Humminguru record cleaner

It’s hard to believe how much better records sound when cleaned ultrasonically,

I've been putting off purchasing a proper RCM for years, because of cost.

Good to read another positive outcome with the Hummingbird.

This appears to be the solution since my collection is generally in good condition. 

Water/solution or just water?

There you go: "the biggest upgrade" is how I put it. It doesn't have to be an ultrasonic machine, and all sorts of ways to skin a cat here. But a perfectly clean record is a joy to hear.

Amazon.com: Happybuy Ultrasonic Cleaner 6L Ultrasonic Vinyl Cleaner 7-12 Inch 8 Records Ultrasonic Vinyl Cleaning Machine 180W Ultrasonic Records Cleaner with Drying Rack for Home Store : Industrial & Scientific

...is what I use. It's even cheaper. It does not dry automatically, but to dry the records, I use DeWalt drill to grab a spindle and spin those fast till dry.

I just bought one and have not used it yet. Have a VPI 16.5 that I will use for the "dirty" records as a first clean and then run them through the Hummin' Guru. Looking forward to firing it up.

Tablejockey,

For now I’m just using tap water.  Soon I will get distilled water, which is recommended.  I’m not worried because I don’t have hard water.

Its really a great and easy machine to operate.

I finally achieved ultimate vinyl paradise last year after acquiring my very own Humminguru. Highly recommended!

Distilled water maybe with an optional  drop or two of Shaklee Basic H for me.

@mapman 

How often do you do maintenance on the Humminguru?

I change the water regularly depending on how much used and how dirty records are.   Just visual inspection.   If it's not clear, I change the water.  Or if it sits for a period of time between uses.  A gallon of distilled water goes a long way.

The ’Guru’ is an excellent machine, However, it does benefit greatly from having a surfactant added to the water ( as do all US machines). Without a surfactant and DS, I found the machine to clean ok, but there was still a certain amount of hash, even on relatively clean LP’s.

To this, i am now going to add a vacuum machine to my regimen, as I think the ability to remove more ingrained gunk is better with a manual scrub, and the addition of an enzyme remover is also a plus.

A few drops of Basic H in the water as I mentioned in fact acts as a surfactant. But I find it optional, not required for good results and probably not unique to any particular Ultrasonic cleaner.

I’m not worried because I don’t have hard water.

I can pretty much guarantee that your tap water still has dissolved minerals and who knows whatever else in it no matter how soft you may think it is.  Just grab some distilled or DI at the grocery store without delay.  Why wait?

I’ve ordered it from Amazon.  Arriving tomorrow.

I’ve had one for about six months. Please follow the manual. Used distilled water. Do not use tapwater. I use a single drop of a surficant. Do not use alcohol. This machine runs at a lower frequency than the more expensive units. If it’s not clean enough for me, I run it through again. It only takes a few minutes. The device will dry your records. It takes a few minutes for the fan to work. I wear white gloves when I work with my records. 
you will not be disappointed with this device.

Bent

How interesting. Doesn't Hummingbird also make an Ultrasonic stylus cleaner too? I've always wondered if those would work or possibly jeopardize the stylus due to the waves.

I have a Loricraft 4 RCM with L'Art du Son liquid.... Does a great job suctioning and cleaning. Wonder how the Hummingbird compares.

I've had my Humminguru for a year now and am surprised how well it works.  I've gotten used albums in sketchy condition, but after a good manual cleaning and a run or two through the ultrasonic machine, they sound just fine.   

Welcome to the ultrasonic club.

Is this Shaklee Stuff really OK to use on LPs?  I question household cleaners on vinyl, just out of principle, not out of experience. 

@vinylshadow I have a PRC-4 Deluxe, and it does most of the work. My Degritter is the icing on the cake, as it were. I use L'Art du Son with it (sometimes AI Enzyme Formula when needed) and use the Degritter now with plain distilled water. That gives the final rise whilst the transducers take off any remaining crud. So my experience suggests that a Humminguru would be a good addition to your Loricraft, but probably not a replacement.

There are any number of decent ways to clean a record. I am beginning to think it depends more on the fluid than anything else. The problem is how the record is dried. This is an instance where the original record cleaners were well researched. They all used vacuum drying for a very good reason. The air is full of pollution. It is so full that evolution has given animals an amazing system for filtering it out, mucous and cilia. Without that system by the time we were one decade old our lungs would be totally trashed. For those of you with forced hot air heating or AC what does your filter look like after 6 months, a year. Now imagine that in your lungs. Now imagine that on your records. The fluid traps the dust, then you fan or air dry the record evaporating the water, leaving the pollution on the record. Once a record is wet it has to be vacuum dried, removing everything from the surface. I do not know of an ultrasonic machine that vacuum dries the record, the format makes vacuum drying impossible to do at anything approaching a reasonable cost. I think the Nessie is the best value in a vacuum record cleaning machine. Cleaning with a fine brush or microfiber pad and a good fluid is just as effective as ultrasonic cleaning with the advantage of vacuum drying with any number of machines making the entire process more effective than any ultrasonic machine. 

