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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
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
My question, especially for those who own high-end turntables, can you live with all the crackling and popping noise?

Some excellent comments and suggestions have been made by the others. I'll just add, re this part of your question, that how objectionable the tics and pops are, besides being dependent on vinyl quality, record condition and cleanliness, etc., is highly dependent on the dynamic range of the music you are listening to.

If you are listening to typically compressed popular music, where the volume level never fluctuates very much, you won't hear much of the extraneous noise. At the other extreme, if you are listening to a well-recorded, minimally compressed classical symphony performance, the tics and pops and surface noise will be much more bothersome, since most of the time the music is at much lower volume levels than at the occasional peaks.

That's probably a major reason why different listeners object to the problems of vinyl to different degrees -- they're listening to different music.

Regards,
-- Al
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cipherjuris
145 posts
 
Ryder,

I agree with much of the advice and thoughts of the others, except that tics and pops are a necessary part of listening to vinyl records. My LP collection includes both new and used LPs, many of my best LPs are from the 50s and 60s and have been played hundreds, maybe thousands of times. You can't get rid of the noise resulting from a deep scratch. That is just a damaged record. The same occurs with CDs.

But dirty, old records that have been played a lot and have somewhat dry, lifeless vinyl, can be brought back to sound very quiet and new with a very good record cleaning machine, the right chemical treatments and final wash with distilled water and an application of Last to renew the vinyl condition. This takes time and unfortunately a much better than average RCM. I had a Nitty Gritty that improved things but would not remove enough of the crap in the grooves to eliminate the clicks and pops. I tried a VPI 16.5. It was better but not good enough. I finally sprang for a Loricraft. Now, most of my 50s and 60s records are as quiet as a CD except for the tape hiss inherent on recording of that time.

A vinyl rig that can get you as close to the real thing as technology can get today is more expensive that all but the most expensive digital rigs and a lot more work, but the sonic results are worth it. I like both of my digital players a lot, actually, but when I really want to be moved by the music, my analog rig is the only way to go. It's so much fuller and richer than either digital rig.

Hope this helps.

Ed
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has2be
555 posts
 
Have to agree with the fact there are to many variables. The condition of used vynil and its play grade versus its visual grade and if the previous owner(s) maintained them and HANDLED and STORED them properly. Try some of the new vynil and for used if I really want a copy of an LP I try to purchase the Japenese pressings which are pressed on high quality vynil and very quiet. You can always be surprised at how quiet a 40 year old pressing will play then a newer used release that doesn,t and vise versa. Simple answer to your question. YES, I feel that the few tics and pops are overshadowed by the full rich sound of vynil that to me conveys more musical emotion which equals greater listening enjoyment. Those wipes TVAD spoke of are awesome. I threw my carbon fibre dust "moving" brush out after trying the wipes. Cheers!
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