Furutech RD–2 Disc and Cable Demagnetizer

The Furutech RD-2 completely demagnetizes optical disc media such as CD, CD-R, DVD, Game CD, Photo CD, SACD, and DVD Audio. It also treats cables, connectors and power cords preventing the inevitable buildup of magnetic fields. The differences are enormous and easy to see and hear with today’s high-resolution systems.

Disc Magnetization Is No Mystery

The silk-screened label on an optical disc contains chemical compounds such as iron, nickel, and cobalt. These materials are all strongly magnetic and easy to remagnetize. The reflective information-bearing surface of optical media contains 99% aluminum, but 1% of these same highly magnetic materials! Even aluminum is a weak magnetic material.

Amazingly, optical discs actually become magnetized as they play! A magnetic field is induced as the disc spins in the player. In fact, demagnetization was routinely carried out by disc manufacturers everywhere. Because of tight, ultra-competitive pricing, most manufacturers now skip this important step.

Other so-called demagnetizers on the market -- head erasers, bulk erasers, demagnetizing bars, “rotary” demagnetizers -- don’t actually demagnetize your discs. Some of them actually induce magnetism! For example, when a disc stops spinning in a rotary demagnetizer, some part of the CD is over a fixed magnet that once again magnetizes it.

Because Furutech’s RD-2 Ring Magnet technology ramps the power up then down again, the RD-2 is ideal for removing magnetic field buildup from cables, connectors, and power cords! (See illustration below.) No part of the playback chain should be influenced by resolution-sapping magnetic interference.

As you will see by examining the graphs below, untreated magnetic fields have a direct effect on data retrieval. These types of errors are easy to see and hear with today’s high-resolution systems. The RD-2 effectively reduces these misreads while lowering the noise floor.

Audio

Demagnetization of both sides of optical media before play results in a greater sense of power, dynamics, and resolution, with cleaner, blacker backgrounds and a larger, more stable soundstage, vivid tonal colors and greater extension at both ends of the frequency range. Demagnetization also allows the delicacy, refinement and nuance of a performance to shine through, along with micro- and macro-dynamics that leaves you breathlessly engaged.

The RD-2’s effect improves the sense of surround sound involvement in every 2-channel and multichannel home theater system. Dynamic and exciting audio heightens the participatory sense of music, but even more so with home theater. Details of the image and sound that simply weren’t there before treatment enable a truly extraordinary experience to develop and sweep you away.

Video, Cables and Connectors

Since the RD-2 Demagnetization Process eliminates all magnetic distortion, video displays of all types benefit from less ghosting, color shift, “snow”, or vertical and horizontal lines. After treatment you’ll notice a higher resolution picture with more finely graded contrast, clean and precise, with bright, beautifully saturated colors and a more sophisticated color pallet.

And don’t forget to treat your cables and connectors to an RD-2 demagnetization treatment when the video image or sound becomes less vivid and engaging.

This happens because as current flows through a conductor it generates a magnetic field. But magnetic impurities within the materials become magnetized and introduce further magnetic distortion. The RD-2 Demagnetizer is so versatile that it can even be used on metal-based accessories like CD stabilizers or speaker terminals.

Examining the graphs, the untreated output (fig.1), shows multiple peaks at other than the 1kHz test tone. These peaks represent noise and distortion caused by magnetic field interference. The amplitude and fast rise-time of these sidebands indicate a negative impact on audio and video resolution. Looking more closely, white or blank areas can be seen in the 1kHz sidebands. Furutech believes these are caused by read errors. You can also see small peaks between 200 to 800Hz that represent noise and distortion products.

Fig.1 Untreated	Fig.2 Treated	Fig.3 Untreated	Fig.4 Treated

After demagnetization, the excessive peaks in the 1kHz sidebands disappear, as do the blank “read problem” areas. The peaks become more uniform in height and the chaotic interference patterns seen before demagnetization are almost gone. The peaks of other sideband components are more uniform and the range between 200 to 800Hz is clean. This clearly indicates that the S/N ratio is much improved after demagnetization, while audible distortion is lowered.

Note the highlighted areas in fig.3 at about 20 seconds between 1kHz and 5KHz. It can be seen that the number of peaks increase, meaning there’s more information as a result of demagnetization. The peak heights also generally increase with the same result—more information.

Test -- Redbook CD

Recording Time 4:45

	Output Power Level  PWL dB	Total Harmonic Distortion % THD	Signal-to-Noise Ratio % SNR
No YUMI	-13.36	72.11	2.047
UC YUMI	-13.36	71.75	2.117
RD YUMI	-13.94	70.99	1.866

No YUMI:   Music CD prior to demagnetization

UC YUMI:  Results of treatment with another brand of CD demagnetizer

RD YUMI:  Results of treatment with Furutech RD-2 Demagnetizer

Note that RD YUMI -- the RD-2 treated measurements -- has the lowest PWL. Interestingly the Peak Level Analyzer shows more peak activity as the noise floor dropped post-demagnetization. The RD-2 also makes for the lowest THD; evidently demagnetization lowers distortion.

Looking at UC YUMI -- another brand of demagnetizer -- we see the SNR actually increased after treatment! This other device doesn’t ramp up, hold, then ramp down its power like the RD-2. Our analysis showed this type of device doesn’t, in fact, demagnetize anything, but simply lines up, or makes uniform the alignment of an existing magnetic field! And that’s why the SNR went up after treatment.  

