DS Audio Ionizer
- Thread starter Kcin
- Start date
Steve Williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
I can certainly see the advantage of this unit in Hong Kong where there is so much static electricity heard
I am still trying to understand why MikeL called this magnetism and not static electricity as he stated. Im finding it difficult to understand that dust particles adhere to vinyl by magnetism and not static electricity
I remain skeptical about it being a universal application in audio
I am still trying to understand why MikeL called this magnetism and not static electricity as he stated. Im finding it difficult to understand that dust particles adhere to vinyl by magnetism and not static electricity
I remain skeptical about it being a universal application in audio
Steve, if you read my post you'd see that only LP's with barium as the heat stabilizer are affected by magnetism, but not all LP's do. But you're right de-ionizing has nothing to do with magnetism, and unless you live in a machine shop you probably won't get anything sticking that's metallic.
Steve,
I don’t think DS Audio advertise their inoizer to improve sound. My vinyl playback suffers from static no matter how many times I use anti-static brush to clean the vinyl. Every time I lift off LP from the platter, it has a lot of clicks. After using the ionizer, there are no more clicks when I lift LP from the platter. That’s what i mean it works. Furthermore, there are much less dust on the LP because it does not have static to attract dust particle.
I respect another people opinion saying it improves sound. I don’t think I hear any difference. I buy this NOT to improve sound. I buy this to cure static and it works.
Please check their videos on their website. The voltage induced during playback can be several thousand volts. That’s why I don’t use anti static gun. I don’t want to keep firing anti static gun to the LP during playback!
Went to an audiophile gathering and tested the Vinyl Ionizer together with 3 LP friends last night.
One of them suffers from serious static on his turntable setup, similar to adyc.
This was the setup last night :
This turntable combo had zero static problem all along.
And all of us did notice other sonic effects : lowered noise floor and higher resolution.
For example, while listening to the Friday Night in San Fransico, we could "see" the strings and the harmonics from the guitar boxes much more clearly.
Our ears might be half-deaf/wooden, but all the four of us were able to notice the effect. Haha
Similar to many of the audiophile tweaks, please try to listen to it before buying one.
The effect/improvement may be or may not be obvious to individual audiophiles/their systems.
One of them suffers from serious static on his turntable setup, similar to adyc.
This was the setup last night :
This turntable combo had zero static problem all along.
And all of us did notice other sonic effects : lowered noise floor and higher resolution.
For example, while listening to the Friday Night in San Fransico, we could "see" the strings and the harmonics from the guitar boxes much more clearly.
Our ears might be half-deaf/wooden, but all the four of us were able to notice the effect. Haha
Similar to many of the audiophile tweaks, please try to listen to it before buying one.
The effect/improvement may be or may not be obvious to individual audiophiles/their systems.
Everyone gets zap when walking to my rig and touch something. When I pull an lp out of the platter, sometimes the leather floor mat comes stick together with the lp. My normal routine is to finger touch my rack first every time I approach my rig then do whatever. It is no issue when you don't make it an issue imo.
Tang
Tang
I do the same thing. I still get zaps to the turntable. But that’s me who is charged. LP’s get ion treatment.
It’s winter now, so dryness comes. I run a humidifier to help. My dogs don’t understand when I shock them!
Used DS Audio Ionizer for one week now, to be honest, I can't do without it.
The background is much quieter, the sound is smoother with it. I like to keep the green LED light off because the green LED tends to dim the sound, ie the light will tune down the treble a little. But the good thing is there is a dimmer on the ionizer to control the green LED. You can dial in any amount of green light to suit of preference. Very smart design.
The thing sounds better with a linear power supply and connect to a ground box. In my case, I use Entreq Tellus Silver. I am very satisfied with the result.
Last edited:
Anyone ever try one of these? It is sold by reputable supply companies.
Westek SPI Still Air Ionizer
Westek SPI Still Air Ionizer
Living in Chicago, winter is brutal for static build up so I took a chance and purchased one awhile back. Finally had a free evening to try out mine and was very pleased. Records came off the platter with zero static charge, where as prior to the device the amount of static build up was very high. Definitely reduced the background noise and didn't notice any initial change in sound quality. Will have to sit down for a more formal evaluation vs just sitting back and listening for fun to see if there is a change in sound quality.
I am sold. That device won’t be leaving the house. Not a single zap anymore.
It is the SK-III. It works pretty well. The issue I had was static build up during the rotation of the vinyl.
