Frustrated with Vinly
CLEAN, QUIET LP’s (inexpensive manual method) I’m loving how quiet my dirty old lp’s sound. Your problem helped me out, I now have a very successful inexpensive manual cleaning method. I am getting essentially no noise out of old dirty static filled lps. I just cleaned a few NEW lp’s, to check, no noise, so goodbye mold compounds, .. If you get noise after this, something else is wrong! ...................... Listen to some music while doing this of course. Wear thin plastic gloves to protect your hands and block finger oil 1. plastic sheet to protect the table below. smooth white, so you can see any/every speck. kitchen garbage bag, or, thin plastic table cloths from the party store, something. 2. lay lp flat 3. cover lp paper label with plastic lid diameter of label, i.e. chinese soup take-out lid. 4. spray cleaning fluid on lp (my home-made mix below) 5. CRITICAL: scrub fairly aggressively: circular, back and forth a few times, with soft multi bristle brush (pre-wet with cleaning fluid for 1st lp) try an lp you don’t care about, you will find you can be more aggressive than you think. this is what really cleans deep into the grooves. 6. flip, clean other side: place carefully so paper label goes down onto dry area of plastic 7. rinse in distilled water in the record cleaning kit. CRITICAL: Distilled Water ONLY!!! spin 2x each direction, it has fine brushes for final cleaning while rinsing. 8. use the two included cloths to handle/pre-dry the lp, and put in the included drying rack. note: dry the center area of the plastic sheet where the paper label goes frequently with a separate cloth. dump distilled water after each batch of ten. rinse everything and dry between batches. ................................ Equipment 1. record cleaning kit with drying rack for 10 lps, $58. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GSSQ1MN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 2. distilled water, $1.00 per gallon (check online for stock before going to the store) https://grocery.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Distilled-Water-1-Gallon/10315382?wmlspartner=wlpa&se... 3. alcohol, 91%, $3.00 https://www.target.com/p/isopropyl-alcohol-91-32oz-up-up-8482/-/A-13970972?ref=tgt_adv_XS000000&... 4. wetting agent. $4.00 I use Finish, Jet Dry (dishwasher stuff) https://www.amazon.com/Finish-Jet-Dry-8-45oz-Dishwasher-Drying/dp/B0014E82II/ref=asc_df_B0014E82II/?... 5. soft multi-bristle brush, I found one in a drawer, but here’s a 3 pack, $9.00 https://smile.amazon.com/Scalp-Scrubbie-Sterile-Cradle-Sponge/dp/B005EJ7YH4/ref=sr_1_154_sspa?ascsub...= .............................. my mix, nothing scientific, a small 6 oz spray bottle (8oz, 10, doesn’t matter) 1. a few drops of wetting agent 2. 1 cap of condensed cleaning fluid that came with the kit 3. fill with alcohol. you may think it’s a pretty strong alcohol mix, but you will be rinsing right away, and, you will find, even that strong, finger oil spots will be very reduced but not fully disappear. I’m loving how quiet my dirty old lp’s sound. ................................... CLEAN STYLUS! Leave a small mirror on TT under your headshell, so you can see if the stylus is clean. Clean the stylus during if needed, and always after every listening session. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DI8I2JM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 my friend uses gel stuff, loves it https://coloredvinylrecords.com/blog/best-gel-type-stylus-cleaners/ ............................ Still use Anti-Static brush before each play, DRY, just a light touch needed to get any paper sleeve dust, airborne dust. |
The vinyl experience has been quite a learning curve and is indeed frustrating. A couple of years ago I purchased a Rega Planar 3 turntable and found that my digital sources sounded better. My power supply was part of the problem and so a power conditioner and an electrician installing an isolated line made an amazing difference at a cost of close to $2000. My speakers Audio Physic Step Plus, amp and integrated Line Magnetic 216A. I got a lot of enjoyment from this system, but started to crave more. As I have gone further down the rabbit hole in search of better sound, specifically more power from drums, I upgraded my turntable to a Music Hall 9.3, added a new phono stage, a Lehmann black cube, went for a moving coil cartridge. Ortofon MC Quintet Black S, into a Rogue PreAmp and the sticking point, a used amplifier with more power, an Adcom GFA 555. Yeah, I know it's old. After installation I had a couple of great weeks, but at some point noticed a fuzziness in the bass. Muddled and distorted. At first it sounded like I had something on my stylus, cleaned it with a brush and continued on. I do listen to some older recordings purchased from the resurgence of new/old record stores and so, maybe the recordings weren't too good or were dirty even though one shop does a lot of ultrasonic cleaning. I have an Okki Nokki that seems to help. So, I went through the back and forth of connecting back and forth from the Line Magnetic and Adcom, finding that the LM sounded better. Also in the loop is a JL Audio sub that is connected to the Adcom. To eliminate its influence I have turned it off during the comparison process. I contacted the person that set up the turntable for me, took a couple of pictures of the stylus that weren't so good and when my installer said to take a picture from the side of the stylus, after enlarging it with a jewelers loupe, there I saw the tiniest little piece of dust lodged to the stylus. By now I had ordered a Onzow Zerodust and between that and a brushing, got the little bugger. Problem solved, or so I thought. A week or so later, the fuzziness returned, and I have become obsessive about a clean stylus. So, a question to the forum would be...are some styli more susceptible to picking up dirt and dust? Also, to my limited knowledge, is it possible to replace a moving coil stylus? This is driving me crazy as, once again, my digital sources are sounding better than my "vinly", and my digital sources aren't necessarily that great. I'm not anxious to get a new amp only to find the problem persists. To me it seems to be in the turntable. Will check its alignment once again, but I don't think it's out of whack. To sum up my experience with vinyl, I have spent a good amount on power, isolation (table and rack), record cleaning machine, and the latest phase, stylus cleaning (cheapest of the lot). When it's good, it's great, but oh, what a commitment. Frustrating is the word. |
I've got a Nitty Gritty shelved. Too much work scrubbing and sucking. For the cost of a vacuum cleaner, Park's Puffin's SQ sounds quieter with the Magic firmware. You can even still use your Herron first if that's your thing. As it was explained to us, new records have microscopic residual release oils in the grooves. If you don't clean them ULTRASONICALLY before first play, the stylus will make permanent sonic damage. Unscrubable. If you require surface silence you'll have to pony up for the Sweet Vinyl SC-1 MINI. Or stay digital. I'm pretty happy with Shannon Parks myself. At least for my LPs that aren't available in any other HQ format. text ... |