Test -- CD-ROM

Notice the Read value is 590KB/s prior to demagnetization, and 620KB/s after demagnetization. The rising rate indicates the RD-2 improves the read performance of CD-ROMs.

There are times when a CD-ROM or RAM disc either cannot be read from or recorded to. This is often caused by damage to the information-bearing layer of the disc. Or it could just be magnetized! Try it! Those discs may play again.

	READ KB/s	Total
Before	590	65
After	620	69

A Look at Error Rates

The following measurements were made with Clover Systems (US) QA-101D Analyzer http://www.ram-peripherals.co.uk/analysers_qa101d.htm

Fig.1 Before Demagnetization

AVG.	BLR	E11	E21	E31	E12	E22	E32	TE22
1	719.9	671.8	36.4	1.9	11.6	0.1		431.0
2	716.0	676.5	36.9	1.8	9.9	0.1		388.0
3	715.0	675.7	36.8	1.6	8.7	0.1		300.0
4	713.4	674.0	36.6	1.6	8.6	0.1		291.0
5	713.5	674.4	36.7	1.5	8.0	0.1		155.0
GAV	715.56	674.48	36.68	1.68	9.36	0.08	0.00	313.00

Fig.2 After Demagnetization

AVG.	BLR	E11	E21	E31	E12	E22	E32	TE22
1	710.8	672.2	36.3	1.5	7.9	0.0	0.0	160.0
2	714.2	675.1	36.7	1.5	8.0	0.0	0.0	177.0
3	715.2	676.0	36.8	1.5	8.0	0.1	0.0	193.0
4	718.1	678.7	37.0	1.5	7.9	0.0	0.0	130.0
5	712.9	674.0	36.5	1.5	8.1	0.0	0.0	135.0
GAV	714.24	675.20	36.66	1.50	7.98	0.02	0.00	159.00

Fig.3 Highest Values Before Demagnetization

AVG.	BLR	E11	E21	E31	E12	E22	E32	TE32
1	870.0	807.0	54.0	27.0	226.0	18.9	0.2	4.0
2	875.0	811.0	57.0	27.0	213.0	14.7	0.2	3.0
3	875.0	810.0	55.0	27.0	218.0	13.3	0.1	2.0
4	874.0	814.0	56.0	27.0	228.0	15.9	0.5	7.0
5	871.0	807.0	54.0	27.0	226.0	9.4	0.1	1.0
AV	873.00	809.80	55.20	27.00	222.20	14.44	0.22	3.40

Fig.4 Highest Values After Demagnetization

AVG.	BLR	E11	E21	E31	E12	E22	E32	TE32
1	866.0	807.0	53.0	28.0	236.0	13.7	0.1	3.0
2	872.0	815.0	54.0	29.0	218.0	14.4	0.1	2.0
3	875.0	815.0	54.0	27.0	217.0	14.0	0.1	3.0
4	874.0	813.0	55.0	28.0	218.0	10.6	0.4	4.0
5	863.0	807.0	55.0	28.0	223.0	11.3	0.0	0.0
AV	870.00	811.40	54.20	28.00	222.40	12.80	0.14	2.40

BLER -- Block Error Rate

BLER = 1 second block

Error Codes	Error Correction	Error Codes	Error Correction
E11	1 error correction	E12	1 error correction
E21	2 error corrections	E21	2 error corrections
E31	3 errors or more	E32	3 errors or more
TE22	Total of E22
TE32	Total of E32

Conclusions

The trend is towards increased read capability with treatment; less upper frequency “jitter” means better quality information from the disc. Looking at E32, we note serious discontinuities resulting from entirely unreadable areas of a disc.

After demagnetization, looking at the total of E22 and of E32 -- 2 and 3 or more corrected errors per layer -- shows Furutech’s Ring Magnet technology increases resolution and lowers the noise floor, which influences everything you see and hear.

Our data conclusively demonstrates that our RD-2 Demagnetizer measurably improves the read/resolution of optical media. An interesting fact; some recording enthusiasts use dark-stained discs, but the dye renders the effects of the RD-2 null, so you’ll never know how good they can sound after demagnetized!  

No matter how valuable or expensive your system is, the only way to achieve top performance is to demagnetize those distortions away!

Make A More Powerful Connection with Furutech!

A Few Questions and Answers about the RD-2

Q1       How long does demagnetization last?

A1        Listen for changes over six months and you’ll clearly hear the sound deteriorate toward the end of that time.

Q2       When is the best time to demagnetizing for best results?

 A2       The best time is absolutely prior to recording. It’s like the difference between a low quality disc and a high quality one. Using low quality discs with the RD-2 before recording is much better than using high quality discs without demagnetization! Before recording, demagnetize both the original media and the blank disc for absolutely the best results.

Q3       Why do other “demagnetizers” have little effect or a negative impact by further magnetizing a disc?

A3        These other demagnetizers may be too small for an entire disc. “Discontinuous” magnetization may result from an inaccurately tracking power supply. The Furutech RD-2 Demagnetizer was developed with a special coil that’s bigger than the surface of a disc. A precise, automatic process that ramps the power up and down completely nulling any magnetic fields.

Q4       Are new discs magnetized?

A4        Yes, often new discs have not been demagnetized at all and will be influenced by magnetism right in the production process!