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Thread: Snap, crackle and pop...

  1. #1
    Join Date: Jan 2021

    Location: Avening UK

    Posts: 48
    I'm Simon.

    Default Snap, crackle and pop...

    That's the annoying sound of vinyl through my new Rega RP6 Exact cartridge and Elex R amp. I have only had the system three months but am ready to give up on vinyl. I have carbon brush, Milty stat gun and have clean records. I started my return to hifi 3 months ago committed to vinyl but find myself playing my pimped node 2i nearly all the time now. I have just bought Cairn, the jazz album by Fergus McCreadie which is amazing but the start is so noisy it's just really disappointing. Any ideas, I just don't remember vinyl bugging me so much before with my old lp12 and quad system.

  2. #2
    Join Date: Nov 2010

    Location: Chorley, Lancs

    Posts: 2,734
    I'm Mike.

    Default

    New vinyl doesn't seem to be as clean straight out of the wrapper as it used to be, i find even new un-played LP's need 15 minutes in my ultrasonic RCM before they hit the deck, so my advice is buy an RCM even a manual one like the Knosti Disco Antistat will give you good results


    As the late Colonel Sanders once said
    "I'm too drunk to taste this chicken!!"

  3. #3
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK

    Posts: 110,012
    I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.

    Default

    Hi Simon,

    Welcome to AoS and nice to see you contributing

    The simple answer to achieving 'quiet vinyl' is to invest in an RCM - and bugger the cost! Perhaps by spending less on the T/T itself, cartridge or arm. It's really the only way

    I can tell you from considerable experience that, for example, a good quality, but cheaper cartridge, playing *pristine* vinyl, properly cleaned on an RCM, will sound MUCH better than a more expensive cartridge playing records that are less clean (or dirty), as Mike makes a good point about even new vinyl these days not being genuinely clean (in terms of the inner grooves, where tiny particles of dust and dirt can gather during the production and packing process, which on playback is then 'seen' by the stylus).

    The fact is, it's piss-easy to CLEAN records - simply running them under the tap will make dirty records appear cleaner - but it's what happens afterwards with the dirt that's removed, and where it ends up! All you're really achieving is loosening it and moving it somewhere else...

    That's why RCMs are *so* effective, as that dirt is instead sucked up with a vacuum.. And you simply can't get records properly clean (or anything approaching silent during playback) any other way.

    Plus, the other thing that RCMs achieve so well, is in removing STATIC build up from records, so once clean and properly stored (inside anti-static sleeves), thereafter become fairly impervious to attracting dust or dirt, and pristine clean records also drastically increase the life of your stylus!

    So all in all, if you're truly serious about hearing vinyl at its best, and have a decent sized record collection, then the ownership of an RCM is a *MUST*, and so simply cannot be seen just as an 'optional accessory'.

    Marco.
    Main System

    Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.

    Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.

    Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.

    CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.

    Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.

    Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.

    Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.

    Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.

    Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.


    Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!

    Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!


  4. #4
    Join Date: Feb 2013

    Location: W Lothian

    Posts: 99,005
    I'm Grant.

    Default

    ^^ wat he said
    Regards,
    Grant .... ؠ ......Don't be such a big girl's blouse

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    “You see these dictators on their pedestals, surrounded by the bayonets of their soldiers and the truncheons of their police ... yet in their hearts there is unspoken fear. They are afraid of words and thoughts: words spoken abroad, thoughts stirring at home -- all the more powerful because forbidden -- terrify them. A little mouse of thought appears in the room, and even the mightiest potentates are thrown into panic.”

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  5. #5
    Join Date: Jan 2021

    Location: Avening UK

    Posts: 48
    I'm Simon.

    Default

    Thanks for the replies and for moving it, I wasn't sure if it fit here.
    I do have a disco antistatic and cleaned that new lp before playing. It still pops and crackles and I think I can differentiate what is the occasional dust particle that may cause a mistracking for a few rpm vs. the more constant static noise that incidentally seems to build throughout playback. I am going to check if everything is earthed today first. I don't want to throw the towel in yet and am not short of money so might buy an RCM. Maybe i can hear someone's system who has one when the COVIDS over. Thanks.

  6. #6
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK

    Posts: 110,012
    I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by BultyBoy View Post
    Thanks for the replies and for moving it, I wasn't sure if it fit here.
    I do have a disco antistatic and cleaned that new lp before playing. It still pops and crackles and I think I can differentiate what is the occasional dust particle that may cause a mistracking for a few rpm vs. the more constant static noise that incidentally seems to build throughout playback. I am going to check if everything is earthed today first. I don't want to throw the towel in yet and am not short of money so might buy an RCM. Maybe i can hear someone's system who has one when the COVIDS over. Thanks.
    Sorry, Simon, those are dreadful things, only fit for the bin. You need something like this (chosen based on your available budget): https://thevinylfactory.com/features...l-connossieur/

    And as I said, static build up will become virtually a non-issue with the use of an RCM (and crucially the RIGHT fluid), and also good record-handling hygiene and storage habits.

