Getting rid of the crackles when playing new Vinyl

[thebunk]

I have read online that people suggest that new records are cleaned before they are played. I have done this (cleaned them before play) and also bypassed this step as well and found most of the time there is still a bit of surface noise.

 

I recently dug out my copy of Smashing Pumpkins "Picieses Iscariot" which I had never played before, washed it with a Disc Washer, rinsed it with Distilled Water and then wiped it clean with two micro-fiber cloths. I let it air dry for two hours, give it a couple of swipes with my Carbon Fiber Brush and there are a ton of snaps, crackles and pops. I followed the same process with my copy of Wilco's "A Ghost is Born" (this was right out of the plastic wrapper.

 

Please can someone help me? Is it the carbon fiber brush I am using? Maybe it is static electricity that is causing the issue? ARRRRRRG.

[willywoody]

the carbon fiber brush is supposed to be static free but i've found mine has added static when i've used it.

 

i invested in a nitty gritty vaccum and it's done a good job reducing surface noise but it is a little pricey.

 

i just read about someone using a humidifier in the room to decrease static electricity. another idea is to use a small spritz of deionized water with the carbon fiber brush, but wait a minute or two to play to allow the water to dry.

 

there's always a zerostat gun as well.

[LouieB]

You are going to have to expect some surface noise even on new vinyl unless the manufacturing has been flawless. I have older used vinyl that sounds better than newer stuff. (By older I mean from the 50s and 60s.) In fact I have bought newer used LPs and been shocked at how lousy they sound and I doubt it is from alot of playing or someone with a bad turntable. Static electricity isn't going to cause that much surface noise, but it may cause some.

 

If you really don't want some noise buy CDs. Part of the charm of LPs is that they do have the occasional noise.

 

LouieB

[markosis]

If you really don't want some noise buy CDs

 

Damn, you beat me to it.

[willywoody]

so here's one more folowup.

 

my vinyl cleaning practice is as follows:

 

about 6-10 drops of record research labs superwash scrubbed along the grooves bidirectionally with a mobile fidelity brush. i then put some nitty gritty fluid on the machine brush head and vacuum as directed by the company. if i see some lint on the lp before playing i use a carbon fiber brush to remove it. any dry brushing has the chance to add static though.

 

new vinyl should not have much surface noise, especially after cleaning. it is probably static or maybe something on the stylus. don't forget to clean the stylus. i have run into some "pops" on new records due to poor pressing process that will stick around no matter what i do. you can actually see the bump in the vinyl.

 

i've gotten 30 year old stones' albums at the flea market and have been able to get them to only mild surface noise level using this process. i just got the extra brush to scrub with and it has made a load of difference.

[LouieB]

Damn, you beat me to it.

This is exactly why CDs were invented; LPs do have imperfections. LPS have basically the same technology as when Edision invented the phonograph in the 1880s. It is a mechanical process of scraping a needle over plastic (wax in the old days.) LPs do wear out and they are also subject to imperfections. Disks are stamped out of plastic, something that no matter what, isn't going to be perfect or stay perfect for long. Its just a piece of plastic.

 

so here's one more folowup.

 

my vinyl cleaning practice is as follows:

 

about 6-10 drops of record research labs superwash scrubbed along the grooves bidirectionally with a mobile fidelity brush. i then put some nitty gritty fluid on the machine brush head and vacuum as directed by the company. if i see some lint on the lp before playing i use a carbon fiber brush to remove it. any dry brushing has the chance to add static though.

 

new vinyl should not have much surface noise, especially after cleaning. it is probably static or maybe something on the stylus. don't forget to clean the stylus. i have run into some "pops" on new records due to poor pressing process that will stick around no matter what i do. you can actually see the bump in the vinyl.

 

i've gotten 30 year old stones' albums at the flea market and have been able to get them to only mild surface noise level using this process. i just got the extra brush to scrub with and it has made a load of difference.

Old Stones albums were made back when they gave a shit what albums were made of and they were good. Sure you can get them down to a point, but after that, just chill and enjoy.

