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Can You Live With Crackling & Popping Noise?

I just got my first turntable, a Rega P5 and not sure whether I'm supposed to be delighted or otherwise. When I put on my first record, there was intermittent popping, hissing and crackling noise at low to moderate volume levels. Having lived with digital for half of my life, I find this to be somewhat annoying. For a while I was feeling disappointed and pondering whether I would end up selling this thing. After a while I thought what the heck, since I had got this thing home I might as well turn up the volume and enjoy the music. I started to crank it up to reasonably high levels and all the hissing, crackling and popping noise began to drown and disappear into the background music. Somehow the annoyance turned to musical bliss, well almost.

My question, especially for those who own high-end turntables, can you live with all the crackling and popping noise? I reckon all these noises will be quite noticeable especially when playing some clean vocals with minimum background music? What actually cause all these noises? Is the noise caused by dust sticking on the surface of the record assuming the record is in good condition? Is there any way these crackling and popping noises can be reduced or eliminated completely by cleaning the records?

The manual states as follows:-

"Don't worry about visible dust on the record surface, this is brushed aside by the stylus and any that collects on the stylus can be easily blown away. In general, record cleaning is overdone and one should not believe all the claims made by record cleaner manufacturers."

Does this mean that cleaning records is pointless? If that is the case how do we get rid of the crackling noise in the event the dust and fine particles are the ones that are causing these noises? Is there any easy solution to clean the records by ourselves?

For any newbie who wants to take the turntable route, I would urge you to reconsider your options particularly if you have minimal tolerance towards popping and crackling noises. Even all my good old cassette collection that ended up in the rubbish bin years ago didn't exhibit all these popping and crackling noises.

If all these noises do not exist in records then analog is really the one to beat.

Thank you for your patience.
ryder
madfloyd
411 posts
 
I'm fascinated by the comments that Last can 'renew' vinyl.

Admittedly, I bought a bottle about 8 months ago and have never tried it, worried that it might leave a film and sonic signature that I wouldn't be able to remove. Why I haven't tried it on an LP I don't care about, I don't know.

I guess I will have to give it a spin.
chatta
314 posts
 
I can live with some crackling and popping noises. It often happens. It depends on how bad it is. If it is just faintly in the background, I do not mind much.
normansizemore
601 posts
 
I personally don't own a record cleaning machine, but like the idea. I clean every record I play, just before I play it with a D4 brush, and home made record cleaner that I make with a formula I got from the December 1995 Stereophile magazine. My records are very, very quiet. I am not a fan of Rega anything, but that is purely taste. You should be able to get some fine sound from your table. If you want the formula for the record cleaner, email me and I will send you a PDF file.
washline
206 posts
 
The Pledge Dust and Allergen Cloths are no longer being made. I used them for as long as this thread has existed. I'm now on my last pack. What alternatives exist today that do the same job?
gerardff
78 posts
 
Having used lesser TT's in my college days, and even then I used the old 
"Dishwasher" velvet log before every play.  Only the worst scratches were bothersome in those days.
But, hey when you move up to better gear, Guess What?, noisy LP's can be a big problem.  It can be due to many, many factors. I know, I had them all plus more.  Your electronics can add to your misery as well, especially if your gear is on the resolving or treble side of things.  Buy only good used vinyl, get a decent RCM. Never play unclean LP's!! Your stylus choice can make a big difference as well. Room acoustics (reflections) can highlight those tics/pops as well. Also, make sure all of the noise you are hearing is from the LP and not from RF/EM being channeled by your analog gear to sound like surface noise. To this day I have to use a tubed phono preamp because they are the only ones that can defeat the RF coming into my system from the high tension power lines that run nearly over my room where my system resides. Turn on your TT, park your tonearm on it's rest and turn up the volume and listen for a while for anything that sound like pops/tics.  If you don't hear any than it's surface noise your dwelling with.
It can be a bit overwhelming till you get it sorted out. My friend's system was much quieter than mine (it drove me insane) even when he played my "noisier LP's. So, it can be a real challenge at first. Even newer LP's these days seem noisier than many of my 70's LP's that I played hundreds of times in college. I still have all my 70's LP's and when I clean them and play them I'm amazed at how quiet many of them are vs. new LP's I buy.  The problem back then was more in the recordings and production EQ....but pretty quiet vinyl formulas.



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