Anyone Get a Degritter for Xmas?

I received the Degritter, read the manual and had it cleaning records within one and one-half hours. I am absolutely delighted with the results. Dirty old LPs so noisy I considered them unlistenable come out sparkling clean and play amazingly quieter. I couldn’t be more delighted.

I look forward to the autumnal equinox when I hope to buy a new DEQX DSP to replace my DEQX HDP4.

12-2-2021 I wrote:  "I am not getting a Degritter for Christmas, but barring financial catastrophes I plan to get one to celebrate the Vernal Equinox."

 

Today March 20 is the vernal equinox.  I ordered the Degritter from Music Direct yesterday.  I will report my experience with it later.

I didn’t wait for Christmas, my birthday is early December so I have it now (my present to me). Now that I have the Degritter! I can pop a reasonably clean LP in the machine go do something else, and come back to a clean and dry album.

I am newly back into vinyl and I will buy used albums without fear because I clean them well. Kirmuss in conjunction with a Spin clean is what I had been using. I would stack LPs for a cleaning session which would take hours and hours to get through, I still stack really dirty albums until it is worth the time to clean them, but they now get the Spin clean, Kirmuss, Degritter treatment. The dirty albums stack goes faster too because I have changed the procedure to incorporate the Degritter. Degritter is a game changer!

@jgreen19: Like your preferred inner sleeves, the thickness of the VSS inners prevents them from "bunching up" as you slide the LP into either the cardboard jacket or outer plastic sleeve, as can happen with the thinner MoFi (and other) sleeves. The open end is also identified with arrows, as are the MoFi.

When I put everything into outer sleeves, I switched from having the LP’s inside the cardboard cover to outside, laying alongside the cover inside the outer sleeve. MUCH better! With the VSS double-pocket models (available in both 2mil and 4mil versions, and with either a resealable or tuckable flap), the open end of the sleeve can be at either the top or the backside. I installed mine with the open end on the same side as the cardboard cover’s open side. With the LP installed in the LP rack, the record is completely protected from dust.

One reason I don’t like the IKEA Kallax racks---popular with record collectors---is that the back of the rack is open, allowing dust easy access to the open end of LP covers. The EKET I prefer has a closed back, preventing that. $55 for a 4-cubicle model. I have twelve of them, stacked three high by four wide.

@bdo24: YES!!!!! they are incredible!! I only get the 4 mil which has a disadvantage of taking up more space than the thinner ones but I just feel safer with the extra protection (I also have 3 kids!!). How do you like the 4mil inner sleeves?  I’m IN LOVE with the Diskeeper Audiophile Inner Sleeves. I’m pretty sure they are 4 mil. But what I like the most about them is they don’t crumple up when putting them in the VSS pockets. I also like the arrows pointing to the opening. I always point the arrows to the side when putting them in the VSS pockets to keep dust out of the top.  So easy… Im also crazy… I replace ALL my inner sleeves.  I’ve noticed dust and debris in brand new mofi or QRP inner sleeves… that with the combo of loving the Audiophile Diskeeper sleeves so much I just replace all of them. I know this thread is about Degritter, but after you clean your records you want them to stay clean and protected so that’s what I do. 

@jgreen19: The Vinyl Storage Solutions outer sleeves are fantastic, aren’t they? I recently put all my LP’s in various models of Michael’s sleeves: 2mil resealable double pocket with 2mil multi-purpose on gatefold covers, two 2mil resealable double pocket on gatefold double LP’s, 4mil resealable double pocket on thin-jacket UK LP's (including 60’s Beatles, etc.), 3mil single pocket with flap on some LP’s, 3mil no flap on sonically mediocre LP’s and 12" 45’s. It took a week to sleeve them all, but now I just have to do LP’s as they come in.

The VSS inner sleeves are real nice too: just like the MoFi, but thicker: offered in both 3mil and 4mil, the MoFi being 2mil.

The Degritter might be the best 3K I’ve spent on my analog system. I pretty much only buy audiophile reissues, 98% of the time brand new still sealed….. they still have dust and plastic debris from the manufacturer. First thing I do, is take out the new record and run it through the full 10 min Heavy setting on the degritter. I’ve compared the 3 settings and Heavy gives the best result.  While that’s chugging along, I put the album cover in a 4mil protection outer sleeve with a pocket from Vinyl Storage Solutions in Canada. I then put the record in a Diskeeper Audiophile Inner Sleeve from Sleve City.  Your records, new or old, will never sound better and will be extremely protected. If you can manage, get one. 

I am not getting a Degritter for Christmas, but barring financial catastrophes I plan to get one to celebrate the Vernal Equinox.