I thing that people who notice a stunning improvement in sound quality after cleaning a record either have extraordinarily filthy records or they are subject to expectation bias. Many people are disappointed when a record is just as noisy after cleaning. You clean your records to prevent them from becoming trashed, once they are they are rubbish fodder.  

FWIW, ultrasonic stylus cleaners are not “ultrasonic”, if you define it as beyond range of hearing. They operate at about 500 Hz.

I once compared US cleaning to cleaning with my VPI HW17, using DI water, alcohol, and TX100 in the VPI. I used a familiar recording by Johnny Hartman. The US machine was on demo at the CAF in DC, and the owner cleaned the LP with his machine at the show. I could hear no significant difference between the two methods, both excellent.

First , it a great to know the world has another proven happy customers AFFORDABLE US RCM ! Bravo.

A blacklight will help you see the fruits of effective cleaning….

Finally, dive just a bit deeper into the subject by visiting US cleaning bible by @antinn hosted by @whart at The Vinyil Press.

You will discover great dudes passionate about music, records… and better…

my experiment was buy 3 sequential MoFi pressings ( easy to do at my local audio / vinyl crack den ), clean 1 on store VPI, clean another on store Degritter, send 3rd away to Perfect Vinyl Forever ( process 2.0 )….. 

I own a Degritter…….. now…..

You can get excellent, happy listening w all three …and more…..

Still using VPI, if that’s important.  Until someone proves to my satisfaction that repeated ultrasonic cleaning does not damage the high frequencies encoded on an LP, I will stick with a conventional RCM, like the VPI.

@dogberry Ahh. Thank you....So a final ultrasonic wash after your Loricraft. Interesting

Have you noticed noise after cleaning with the Loricraft? And that is eliminated after the Degritter? 

Cleaning 1 record must take about 20 minutes using both methods?

@mijostyn 

My records are not by any means “filthy” and, it’s not my imagination, the SQ is palpably better after cleaning with the Humminguru.

@lewm Wow. I never would have even thought that a possibility. 

Has there been any studies?

@vinylshadow The Loricraft usually gets things silent in terms of unwanted noise. The Degritter usually deals with the failures. If there is noise after both it is generally because there is a scratch. It takes about ten minutes to do both machines, and I do it once, mark the new inner sleeve to show it has been cleaned, and then play it until I think it needs cleaning again. That might be a dozen plays, so with a large collection there is repeat business only with favourite discs.

@dogberry Great. Thanks..Do you ever find static electricity built up after the 1st cleaning?  

No, it's not a problem.

Great thread!  I currently use a cheap and cheerful KAB record cleaner with a canister vacuum attached.  I have been eyeing the Humminguru, as I like the principal of US cleaning, and the all-in-one automated aspect, especially the drying feature.  One question: Most Amazon reviews are positive, but a few negative reviews gave me pause.  Perhaps stealth marketing from competing machine manufacturers?  Some say the frequency is too low to be effective, and others say it just didn't clean their records. Any thoughts on these negative reviews?

@bondmanp 

i know of no downside to this cleaner.  I was very surprised to discover it actually improved the SQ of records.  Its frequency is evidently not too low to be effective. And it’s very easy to operate.

@czarivey 

So, do you spin the LP clockwise, or anticlockwise?

@rvpiano 

Who am I to argue.

Steam distilled water is silly cheap at the grocery store. De ionized water should not be used for record cleaning, nor should tap water, minerals and salts will still be present. Always pre brush to keep your cleaning solution free of debris, a shaving brush from Amazon...clean micro fiber cloth. A surficant is good, but should be rinsed away with distilled water after cleaning. I use my old vacuum machine for pre-drying before rack air dry.  Clean archival liners. mo PVC!

I have two hobbies: I clean records and align turntables and tonearms and cartridges.

@czarivey 

" I use DeWalt drill to grab a spindle and spin those fast till dry."

I've got an older 18v Dewalt and have been looking for a good excuse to upgrade to the 20v.  

Thank you.

Vinyl for me is a secondary medium.  I only have about 20 albums and don’t anticipate obtaining many more.  I pay a guy who has a ultrasonic machine who charges $5/lp and also provides a new MoFi sleeve.  These recordings shouldn’t require a second cleaning.  Once should remove the deepest crud and normal lp care afterwards should suffice.

  If I had several hundred albums I would investigate this product, but at present I don’t wish to accumulate another piece of machinery that will leave my heirs groaning with distress.

