Records...
- Thread starter rockman2004
- Start date
I agree - although the impulses come from the record itself, most of the audible noise seems to arise from resonances in the system.
There are many ccts available for reducing surface noise, and some 'historic' remasters are made using 'intelligent' noise reduction. If you want to take that route (and lose some of the musical immediacy), then you can start at about $20 and go as high as you like, generally getting just what you pay for.
You can only hear clicks and pops on a dirty record. The only way to keep them clean is to treat records and equipment properly.
One can write a book about the proper care of records...
Now for a more direct answer to your question. The chances are that you may never be able to remove the click from your record. Once you have played a dirty record the needle practically welds clicks into your record.
Start by doing a search for record cleaning fluids. I use 1 part denatured alcohol of 96% and 1 part distilled water and add a few drops of washing liquid. I use a velvet like jobby that women use to put something on their face...not sure what it is called, and in effect scrub the record.
This cleaning fluid dissolves certain impurities and removes greasy stuff from your record. There is better stuff and there are better methods, since my method I suppose just displaces a lot of rubbish. Hence my plan to build an RCM.
I have no idea what they use to apply it, although I sometimes think it's a trowel.
I have an Ariston RD-80 with Syrinx tonearm and agree it plays quieter than a cheap plastic turntable.
I read in "Iniciação à Alta-Fidelidade", from pre-CD days, that even on a clean record most "frying chip" noises are caused from static electricity that builds up once you get the record out of its plastic sleeve, and the best way to shut down the noise was to drop some generous doses of distilled water while the record was playing. And it works well. The author didn´t mention what to do for the drying issue but I always used a soft sponge.
I brought some old records from my parents´ house that we used to listen all the time and those records sure were badly treated. We used to place a heavy coin over the stylus once it weared out. And they came with tons of dust. Well I simply wash them in the bathtub, with "normal" water and hand-washing liquid soap and it´s amazing how quiet the records play now. Needle jumps that were caused by dirt disappeared as well after the "treatment".
This is not recommended for serious use, though. "Normal" water leaves too much residue on the disk´s surface.
My € 0.02
I read in "Iniciação à Alta-Fidelidade", from pre-CD days, that even on a clean record most "frying chip" noises are caused from static electricity that builds up once you get the record out of its plastic sleeve, and the best way to shut down the noise was to drop some generous doses of distilled water while the record was playing. And it works well. The author didn´t mention what to do for the drying issue but I always used a soft sponge.
I brought some old records from my parents´ house that we used to listen all the time and those records sure were badly treated. We used to place a heavy coin over the stylus once it weared out. And they came with tons of dust. Well I simply wash them in the bathtub, with "normal" water and hand-washing liquid soap and it´s amazing how quiet the records play now. Needle jumps that were caused by dirt disappeared as well after the "treatment".
This is not recommended for serious use, though. "Normal" water leaves too much residue on the disk´s surface.
My € 0.02
water, water everywhere
Ahhh, shades of the old Lenco wet-play system.
Wet-playing does reduce the whitish background noise, but ticks and pops, no. They are unfortunately intrinsic to mechanical playback. Their origins are many, but one thing we can't help is the graininess of moldable vinyl.
What I found was that once a record was played wet, it would always be much noiser unless it was always played wet. I had to toss several dozen discs because of that- no amount of cleaning get them back to the way they were. It might be a solution for discs that are already trashed, but not for discs that have been properly cared for.
Ahhh, shades of the old Lenco wet-play system.
Wet-playing does reduce the whitish background noise, but ticks and pops, no. They are unfortunately intrinsic to mechanical playback. Their origins are many, but one thing we can't help is the graininess of moldable vinyl.
What I found was that once a record was played wet, it would always be much noiser unless it was always played wet. I had to toss several dozen discs because of that- no amount of cleaning get them back to the way they were. It might be a solution for discs that are already trashed, but not for discs that have been properly cared for.
SY, the white noise background is the frying potato chips noise I mentioned. Clicks and pops I always guessed were caused by accidental surface scratches, wich are permanent.
Looks like wet-play is a one-way path but did you try destilled water (supposedly just H2O) instead of "domestic water" (what´s it called, BTW)? The record grooves get swamped by the minerals and chemicals of the latter, that stay after the liquid dries out, to be swept by every next wet play which in turn leaves another layer of minerals and chemicals and so on...
Anyway, all the effort around record-caring, it´s all part of the ritual, I guess.
What about the vinyl itself as an obsolete supporting material? Surely with all the advances in technology we couldn´t find a better material to make our new records of? What about Teflon records, since nothing sticks to it (except dust
) ? Better yet, what about Kevlar, or Kapton? I guess if some company mass-produced virtually indestructible, scratch-free records, could claim for Perfect Sound Forever without making audiophiles "protect their noses" (in short of a better vocabulary) from such claims.
I know what you mean. Let´s keep WINING about that
Looks like wet-play is a one-way path but did you try destilled water (supposedly just H2O) instead of "domestic water" (what´s it called, BTW)? The record grooves get swamped by the minerals and chemicals of the latter, that stay after the liquid dries out, to be swept by every next wet play which in turn leaves another layer of minerals and chemicals and so on...
Anyway, all the effort around record-caring, it´s all part of the ritual, I guess.
What about the vinyl itself as an obsolete supporting material? Surely with all the advances in technology we couldn´t find a better material to make our new records of? What about Teflon records, since nothing sticks to it (except dust
) ? Better yet, what about Kevlar, or Kapton? I guess if some company mass-produced virtually indestructible, scratch-free records, could claim for Perfect Sound Forever without making audiophiles "protect their noses" (in short of a better vocabulary) from such claims.I know what you mean. Let´s keep WINING about that
I only used distilled water or the Lenco fluid (which I think was just water with a little surfactant added). Tap water was not even considered! Terrible stuff. I keep thinking that the water is extracting some of the polar bits or possibly being taken up by the one of the additives to the vinyl, which swells slightly and gets little chips flaking out. Pure speculation.
There's no doubt that better materials are around. Teflon is not one of them- it's slick, but it's terribly soft. I wonder about using PEEK...
There's no doubt that better materials are around. Teflon is not one of them- it's slick, but it's terribly soft. I wonder about using PEEK...
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEEK" :
PEEK is partially crystalline, and has a glass transition temperature of 143 °C and a melting temperature of 334 °C. The material is resistant to both organic and aqueous environments, and are used in bearings, piston parts, pumps, compressor plate valves, and cable insulation applications.
PEEK is a thermoplast with extrordinary mechanical properties. The Young's Modulus is 3.6 GPa and its tensile strength 170 MPa.
PEEK is also considered an advanced biomaterial used in medical implants.
Let´s hope some R & D people are reading this thread
Now, about those royalties...
PEEK is partially crystalline, and has a glass transition temperature of 143 °C and a melting temperature of 334 °C. The material is resistant to both organic and aqueous environments, and are used in bearings, piston parts, pumps, compressor plate valves, and cable insulation applications.
PEEK is a thermoplast with extrordinary mechanical properties. The Young's Modulus is 3.6 GPa and its tensile strength 170 MPa.
PEEK is also considered an advanced biomaterial used in medical implants.
Let´s hope some R & D people are reading this thread
Now, about those royalties...