparency, but also in musical terms - tonality, expressiveness, emotional communication and musical connectedness.Some commenters might consider that actual experience trumps theoretical constructs eve

What a load of SHIT Hahahahahahahahah!!!!!!!!

I've got a $3k ionizer in the house. 'nuff said.

Dear sirs, I have tried using your described technique, and while I noticed an imeeediate vast improvement in the pinpoint resolution in detail, pacing, overall harmonic balance, soundstage girth, depth and width---I am a little concerned no one has mentioned the immediate side effects of this method...Hasn't anyone noticed the loud, distracting noise coming from the hair dryer while you are trying to listen?!? I mean, my girlfriend is getting tired of aiming the dryer while I listen. Maybe I'm missing something...Best regards to your esteemed excellencies---any advise whould be muchh appreciated.

Dear sirs, I have tried using your described technique, and while I noticed an imeeediate vast improvement in the pinpoint resolution in detail, pacing, overall harmonic balance, soundstage girth, depth and width---I am a little concerned no one has mentioned the immediate side effects of this method...Hasn't anyone noticed the loud, distracting noise coming from the hair dryer while you are trying to listen?!? I mean, my girlfriend is getting tired of aiming the dryer at the CD player. Maybe I'm missing something...Best regards to your esteemed excellencies---any advise whould be much appreciated.

Part 1 of 2: Having worked on the Space Shuttle Program for the last 31 years, I’m surprised I did not think of this before now. Of course it’s not my field of expertise but spacecraft experience radio ionization blackouts while re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. The Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo spacecraft experienced such communications blackouts for several minutes caused by an envelope of ionized air around the craft, created by the heat from the friction of the craft against the atmosphere. The ionized air interferes with radio signals. Likewise we bounce shortwave radio signals off the ionosphere which is created by solar radiation and this affects radio wave propagation to distance places on the globe. Until the creation of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRS), the Space Shuttle would, like Gemini, Mercury, Apollo, and others, endure a 30 minute long communications blackout before landing.

Part 2 of 2: However, the Shuttle can communicate with a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite during re-entry. This is because the shape of the Shuttle creates a "hole" in the ionized air envelope, at the tail end of the craft, through which it can communicate upwards to a satellite in orbit and thence to a ground station. So for all you skeptics out there and for those who claim they could clearly hear a difference when Chris Vogel used his small air freshener which emits Ions but no sound; I suspect the Ion rich atmosphere is acting to block or impede radio frequency noise generated by the CD player ICs with a fluid type envelope. This coincides with the observation of George Louis, where the effects take hold a few seconds after the ionizer has time to fill the player chassis with free ions.

One last comment about the little Bell Air Freshener ionizer used by Chris Vogel and George Louis. As stated earlier, it does appear to generate Ozone, which attacks almost everything known to man, so there may be some risk involved. I can't prove there is a risk but it's just a warning. You may be able to generate free Ions by simply heating tourmaline beads on a warm transformer inside your equipment. Nevertheless, the difference is clear and plainly audible to the most ardent skeptic. I too was likewise skeptical until Chris urged me on multiple occasions to try this. Knowing Chris since 1982, when we were both working on Shuttle, I was well aware of his keen sense of hearing and honesty. His pestering has paid off big time for me and others who have tried this. I suspect we'll soon see equipment using this technology as a standard feature, even if they have to coat components to shield them from Ozone. So laugh away, but you are missing out big time.

Another friend from work just reminded me that on certain missile programs they use a shroud of inert gas around some of the forward sensor elements to shield it from potential EMI effects, both normal ambient RF and malicious anti-missile directed fields. I wonder if aero heating or heating from dedicated systems provide any free ions with a system like this.