Oh yes, I sand my CDs all the time, of course. In my experience it produces deeper bass, cleaner treble. It's almost like a veil has been lifted, much more musical. Even my wife noticed, and I'm not even married.
Every disc I've lathed so far sounds better. I'll let you into a secret. Being basically lazy these days I wish it didn't make a difference, I really do, then i could sell it on and not bother to fiddle about with a procedure that seems on the face of it ridiculous- but alas, it does make a difference on the plus side I add. I'm going to lathe much played and loved discs rather than the lot - have far too many. However, what's the betting that the sarcastic posts come from folk who haven't heard one?
Ok some initial thoughts now that my unit has arrived.
build .... very good
instructions ...clear
ease of use .... good
does it do what it says on the tin ......Yes
So what does it do.......
musical presentation .... seems to present a bigger[wider/ deeper] sound stage, each instrament has a sense of air around it, complexed passages are clearer. There's more "beyond the speaker" sounds ...for me a signs things are sounding good.
bass ..better defined, treble sweeter
negative results none yet on the 20 or so discs cut ....
now a question ......having two coppies of the same disc both lathed why am I prefering a green edge [stoplight type] rather than the supplied black permenant marker ?
Also its also clear cd flux still works its magic too on lathed discs.
I treated some DVDs without comparing before and after, some dont look enough different to be sure, but others, for instance Norah Jones and Buena Vista Social Club have improved image quality a lot too...
Been experimenting a bit. Have found lathing CDR pre to copying produces better results than post copying - for those that use CDR. INterested to hear about green pen difference - found Staedtler permanent markers to be superior.
I've been applying the black pen by hand to shaved discs, which results is a thick application that you don't get if the edge is treated while still on the turntable. I wonder whether I'm going a bit too far here? I'd be interested in others' experiences with different pen application techniques, in relation to sound improvement.
Many moons ago was shown a tweek by someone who worked for Tom Evans and dittoed by a Journo.
Purple staidler pen,paint 5 stripes down the outside edge of disc with the gap in between equal to the width of the stripe,hope this makes sense,A-B'd against the green pen was a no brainer.It's cheap to try and can be removed with IPA,if it don't work for you.