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Sweet Vinyl Sugarcube - I Want It!!!

At the NY Audio Show this past weekend, I got to see and hear the demo of the Sweet Vinyl Sugarcube.  This PC-based stand alone unit is amazing.  Here is what it does:


1.  De-clicks vinyl - and does so completely transparently, and is user-adjustable (more or less filtering of clicks and pops). 

2.  Digitizes vinyl - MP3 through 24/192 resolution.

3.  Locates metadata for LPs being played/digitized, including cover art

4.  Inserts track divisions based on the metadata (wow!).

5.  Compensates for non-RIAA recordings

6.  Plug in apps will do even more, like reducing groove noise.

It inserts in a line-level loop or between your phono preamp and preamp.  It has digital (S/PDIF and USB) outputs as well as analog outputs.


Projected retail is $2500, and they plan a kickstarter campaign soon.


If you spend time digitizing vinyl, this thing is nothing short of a miracle.  I want one so badly I can taste it.


(I am not associated with Sweet Vinyl in any way.)

bondmanp
raymonda
855 posts
 
Yes, you have to look at the file, listen and determine where the click or pop is, highlight the area and process it. A typical album, which has maybe 2-6 issues may take 2 minutes at best. Generally it can be done in under a minute.

If an album has many issues it is generally not worth, IME, to record it. I would wait until I was able to buy a cleaner copy. I can process the whole album at once but I would rather stay clear of having to process sections that don't require it. I have found that, regardless of claims, there is no free lunch. I also have a Denoiser plug in that I use and which can be fairly effective with tape hiss. But that too has to be lightly used. It will leave finger prints. As with all these things it just a matter of how many finger prints one can tolerate. 

I transfer my recordings via 24/96. It affords me great sound on the go plus it leaves me an accurate representation of cartridges and phono amps for future references.
bondmanp OP
1,792 posts
 

raymonda - Ok, now I see where our applications differ.  Most of my LPs are record show and garage sale finds, usually a buck to 3 bucks apiece.  So, as you can imagine, they are often in pretty bad shape.  With decent new or mint LPs, your method makes a lot of sense (if you don't despise computers like I do).  But for me, the amount of work required to clean up a noisy LP would take a really long time. 


I know there is no free lunch, but, at least in the demo I heard, the click removal of the Sugarcube seemed completely transparent.  This is not a standard filter, but an algorythm-based program.  It is also adjustable, on the fly, and you can listen to only the signal being filtered out.   If there is no music signal in this disgarded portion of the signal, I think it is safe to say that no music is being lost.  We'll see.  Of course I will post my impressions of the SC-2 here when (or if) I get mine.

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,662 posts
 
I have to live with the ticks and pops
@bondmanp it might interest you to know that many ticks and pops heard on LPs are not the fault of the LP but instead the phono preamp!

If the preamp is unstable, it will make a tick or pop that is otherwise inaudible become quite audible. This is due to a ringing (damped oscillation) that can occur on the amplifying devices (usually transistors) at their inputs. The ringing extends the time of the tick or pop, making them audible.

I've seen this graphically demonstrated- where the same LP, played with the only difference being the phono preamp, made the difference between a perfectly quiet LP and one that you would consider trying to return to the store. That's pretty dramatic.

I don't employ any filtering or processing and am very used to listening to entire LP sides without any audible ticks or pops. This of course is not a cure for an LP that is damaged, but if you routinely experience a lot of ticks and pops as part of the surface noise of the LP you might want to consider what I've written here.
bondmanp OP
1,792 posts
 

atmasphere - Very interesting post. I can see how the phono pre circuitry could cause such an issue. I suppose a clear sign that this is happening is if the same passage exhibits clicks and pops at different times when played several times.


I don’t think I have an excessive tick & pop problem, as some LPs are extremely quiet through my McIntosh C220’s MM phono section (a tube/SS hybrid). But, I will try replaying passages with loud ticks to see if they repeat at the same spot or not. It’s just that I buy only used records in a wide range of conditions, so I don’t expect very quiet surfaces on many of my LP purchases.


Honestly, the Sugarcube-2 appeals to me every bit as much for the digitizing, track splitting, and meta-data retrieval features as it does for the click and pop filtering. Sadly, my beta unit will ship without those features. Sweetvinyl promises a firmware upgrade that will add these features eventually. There may even be an optional surface noise filter. We’ll see...

bondmanp OP
1,792 posts
 
Ok - Just heard from Sweetvinyl.  The SC-2's will start shipping this week, and many of the desireable features, like the Smartphone control app, will be working when the units ship.  Since my Indiegogo commitment for an SC-2 beta unit was number 12, I should be among the first to receive it.  Very exciting!  I will keep everyone interested posted via this thread.
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