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Fidel
T. Beauson ventures to the edges of hi-fi. with the
latest CD tweak from Ringmat Developments
 ore
tales from the hi-fi loony bin. The last piece of heresy
as regards digital audiophilia was when some suggested
that painting the outer and inner edges of your CDs green
would make the music encoded on them sound better (it did,
in varying degrees). Now out from the hat pops STATMAT, a
"biaxially-oriented polypropylene film coated on both
sides with an aqueous dispersion of polyvinylidene
chloride copolymer (which has anti-static properties) and
specially formulated inks."
So the STATMAT is thin film
of stretchy plastic imprinted with secret ink. Place it on
top of a CD and kaboom. The qualitative difference almost
hits you between your eyes.
Origins
and gobbledygook
STATMAT rings a bell
because its the digital sister of Ringmat, the record
platter made of cork that some vinyl enthusiasts swear has
restored their turntables and record collections to life.
While Ringmat presumably addressed mechanical impedances
between platter and LP STATMAT addresses electrical ones,
namely low voltage "hot spots" caused by the
build-up of electrostatic fields during CD playback (its
plastic spinning within a hot and dry environment).
STATMAT evens out this static build-up, which
"introduces continuous electrical vibration,
resulting in phase changes."
How and why, this should
happen to an optical disc reading system is not made
clear, much less why it should affect a digital system.
Unless of course so-called digital playback isn't entirely
digital which it isn't. ·
Arguably, the reading of
the CD is an analogue process, and more often overlooked
is the fact that although the digital-to-analogue
conversion process itself is by design digital, its
implementation cannot be due to electrical parts not yet
possessing zero tolerances. In any case, listening to
STATMAT shows just how much more there is of digital
technology that is yet to be discovered.
STATMAT was developed over
the last five years by QR Design and DNM Design. Assuming
the latter is the same company! headed by Denis Morecroft
of solid-core cables and plastic amplifiers fame (or
infamy), the tweaky nature of STATMAT comes as no
surprise. The secret of STATMAT isn't just in the ink; its
also in the pattern which adorns this plastic film.
There's something very
X-Files about it, because the pattern resembles those much
bigger ones once found in Midwest American cornfields` as
well as looking a chip off the swastika-like metal
devices; used by the Combak Corporation in its Harmonix
tuning devices.
Test run
The introduction of STATMAT
on to any CD galvanises a once-sloppy musical ensemble
into producing a stronger, more lively and organised
performance all-round. Vocalists
appear to have improved
breathing technique because they actually sing when
pre-STATMAT, they might have been mealy mouthed. They take
control of their voices, projecting lyrics with greater
force. In hi-fi terms, vocals gain in strength and focus,
remaining stable in their chosen spot on the soundstage
and appearing bigger without being larger than life.
In fact, these observations
are true for any leading instrument, whether human voice,
guitar or piano. Strumming and plucking technique are more
resolute and pianos sound like their strings are attached
to sturdier frames of wood. In clearer tones, notes do not
swim into each other. ·
The immediately noticeable
difference is of a louder sound, and this paradoxically,
is partly because the level of electronic background noise
which all hi-fi imparts to music, is lowered. With the
lower noise floor, dynamic range - the difference in level
between the softest and the loudest sounds - is greater,
and incidental sounds such as fingers sliding across a
fretboard become clearer, thus ' adding to the
authenticity of the reproduced musical experience. It
should be noted that this is not about loudness alone,
which actually implies a lack of dynamic range.
STATMAT yields greater
subtlety as well, because it also improves dynamics,
making for livelier, more committed performances. Again,
the removal of hi-fi artifacts helps: a greyish,
homogenising veil is cast off the musicians, and if they
are raucous and lacking in finesse instead, STATMAT's
ameliorating of any dryness in the recorded sound makes
them that much more listenable. Again, to analyse in,
purely sonic terms, a stable pitch makes for clearer tone
colours, and hence, crisper attack. The beginnings of
separate musical notes is thus delineated more clearly
allowing superior technique to be more easily appreciated.
How much of an absolute
difference does STATMAT make though, and how much of a
qualitative one? Well, it won't make a silk purse out of a
khinzir's ear, but the differences it makes to CD players
at different price points is consistent, as is the
relative magnitude of improvement. So the Sony XA-5OES
sans STATMAT is stilt better than the cheaper XA-5ES with
STATMAT. Truth be told, I find the former has an
indispensable lightness of touch which I am partial to, as
well as a more integrated sound. But add STATMAT, and it
improves further as much perhaps as the improvement
yielded by its addition to the 5OES. Ah, so. Good to know
that hi-fi reflects life: it is never static. Even if I
never had a carpet in my house, I would still own a
STATMAT©
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