 

You can be compulsive about this, but ultimately some albums you buy, even new ones, are going to have plenty of imperfections. Seriously, I have bought some newer used albums (like made in the last 10 or less years) and they sound like crap and I have bought stuff in junk shops from the 50s or 60s that clearly have been played to death and they sound better. It is a total crap shoot on vinyl (it always has been really). The local store where I buy stuff has a policy of no returns on new vinyl. Maybe you haven't followed the threads on Being There vinyl but people have had all sorts of problems with it. Some companies, like Sundazed, etc. do a pretty good job of quality control, but again, there can be problems with any record, its just a piece of plastic with tiny little grooves and a whole bunch of information in those grooves that was made in a factory where maybe they were careful and maybe they weren't.

 

LouieB

[willywoody]

You can be compulsive about this, but ultimately some albums you buy, even new ones, are going to have plenty of imperfections. Seriously, I have bought some newer used albums (like made in the last 10 or less years) and they sound like crap and I have bought stuff in junk shops from the 50s or 60s that clearly have been played to death and they sound better. It is a total crap shoot on vinyl (it always has been really). The local store where I buy stuff has a policy of no returns on new vinyl. Maybe you haven't followed the threads on Being There vinyl but people have had all sorts of problems with it. Some companies, like Sundazed, etc. do a pretty good job of quality control, but again, there can be problems with any record, its just a piece of plastic with tiny little grooves and a whole bunch of information in those grooves that was made in a factory where maybe they were careful and maybe they weren't.

 

LouieB

 

yeh, i started that being there thread. interesting enough i'm nearly 100% positive that the problem with my copy of being there was not a pressing issue as i've never heard anything like it before on vinyl. it sounded like tape being eaten in a bad cassette player. alas, noone else seems to have that problem so maybe i'm wrong.

 

i have to disagree on sundazed. i've heard of lots of problems with their stuff and my yhf copy is warped pretty bad. the company that pressed agib , called RTI, seems to have the best reputation going now.

 

i bought my first album in the early seventies and i just don't remember this poor a quality control even in the eighties. i missed the 90's on vinyl, though, so maybe it was even worse.

[Analogman]

Could any of this have to do with the weight adjustment on the turntable arm?

[Maddie Hope]

Part of the charm of LPs is that they do have the occasional noise.

LouieB

Yes part of the charm of vinyl...

 

Tell ya what my mama does with vinyl... It takes a steady hand tho...

Using a sewing needle (a small one and then a larger one, not gaint ones)

Put the turntable on the slowest speed...

Take the needle and go through every groove...

It will help to take out some of the noises and works also on taking out skips,

However it does take time and a steady hand...

[LouieB]

yeh, i started that being there thread. interesting enough i'm nearly 100% positive that the problem with my copy of being there was not a pressing issue as i've never heard anything like it before on vinyl. it sounded like tape being eaten in a bad cassette player. alas, noone else seems to have that problem so maybe i'm wrong.

 

i have to disagree on sundazed. i've heard of lots of problems with their stuff and my yhf copy is warped pretty bad. the company that pressed agib , called RTI, seems to have the best reputation going now.

 

i bought my first album in the early seventies and i just don't remember this poor a quality control even in the eighties. i missed the 90's on vinyl, though, so maybe it was even worse.

Well okay then.....lots of people had SOME trouble with Being there, even if it was not as severe as what you experienced.

 

I have a great Sundazed copy of the Byrds prefyte sessions, so I was only reflecting on that as my limited sample. I think that the smaller labels that still do vinyl (Thrill Jockey for example), do okay. But all of what you say bolsters my argument. Any album can sound like crap. Actually the quality of vinyl has been going down hill since the shortage of oil in the mid-70s. I have albums from every decade, but then again I am not an audiofile or that compulsive, so in a sense I guess maybe my opinion doesn't count, but frankly I don't think you can ever count on an LP to be perfect. And now that LPs are a tiny part of music sales (most non-music involved people don't even know they exist anymore...), I don't think we can expect them to sound like they did back in the first couple decades of their existance. I too have a love affair with vinyl, but not because it necessarily sounds great all the time; enjoy this minor resurgence in both interest and amount of LP releases. I am totally convinced we are in the last days of vinyl. if there is some question about CDs still being available in another decade or so, you can bet LPs are most certainly on the way out.