  Yes, the before and after is very impressive.  I would estimate a 75% noise reduction 

@mahler123 you are admirable, hopefully my spouse NEVER reads your post….

@tomic601 

your secret is safe with me 

@rvpiano 

loving the performance and convenience of my guru i bought from the first batch from the manufacturer!   multitasking while records are cleaning  is so nice. 

Yes!

@lewm whoever told you that was incorrect. Ultrasonic machines are indeed "ultrasonic" unless you are a bat. The cheap ones operate at 40KHz, the more expensive ones at 120KHz. 

From YourSoundMatters dot com:

"The Degritter doesn’t come cheap at over $3000/£2000.

Naturally, this raises the question, what do I get when buying a Degritter over, say, the much more affordable HumminGuru at just $499.

This is a BIG question...

Aside from the general build quality (the HumminGuru is clearly built to a price and feels much more plasticity and flimsy compared with the Degritter), there is the glaring issue of power.

Ultrasonic record cleaning machines require a good amount of power to generate the cavitation bubbles for record cleaning; there is a big difference when it comes to each of these machines.

The Degritter uses 300W to generate its 120KHz frequency across four transducers.

The HumminGuru uses only 60W to produce a 40KHz frequency with just two transducers.

This glaring difference does raise some concerns as to whether or not the HumminGuru has enough “juice” to get the job done.

The low power by comparison goes a long way to explain why, in my experience, why the HumminGuru often benefits from multiple runs on the same record.

This comparison is a little unfair given the vast price difference, but it’s important to state.

Granted, $3000+ is a huge outlay. And my recommendations for the Pro-Ject VCMs and the HumminGuru still stand if you’re on a tighter budget. You can, and will, get great results with these machines, you’ll just have to work a little harder to achieve the same outcome.

If you’ve been sitting on the fence about the Degritter for some time, I can wholeheartedly say that it’s worth the investment if you buy a lot of used record or want to restore your old collection. "

All I'm saying is that there are reasons (much more power, higher frequencies used, the automatic "hands off" cycles, etc.) the Degritter is so much more expensive than the Humminguru, so just set your expectations accordingly. If the Humminguru works for you as an adjunct to a VCM then that is great. 

@moonwatcher if you look at the price difference between the Guru and the Degritter, it is, at least imho, impossible to assign said difference to the build quality and the higher power of the DG. Instead, what is going on…is that the usual suspects are involved with the DG. As such, there is a lot more ‘upside’ built into the DG to support all of the ‘middle men’. Luckily, the Guru offers a great option to those folks, like myself, who are happy to see a machine brought to market with a great deal of value -and less impact from the ‘middle men’!. Everyone I know that owns a Guru is very happy with it.

I'm willing to bet HG will offer up another level up for more money eventually.

@davey and @aberyclark that's what I'd like to see. A "mid-priced" model offering the higher power of the Degritter without as many bells and whistles.  I already have a decent homemade vacuum RCM so I can use it to rinse and dry the records after they are ultrasonically cleaned.  Hopefully Degritter or Guru would eventually address the market in the $1000 to $1500 range for those of us who love vinyl but only have a few hundred albums, and mainly now listen to streaming services.  I can't justify $3K on an ultrasonic machine.  I'm actually pretty happy with my vacuum RCM (total cost around $500), but figure adding a good ultrasonic machine to the cleaning routine would be a step in the right direction. 

How much power is actually required to generate the bubbles that do the trick? I’ve had medical equipment cleaned by CLIA compliant machinery that essentially used a wall wart. We are just cleaning records here, not fracking. I am willing to believe that a”cheap, plasticky” Ultrasonic Device does the job and given the maturity of the technology if it sells for $500 I suspect the manufacturer is doing just fine in the profit area. As to the machine not being a piece of audio candy, I’m alright with that. I don’t need the mop that cleans my expensive hardwood floors to be sitting in an expensive Greek pottery from Republican Athens.

I have a HG and a VPI 16.5.

The HG does a great job. My favorite part is that no pads or brushes come into contact with the record. 

I’ve cleaned 300 records since getting my HG a year ago. RO tap water and six drops of Ilfotol wetting agent. Problem-free and a joy to use. SO much better than my previous vacuum RCM setup. NO need for additional rinse. I have enough invested in my record collection to justify a Degritter but I have yet to find compelling evidence that it does the job that much better than the HG to justify the price. With the $3K I’ve saved I buy better copies of favorite records that I can’t get acceptably clean. 

"I have enough invested in my record collection to justify a Degritter but I have yet to find compelling evidence that it does the job that much better than the HG to justify the price. With the $3K I’ve saved I buy better copies of favorite records that I can’t get acceptably clean."

This speaks to me.

I'll be hitting the "buy now" button for my own HG.