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I love the sound of vinyl, but I have come to see every new LP purchase as a shot in the dark regarding sound quality. I just spent about 80 bucks on two double LPs of contemporary jazz that I really liked on CDs from the ECM label. Yeah, the music from the LPs has all the qualities that I love, and it does sound "better" to my ears than that from the CDs, but it is infected with low level Rice Krispie crackle on both ECM records. I can hear it clearly during the quiet passages and even in the dead wax, and it pisses me off a little. Both records went through my routine cleaning procedure on my VPI 16.5 machine using a home-brew fluid and a thorough rinse with distilled water. The noise is probably baked into the vinyl. I seem to have several CD & LP versions of the same ECM release in which the CD is much quieter. Should I clean these LPs once more or just chant for serenity when I play them again?
Follow Ups:
I would clean again rather than go down without a fight. As you probably know, the design problem with vacuum cleaning is getting the air velocity just right. Too much power risks accelerating the carrier fluid so quickly that heavier particles that can't accelerate as fast fall out of suspension . perhaps your home brew travels more readily than the OEM stuff, I don't know.might be time to investigate ultrasonic cleaning, the new state of the art. it has a very successful record in the aerospace industry.
you might also investigate static mitigation. I haven't personally investigated this, but just saw a very effective high end music room video where the owner was using a battery powered electric spark BBQ lighter from amazon and said the plasma worked better than his zero stat gun. when the spark is straight, he knows the static charge is corrected.
of course, the first thing to check is the interface with the needle, mentioned here only for beginners.
all the best with your new records. which ones did you get? I enjoy that stuff so much.
Edits: 04/17/25
bc, I'm likely older than you so remember having a hand puppet I ordered for one of the three. That was too large for the cereal box.
I have many ECMs which overall have very good production qualities. But none of those are current production. I agree further investigation/cleaning may be called for.
"The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing, if you can fake that you've got it made." Groucho
I suppose that only on a vinyl audio forum would one find participants having an "old off" contest . come to think of it, I might have had to save box tops and mail away for the three guys. I doubt if money was involved , at my young financial situation. . but I did greatly enjoy puppets , back when kids made hand puppets out of brown paper bags , and the marionette howdy dudey was on tv. along with other hand puppets . my favorite was probably Cecil the seasick sea serpent.the last time I mentioned boxed cereal to a young single mother of two, she said cereal was now five dollars a box, and her kids could forget about getting any.
Edits: 04/18/25
as the Rice Krispies hand puppet I received a Howdy Doody marionette for Christmas. That was not anything I ask for but I watched the show on TV. So "Santa" probably thought I'd like having one.
One Christmas gift I loved at that age or earlier was the 78 album of Spike Jones performing The Nutcracker Suite. ;^)
"The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing, if you can fake that you've got it made." Groucho
I have a friend who has an ultrasonic cleaner and will run these LPs through his system to see if anything improves. Maybe it is time for me to move to a new record cleaning technology. And my static regimen consists of a zap from the Milty ZeroStat. My wife, who was a professional photographer, has a more powerful device that she used to use in the old days of film to control static on negatives. I'm going to dig that out and give these LPs a blast. Thanks.
Let us know how you get on. I use a manual RCM and still get some clicks and pops from an otherwise silent disc and wonder if ultrasonic would take care of those (?). Discs with a lot of crackle I assume are bad pressings and beyond saving. Regarding static, you can get a humidity monitor for only $10 on amazon so you can correlate to see if you get more clicks when humidity is low.
The way I am removing most "rice cripsies" is to combine ultrasonic cleaning with manual brushing after before each ultrasonic cycle -- usually I can get most of the static and pops to go away from a 'restoration' (one such product: Kirmuss Ultrasonic Restoration System) or 'revive' (I posted on this forum on how I use my Degritter to do this).
Takes time to do per record; but IMHO the sonic results make it VERY WORTH IT.
Thanks,
Martin
Take the hit. I don't buy new vinyl anymore. The last new one I bought I had to exchange for another one that had a different defect that I could live with.
With streaming, even my used vinyl purchases are decreasing.
My older ECM pressings are very clear and quiet. My only problem has been the choice of music by ECM, but that is my problem.
If your cleaning procedure has not changed with other records that don't result in Rice Krispies, then it sounds like recent ECM pressings are at fault. I am assuming that you have recently cleaned other new albums as well.
Like you, I have a number of older ECM pressings that are dead quiet. And most of them seem to be US pressings. And I agree that much of ECM's music is an acquired taste.
I have found that since I bought a Ortofon cartridge, the Cadenza Bronze, with a Replicant 100 stylus and a Degritter RCM noise on LPs is neglible.
I dream of an America where a chicken can cross the road without having it's motives questioned.
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