    The other thing, aside from that, to ensure that noise is reduced on playback, is in ensuring *optimal* set up of your cartridge and arm, and the cartridge especially in terms of azimuth, as any misalignment there will accentuate distortion and noise - plus also choose a cartridge that doesn't inherently accentuate groove noise, which some 'posh' fine-line MCs are prone to doing!

    Out of interest, as I haven't read any of your previous posts, what T/T, arm and cartridge are you using?

    Marco.
    Main System

    Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.

    Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.

    Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.

    CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.

    Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.

    Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.

    Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.

    Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.

    Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.


    Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!

    Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!


  7. #7
    Join Date: Jan 2021

    Location: Avening UK

    Posts: 48
    I'm Simon.

    Default

    Ok, its the same as the knotting disco antistatic quoted earlier i think but other than looking nice it doesn't seem to do much. I have a Rega RP6 RB330 arm and Exact cartridge at 40 hours probably.

  8. #8
    Join Date: Apr 2009

    Location: Near Saffron Walden, Essex

    Posts: 7,087
    I'm Dave.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Marco View Post
    Sorry, Simon, those are dreadful things, only fit for the bin. You need something like this (chosen based on your available budget): https://thevinylfactory.com/features...l-connossieur/

    And as I said, static build up will become virtually a non-issue with the use of an RCM (and crucially the RIGHT fluid), and also good record-handling hygiene and storage habits.

    The other thing, aside from that, to ensure that noise is reduced on playback, is in ensuring *optimal* set up of your cartridge and arm, and the cartridge especially in terms of azimuth, as any misalignment there will accentuate distortion and noise - plus also choose a cartridge that doesn't inherently accentuate groove noise, which some 'posh' fine-line MCs are prone to doing!

    Out of interest, as I haven't read any of your previous posts, what T/T, arm and cartridge are you using?

    Marco.
    He is using a Rega P6 with Exact cartridge. The correct geometry is set by the third fixing screw in the headshell and the height of the cartridge designed for Rega arms.

    Rega cartridges are relatively unfussy when it comes to record imperfections and dust etc, part of their philosophy for trouble free listening.

  9. #9
    Join Date: Mar 2018

    Location: Twickenham

    Posts: 6
    I'm David.

    Default

    I'd try the problem records on a different turntable first. if acceptable i'd be taking my rega back and demoing my issue to the retailer, and asking for a cartridge or stylus swap. stylus would probably do it

    certainly in advance of making up my mind to spend 400 500 1000+ on a vacuum based cleaner

    why?

    i have a cheap stylus cockeyed in its mounting which when carefully aligned will track anything. even if it has groove damage
    i have a more expensive para trace for the same cartridge which is nosier and falls foul of the invisible but audible issue the previous stylus tracks.
    its great and worth the money to get it fitted...... in all aspects but this.

    every stylus even of the same design runs a slightly different path, if you have one at one end or the other of a pretty small manufacturing tolerance in respect to cut or in the rubber suspension it may not perform as well as it might. maybe it was made late Friday afternoon after a pub lunch

    my comparison is an elliptical with a paratrace which isn't quite fair

    but either way
    checking there is nothing wrong with the business end of the player would be my first port of call before investing a considerable amount in a cleaner that may not help in the way you need it to, at this point in your analysis.
    still a handy thing to have but you buy one to clean records and we don't know if yours, really need a good clean

    Dave
    Last edited by Dave999; 16-03-2021 at 17:11. Reason: spelling

  10. #10
    Join Date: Nov 2016

    Location: UK London

    Posts: 236
    I'm Chris.

    Default

    I have found to my cost in the past but a stylus that gets into the bottom of the groove will give you
    more snap crackle and pop, I have found that for less snap crackle pop run an eliptical stylus.
    That applies to clean records as well.
    Turntable : Project 2 Xperience Tone Arm & Cartridge : Project 9c Ortofon 2M Blue Phono Stage : Project Phono Box SE II Digital Source :Primare CD21 Integrated Amp : Primare I30 Speakers : ProAc 110 Headphones : Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro

    Revox A77 MK IV 2 track 15 & 7 1/2 IPS
    TEAC A-3300SX 4 track 7 1/2 & 3 3/4 IPS
    Akai 4000DS MkII

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