Post by Thomas on Dec 21, 2019 2:21:33 GMT
Hey! Lately I've been on a personal quest to learn how to copy/capture/rip any media and get the highest possible quality from it, which has led me here!
While researching ways to improve CD audio I came across a video of one man's 5-step process of cleaning and improving a CD before playing it. This seemed a bit excessive, but I was intrigued by 2 of the steps:
One, and what led me hear by way of the Google rabbit hole, was the NESPA optical disc finalizer. If you've never heard of it there are pretty in-depth articles/reviews over on 6moons for the original version and the pro model. To put it simply, it's an obscure Japanese device that flashes an extremely bright light on the disc and by some sort of magic that makes the audio sound better or on DVDs can improve the picture quality. The device was expensive to begin with ($595 for the original & $825 for the pro, per the 6moons link), and since being discontinued years ago it has become increasingly difficult to find at all. The way that led me to here is that I hit on some posts mentioning the device and was hoping to connect with someone here that might have one and be willing to sell it or at the very least try to learn if it's worth tracking one of these down or if there is any alternative way to get similar results. I've learned that the reason for the device's discontinuation is that the manufacturer could no longer acquire the xenon bulb that produced the disc altering light (1,000,000 lux on the standard and 3,000,000 on the pro). Information on the thing is so scarce online that even just getting some decent pictures and info from someone who owns one of these things could help. I'm half tempted to try and Frankenstein one of my own if possible, which so far sounds like it would require a high power xenon bulb, such as a car high-beam headlight? But I digress, and I'm fairly certain all this NESPA nonsense will require it's own post in a different part of the forum.
The other thing in the aforementioned video was a disc demagnitizer. Another seemingly obscure device originating from Japan, the one used in the video (and one of the only models made, it appears) was the Acoustic Revive RD-3, which is also quite expensive but much more available; you can easily find it on Amazon and Ebay, but it runs no less than ~$350. While it looks like Acoustic Revive was the only company making this for some time, I guess there was enough demand for a Chinese knock-off as I just learned of the Runsheng SH-3, which appears to be a functionally identical device for 1/4 the price at under $100. I was hoping to get some advice on if it is worth getting one of these, and if anyone has any experience with the Runsheng to vouch for how it compares to it's Japanese counterpart.
Moving on, I suppose since this is an introduction board I should do that...
I've really always been in to music, but not really concerned myself as much with the quality until the last few years. My older brother was in a band (just practicing in the basement and playing small local bars and such, nothing major) and he went on to start his own recording studio, so I kinda grew up with music all around me. Despite this, or maybe because of it, I leaned more into video related things. Constantly wanting the best cable formats to get the highest quality out of video game systems and such. I was the kid that needed an s-video cable for my Super Nintendo while everyone else around me didn't know what s-video was. I progressed into collecting cameras (8mm to 4K and everything in between) and learning how to do video editing. That brings me to now, where I have been broadening more back into audio. You could say I like to "treasure hunt" I guess, as I enjoy going to thrift stores or buying bulk lots from online auctions looking for CDs or records or such. Not even for value really, though if I get something rare that's all the better, but I just like getting a hold of things I've never heard of before and seeing if they are any good.
Regarding the "personal quest" I mentioned in the first line of this post:
I'm constantly trying to find new (or, well, old) media formats that I can get players for. My current set up has the following, all really to transfer to digital:
Vinyl Record (2 speed, my current player can't do 78s)
Cassette
8-track
MiniDisc
CD
VHS
VHS-C
Betamax
LaserDisc
DVD
Blu-ray
Ultra Blu-ray
HD-DVD
CED/Select-a-vision
UMD
and basically any video game console you can name, including a modded Nintendo 3DS with a capture card in it.
I also have projectors for 8mm & 16mm film, but I haven't tested them to know if they work, and the 16mm projector needs a new bulb. I don't have any way to capture/convert film other than pointing a digital camera at the projection screen, so I can't really count that.
I'm sure I'm fogetting something, but that's most of them. If you know of a format not listed here that had media commercially released for it (IE, not something that was only for home recording like HI8) feel free to mention it! Really, I have a problem. Let's put it another way, I recently came across an auction for a vintage Ediphone wax cylinder player/recorder, and it took an unreasonable amount of will power to not bid on it. Like, if it hadn't been missing the power cord I would most likely own an Ediphone right now, despite not owning any wax cylinders.