 

(I have all kinds of stories about LPs. I have a copy of Tom Waits Mule Variations I bought used, with no visible problems that sounds like a 78 bought in a junk shop. I have a copy of a Tortoise album I bought new that had no surface noise, but I still am not sure the actual music sounds right. I have a copy of the new Calfone that sounds totally marvelous and I bought a CD version so I save it for posterity. I found a beat up copy of a Frank Sinatra album on Capital from the 50s that is beat to shit, but sounds great. I have a used copy of one of the Silver Jews albums that sounds like it has been run over by a car, but has no surface scratches; go figure.)

 

LouieB

[willywoody]

Could any of this have to do with the weight adjustment on the turntable arm?

 

i doubt the weight. that usually causes tracking problems, skipping, etc. although if it's too heavy it could change the vertical tracking angle which could in turn lead to some alteration to the sound. but maybe someone knows a little more about this than me will refute me.

 

the vinyl asylum at the audioasylum boards is a good source of help as are the stevehoffman.com forums.

[cryptique]

Tell ya what my mama does with vinyl... It takes a steady hand tho...

Using a sewing needle (a small one and then a larger one, not gaint ones)

Put the turntable on the slowest speed...

Take the needle and go through every groove...

It will help to take out some of the noises and works also on taking out skips,

However it does take time and a steady hand...

To take out skips (which are often just pieces of debris embedded in the grooves), I use a Q-tip, moistened with some DiscWasher fluid. It's not foolproof, but I've banished dozens of skips that way.

[LouieB]

Yes part of the charm of vinyl...

 

Tell ya what my mama does with vinyl... It takes a steady hand tho...

Using a sewing needle (a small one and then a larger one, not gaint ones)

Put the turntable on the slowest speed...

Take the needle and go through every groove...

It will help to take out some of the noises and works also on taking out skips,

However it does take time and a steady hand...

Yo' mama.....

 

That is the craziest thing I ever heard, but hey who am i to question yo mama.

 

For LPs that are warped, the advise was to put it in a warm oven between a couple sheets of glass, also one of the craziest pieces of advice I ever heard.

 

LouieB

[willywoody]

(I have all kinds of stories about LPs. I have a copy of Tom Waits Mule Variations I bought used, with no visible problems that sounds like a 78 bought in a junk shop. I have a copy of a Tortoise album I bought new that had no surface noise, but I still am not sure the actual music sounds right. I have a copy of the new Calfone that sounds totally marvelous and I bought a CD version so I save it for posterity. I found a beat up copy of a Frank Sinatra album on Capital from the 50s that is beat to shit, but sounds great. I have a used copy of one of the Silver Jews albums that sounds like it has been run over by a car, but has no surface scratches; go figure.)

 

LouieB

 

 

http://www.recordtech.com/customers.htm

 

here's the rti list of customers. you might find it interesting to compare with your vinyl.

 

btw, that califone does sound good. i was bummed that the new yo la tengo didn't sound that much better on vinyl, though, and it was pressed by rti.

[willywoody]

Yo' mama.....

 

That is the craziest thing I ever heard, but hey who am i to question yo mama.

 

For LPs that are warped, the advise was to put it in a warm oven between a couple sheets of glass, also one of the craziest pieces of advice I ever heard.

 

LouieB

 

 

or buy this :

 

http://store.acousticsounds.com/browse_det...ction=equipment

 

 

hahaha!

[LouieB]

http://www.recordtech.com/customers.htm

 

here's the rti list of customers. you might find it interesting to compare with your vinyl.

So basically they are pressing LPs for everyone it looks like, since no one really wants to press them themselves anymore.

 

LouieB

[Analogman]

i doubt the weight. that usually causes tracking problems, skipping, etc. although if it's too heavy it could change the vertical tracking angle which could in turn lead to some alteration to the sound. but maybe someone knows a little more about this than me will refute me.

