Alcohols absorb water from the atmosphere. The stable concentration is about 95%; if you have a higher concentration, as soon as you crack the seal, it will absorb water and self-dilute to the lower mixture.
At my drug store, they sell 94%, not 99. In fact I would be suspicious of any alcohol that claims to be higher than 95%.
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However, this is apparently contradicted by the lock groove test........
It is quite possible, I suppose, that there was 'something wrong' with typical consumer vinyl playback systems back in the day? Or, call me a cynic, there was also aftermarket sale of cassette tapes, which people did to conserve records in the belief they would wear.........
LD
It was a reply to the previous post, and I am just stating that the record wear is a fact, not just a belief. Post deleted.
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Perhaps LD never read that paper? Or - given LD's pronouncement that there is no such thing as vinyl wear, if the stylus is good ... you and me are just "confooosed".
Mmmm, not to sure about that.
Maybe if you are recording at 192K (I will do this later this year) but certainly not at the CD recording rate. (It will sound worse.)Andy
I searched for "rubbing alcohol" on the net and found that in the US its composition is isopropyl + ethyl alcohole and acetone! Also found that isopropyle alcohol metabilizes to acetone in the human body (in the liver). Is there any risk that "pure" isopropyle alcohol contains some acetone, even in a small amount? Acetone dissolves vinyl.
If the lock groove test is just leaving the stylus in the groove, it is hardly a fair test? The lock groove is the slowest part of the disc and is without any recorded waveforms.
There are plenty of published photomicrographs of vinyl groove damage.
Ref the 'wet cleaning makes it noisier' here is an anecdote in absence of more data https://www.vinylengine.com/turntable_forum/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=96296.
As 180gm repressings are £20-£40 I am not sure I want to try and replicate this particular case esp as the sequence is not accurately recorded and I can think of a couple of reasons why his cleaning didn't work that are not related to record friction but in his case it was 'risky'
As 180gm repressings are £20-£40 I am not sure I want to try and replicate this particular case esp as the sequence is not accurately recorded and I can think of a couple of reasons why his cleaning didn't work that are not related to record friction but in his case it was 'risky'
Unless Canadian beverage liquor laws are very different than the USA this would be denatured ethanol, typically mixed with ~5% natural gasoline (a light distillate from petroleum refining) to render it undrinkable. Without this chemical alteration ethanol is subject to liquor taxes. I don't suspect this contaminant would make a more suitable record cleaner. OTOH go to a liquor store and you might find Everclear which is just ethanol and water usually 180-190 proof!
It's not data, it's analog.
Grooves on the left side of the record groove make the diamond needle vibrate, and those movements are translated into induction voltage, and amplified. The same for the right side.
The proper set up is just needle alignment and weight on the groove. Some people use to put a coin on top of the needle assembly, and the wear was even higher. But the vinyl does wear. Electronics Audio books have this info.
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No paper was referenced, but I have read extensively on the topic.
Devil's advocate from a Shure paper: here's a test that shows playing records 100 times can improve them :
Test 1:
2nd and 3rd harmonic distortion versus number of plays
*
Cartridge: V15 Type III
*
Tips: biradial and hyperbolic
*
Signal: CBS STR-100, bands 3A and 3B, 1 kHz
*
Tracking Force: 0.75 gram
*
Number of Plays: 100
Results:
2nd harmonic with biradial:
no significant change on either channel.
*
2nd harmonic with hyperbolic:
no significant change on either channel.
*
3rd harmonic with biradial:
decreases about 33% of original value.
*
3rd harmonic with hyperbolic:
decreases about 40% of original value.
2nd and 3rd harmonic distortion versus number of plays
*
Cartridge: V15 Type III
*
Tips: biradial and hyperbolic
*
Signal: CBS STR-100, bands 3A and 3B, 1 kHz
*
Tracking Force: 0.75 gram
*
Number of Plays: 100
Results:
2nd harmonic with biradial:
no significant change on either channel.
*
2nd harmonic with hyperbolic:
no significant change on either channel.
*
3rd harmonic with biradial:
decreases about 33% of original value.
*
3rd harmonic with hyperbolic:
decreases about 40% of original value.
It is, at best, a complex and confounded topic, often lacking necessary discipline to be conclusive. But for certain, one shouldn't take at face value any common knowledge IMO.
LD
Oh dear. OK, let me try and rephrase. Please cite a paper with measurements of your 'fact'.
Data and measurement are generally interchangable. Not sure why you got confused over that.
Why don't you Google for the paper yourself?
Try Shure Technical as an example. Audio engineer text books has them too, even mine from 1982.
They are, and there is a further distinction between beverage and industrial uses. Anyone can make alcohol, you just can't sell true ethanol for beverage use without appropriate licensing. In colleges here, the Nursing students are "rumoured" to have parties with ethanol from the college's stock and mixed beverages (don't ask how I know). And I used ethanol in printmaking classes to clean serigraph plates; the college bought it from an agricultural supply vendor by the gallon.
I've purchased ethanol ("Everclear" brand) in Montana from the liquor stores, but it's not as inexpensive that way.
Denatured alcohol is also available, but those who know better get ethanol from certain sources.
Now, it must be said that Liquor, and most things in general, is Provincial jurisdiction, so I don't know if that's possible elsewhere.
Ontario is pretty much a clone of the US when it comes to "vice" law and a love of regulation. Here in "farm country" all you need is a land description document and you can buy dynamite; you can buy Codeine over the counter at the pharmacy. Many things are different like that, but again it's all Provincial law, not Federal. The Federal Government cannot make law about any internal (vs international) matter without the Provinces ceceding their jurisdiction, which they have in many cases. The Feds even had to beg the provinces for the right to tax, which was granted to raise funds to finance WWI.
Probably the only significant difference with regard to agricultural chemicals is you guys use the type of ammonia that you can build explosives with, while we use anhydrous ammonia for fertilizer, which can't be used that way. The "other" kind is available, but you will attract the attention of people in black suits if you try to buy it. In fact the typical result is they will tell the vendor to sell it to you, and then they ramp up the monitoring and wait to pounce once you try to do something stupid with it.
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Many moons ago (about 15 years) I stumbled across an article how the US National Archives (fairly certain it was them) care for vinyl records.
If the article is to be believed they clean them with a mixture of isopropyl alcohol, destilled water and a few drops of photographic surfactant and play them using a cartridge with an elliptical stylus or more specifically the Shure M97.
I tried but sadly can't find the article anymore so take this as anecdotal.
If the article is to be believed they clean them with a mixture of isopropyl alcohol, destilled water and a few drops of photographic surfactant and play them using a cartridge with an elliptical stylus or more specifically the Shure M97.
I tried but sadly can't find the article anymore so take this as anecdotal.
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