Anyway... This post has gone on far longer than I intended, so I will end it here. I don't know how to end posts.
tl;dr - Hi!
While researching ways to improve CD audio I came across a video of one man's 5-step process of cleaning and improving a CD before playing it. This seemed a bit excessive, but I was intrigued by 2 of the steps:
One, and what led me hear by way of the Google rabbit hole, was the NESPA optical disc finalizer. If you've never heard of it there are pretty in-depth articles/reviews over on 6moons for the original version and the pro model. To put it simply, it's an obscure Japanese device that flashes an extremely bright light on the disc and by some sort of magic that makes the audio sound better or on DVDs can improve the picture quality. The device was expensive to begin with ($595 for the original & $825 for the pro, per the 6moons link), and since being discontinued years ago it has become increasingly difficult to find at all. The way that led me to here is that I hit on some posts mentioning the device and was hoping to connect with someone here that might have one and be willing to sell it or at the very least try to learn if it's worth tracking one of these down or if there is any alternative way to get similar results. I've learned that the reason for the device's discontinuation is that the manufacturer could no longer acquire the xenon bulb that produced the disc altering light (1,000,000 lux on the standard and 3,000,000 on the pro). Information on the thing is so scarce online that even just getting some decent pictures and info from someone who owns one of these things could help. I'm half tempted to try and Frankenstein one of my own if possible, which so far sounds like it would require a high power xenon bulb, such as a car high-beam headlight? But I digress, and I'm fairly certain all this NESPA nonsense will require it's own post in a different part of the forum.
The other thing in the aforementioned video was a disc demagnitizer. Another seemingly obscure device originating from Japan, the one used in the video (and one of the only models made, it appears) was the Acoustic Revive RD-3, which is also quite expensive but much more available; you can easily find it on Amazon and Ebay, but it runs no less than ~$350. While it looks like Acoustic Revive was the only company making this for some time, I guess there was enough demand for a Chinese knock-off as I just learned of the Runsheng SH-3, which appears to be a functionally identical device for 1/4 the price at under $100. I was hoping to get some advice on if it is worth getting one of these, and if anyone has any experience with the Runsheng to vouch for how it compares to it's Japanese counterpart.
Moving on, I suppose since this is an introduction board I should do that...
I've really always been in to music, but not really concerned myself as much with the quality until the last few years. My older brother was in a band (just practicing in the basement and playing small local bars and such, nothing major) and he went on to start his own recording studio, so I kinda grew up with music all around me. Despite this, or maybe because of it, I leaned more into video related things. Constantly wanting the best cable formats to get the highest quality out of video game systems and such. I was the kid that needed an s-video cable for my Super Nintendo while everyone else around me didn't know what s-video was. I progressed into collecting cameras (8mm to 4K and everything in between) and learning how to do video editing. That brings me to now, where I have been broadening more back into audio. You could say I like to "treasure hunt" I guess, as I enjoy going to thrift stores or buying bulk lots from online auctions looking for CDs or records or such. Not even for value really, though if I get something rare that's all the better, but I just like getting a hold of things I've never heard of before and seeing if they are any good.
Regarding the "personal quest" I mentioned in the first line of this post:
I'm constantly trying to find new (or, well, old) media formats that I can get players for. My current set up has the following, all really to transfer to digital:
Vinyl Record (2 speed, my current player can't do 78s)
Cassette
8-track
MiniDisc
CD
VHS
VHS-C
Betamax
LaserDisc
DVD
Blu-ray
Ultra Blu-ray
HD-DVD
CED/Select-a-vision
UMD
and basically any video game console you can name, including a modded Nintendo 3DS with a capture card in it.
I also have projectors for 8mm & 16mm film, but I haven't tested them to know if they work, and the 16mm projector needs a new bulb. I don't have any way to capture/convert film other than pointing a digital camera at the projection screen, so I can't really count that.
I'm sure I'm fogetting something, but that's most of them. If you know of a format not listed here that had media commercially released for it (IE, not something that was only for home recording like HI8) feel free to mention it! Really, I have a problem. Let's put it another way, I recently came across an auction for a vintage Ediphone wax cylinder player/recorder, and it took an unreasonable amount of will power to not bid on it. Like, if it hadn't been missing the power cord I would most likely own an Ediphone right now, despite not owning any wax cylinders.
Anyway... This post has gone on far longer than I intended, so I will end it here. I don't know how to end posts.
tl;dr - Hi!