 

the vinyl asylum at the audioasylum boards is a good source of help as are the stevehoffman.com forums.

 

That's right - I have not played record albums in years - so I forget these things. I think the last brand new album I bought was PJ - Vitology.

[fortuneinmyhead]

yeh, i started that being there thread. interesting enough i'm nearly 100% positive that the problem with my copy of being there was not a pressing issue as i've never heard anything like it before on vinyl. it sounded like tape being eaten in a bad cassette player. alas, noone else seems to have that problem so maybe i'm wrong.

 

i have to disagree on sundazed. i've heard of lots of problems with their stuff and my yhf copy is warped pretty bad. the company that pressed agib , called RTI, seems to have the best reputation going now.

 

i bought my first album in the early seventies and i just don't remember this poor a quality control even in the eighties. i missed the 90's on vinyl, though, so maybe it was even worse.

 

i think that in general vinyl these days is not pressed to the same quality specs it was in the 70s when it was the standard format.

 

i've bought new lps manufactured in recent years with awful flaws (pops skips) ....

i can't say this is true for all LPs, just some i've bought & noticed problems with.

 

one nifty thing though was a copy of Magical Mystery Tour I bought for a friend over Xmas. It was a reissue from the 70s ... man the music just popped off of there, sounded so much better than the cd. it's unfathomable that most of the Beatles' music hasn't been remastered for CDs. It's vinyl where you can actually hear it in the format it was mastered for.

[Maddie Hope]

Yo' mama.....

 

That is the craziest thing I ever heard, but hey who am i to question yo mama.

 

For LPs that are warped, the advise was to put it in a warm oven between a couple sheets of glass, also one of the craziest pieces of advice I ever heard.

 

LouieB

Hey my mama is great at reel to reel, cassettes and vinyl... It sounds crazy, but it works...

Depends on how priceless that certain vinyl is to you as to the trouble of making it play again...

Qtips will work on most but some skips "a.k.a. a deep gash" the needle will take it out...

 

That advice on warped vinyl maybe crazy, but it does work... but easy to ruin also...

Like you said LouieB..."it is nothing more than a piece of plastic"...

 

I've seen both things work before... but risky either way...

[Maddie Hope]

or buy this :

 

http://store.acousticsounds.com/browse_det...ction=equipment

hahaha!

That would be kool, but guess I have to stick with the oven for now...

[LouieB]

i think that in general vinyl these days is not pressed to the same quality specs it was in the 70s when it was the standard format.

 

i've bought new lps manufactured in recent years with awful flaws (pops skips) ....

i can't say this is true for all LPs, just some i've bought & noticed problems with.

 

one nifty thing though was a copy of Magical Mystery Tour I bought for a friend over Xmas. It was a reissue from the 70s ... man the music just popped off of there, sounded so much better than the cd. it's unfathomable that most of the Beatles' music hasn't been remastered for CDs. It's vinyl where you can actually hear it in the format it was mastered for.

Many of those old LPs do have incredible fidelity, despite any pops and clicks. You just have to enjoy, that's all.

 

Sadly the vinyl fad is starting to push up prices on used LPs. But you can still get some interesting stuff at your local resale or used record stores, but clearly prices have risen even in past few months at record stores.

 

LouieB

[Analogman]

I recall doing that back in the day. There are, of course, turntables now that work without needles.

[willywoody]

I recall doing that back in the day. There are, of course, turntables now that work without needles.

 

if you are referring to the laser turntable, i don't believe it has yet been released despite being shown at ces, etc for several years. reviewers suggest it is very sensetive to any solid debris but transmits very little surface noise and handles minor scratches well. price tag is mutlipe thousands of dollars, so even if it has been released it's not on my shopping list as i've got mouths to feed.

[Analogman]

There are several out there - we had a thread about this once. There are even some that run via a usb outlet on a computer.

[mountain bed]

there's always a zerostat gun as well.

I use one of those & imo it does help. With those fave LPs it is amazing how anal & ritualistic you can get!