I was wondering that too. Only one way to find out!
I tried a CD demagnetizer and CD ionizer at the RMAF show, both
Acoustic Revive products. They used them on my CD-R which is not metallic like a real CD, but the difference was very noticeable, and I judged the products to be worth the price. I wondered how such CD treatments (liquids, markers, disk vibe dampers, footers, demag, ionize, black bottom, etc.) might compare to ripping the CD with a tenacious PC program like EAC or Easy CD-DA and streaming from hard drive. I thought that most of these CD treatments act to improve the laser's ability to pick up data. But reading Robert Harley's TAS treatise on CD players last year, you would think they are nearly foolproof in extracting data. So then I think the tweeks help reduce jitter? But that doesn't really make sense either. It remains yet another audio mystery to me.
