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
I thought this was one of the more informed reviews:
http://https//hifipig.com/sweetvinyl-sugarcube-sc-1-2/
I intend to purchase one of these once all the kinks are worked out so am very interested in following the progress.
Ok, I just had to post this... I am finally able to digitize vinyl at 96/24 using my Sweetvinyl SugarCube SC-2 and play it back from my server. I am listening to Sting's LP "Nothing Like the Sun" that I digitized from a pretty clean double LP, and I am having a "Holy-Mother-of-Crap" moment, where everything is just about perfect. Clean, effortless, extended, all the buzz-words. Wow! The highs, especially, are so much cleaner and smoother than with my Red Book digitized files using my Marantz CD recorder. Considering my system costs a fraction of what many people here have spent on their rigs, it is really something! I love music, and I love this hobby!  There are some issues in the new beta software I am testing, but the quality of the files I created with this wonder-box is really amazing.
Just a quick update:  The beta software for the SC-2 has gone through several revisions.  Metadata searching has improved greatly.  Also, I can now enter catalog numbers of LPs and the SC-2 will use that data to populate the metadata fields and add album art.  Track begin/end identification still needs work, but is getting better.  I still have to manually adjust each start and end point.  Transient noise in between tracks remains an issue which Sweetvinyl says is being worked on.
Interesting read. Not for me. I enjoy the subtle psychological torture from pops and ticks. Tenacious. They really should bring you out for drinks.
The OP's postings convinced me it's a waste of time/money for me.

I'd rather put a record on, and just enjoy listening. If an album is beyond cleaning, toss it, and jump into the bins for a replacement.

Way too much gadget involvement, rather than actually listening to music.

To each his own.