I've been using a Degritter for a couple months after using a Cleaner Vinyl setup for several years. With the Cleaner vinyl, I would wait and clean in batches because of the set up time.  With the Degritter, even though it cleans and dries one at a time, I clean records much more frequently.  It is so easy to start and stop.  No prep, no cleanup. This is particularly useful when I'm playing a record I cleaned awhile ago and realize it's time for another cleaning.  Bam!  Done!!! Glad I made the plunge.

 

I think the pops/clicks were damage done by mishandling (previous owner???) or in manufacturing. I don't know that they disappear. I think the Degritter may give such a good cleaning that everything is easier to hear. A good thing in most all cases I'm sure, but with the few that have some noise, a catch 22. 

I have used a VPI 16.5 w/ Audio Intelligent solutions for many years. I have the one step (#6) and 2 step (#15), requiring a distilled H2O rinse. 

I have an Audio Desk and I admit it's not cheap.

And it's added life to my LP collection which includes albums I bought in the 80s. (About 300).  I have cleaned all my records and clean every record I buy before playing. 

It does make a difference as does using high quality sleeves and keeping records from getting dirty.

I've owned the Degritter for almost a year now and have cleaned about 600 albums so far. It's an excellent and reliable machine but I wouldn't  buy one for the sole purpose of removing ticks and pops on otherwise good albums. It's just "ok" in that regard. It does better removing noise from dirty albums than it does for random ticks and pops, but so does my Okki Nokki rcm. My experience with it also shows that on "some" albums, ticks and pops actually increased after the Degritter cleaned them and got worse with further cleanings! A friend of mine who lives nearby, has experienced the same thing with some albums with his Degritter. Not sure why this is with some albums (newish) and not with others. Must be the vinyl formulations. Not sure. What I would buy one for though is for better sonics. Most albums do sound a bit better after cleaning them either the Degritter. I can say the same for my rcm, but the Degritter takes it up another notch. Not to mention that the Degritter is much more convenient to use.

I got one last year and I love it! I've cleaned a few hundred albums through it and have had no trouble whatsoever - everything works as advertised. I did have one question I needed to ask them, and they are very responsive; I heard back within a day.... 

I bought one this time last year and I couldn’t be happier. It does a great job at removing most of the dirt and leaves your records static free. Static was the main problem with my Nitty Gritty 1.0. That and the time and effort required to properly clean a record.

In my experience, the Degritter saved some of my records that had previously been practically unlistenable, but not all. It is not a miracle worker. Some records are beyond repair.

So, if you have a large collection (it doesn’t make sense to buy one for a smaller collection if you consider the cost per record to clean), have a decent playback system that will reveal the lower noise floor, and if you have realistic expectations about what the machine can and cannot do, then I can wholeheartedly recommend buying one.

 

Go Estonia! Home of the Degritter. Small but very invovative country.

I wish I could afford a Degritter.

I have had a Degritter for a week. I was prepared for some improvement in my playback after reading the many reviews and watching many YouTube video. 

I was quite unprepared at how much better everything sounds after a run through the degritter. A tape quality silence on a clean record free of any scratches.

Considering the increase in sonic quality (not subtle) it is real value for money.  

Somebody told me to play a new record once before cleaning. The stylus will loosen up some ground in debris. However, one would think that cleaning also helps protect your stylus.

The defroster is on my list for 2021

cerrot

I picked one up a few months ago and count not be happier. Obvious sonic improvement - even on clean, brand new records.

I don’t have a Degritter - I use a Klaudio US machine - but your experience doesn’t surprise me at all. LPs aren’t pressed in clean rooms, so even new ones have some dust or other contaminants on them. And there is dust in even the cleanest homes; if you need proof, just observe any sunbeam streaming through a window. Dry brushes can remove only the most obvious dust. And the "sweep arm" type brushes actually grind some of the dust into the LP surface. They should only be used on LPs that have been properly cleaned first, if at all. I find them useless. They can be a Band Aid for static problems, but I don’t think they’re the best solution even for that.

Visible dust on your stylus is proof that your records aren’t clean. It’s amazed me for years that many audiophiles have never heard a truly clean record.

I picked one up a few months ago and count not be happier. Obvious sonic improvement - even on clean, brand new records.

Not an owner yet but doing my research I most likely am buying it..I been using Spin clean for a while and some what happy with my results..BUT. Degritter might not be the BEST machine,, but it will sure be ALOT better than spin clean. I'm getting tired cleaning records it can be a lot of work and time..i know it a lot of money but I want to just relax and let a machine do all the work..thats just my personal opinion....

If you have dirty records or buy used records it will do the job nicely. If I were to buy a record cleaning machine it would be on my short list. However IMHO the best path to clean static free records is not to let them get dirty in the first place. All it takes is careful handling, a dust cover and a grounded sweep arm like this one  https://www.sleevecityusa.com/Antistatic-Record-Cleaning-Arm-p/tac-01.htm.
Very short money. Another important issue is you must not put records in paper sleeves. Paper is low on the triboelectric series. It loves to hold on to static. Get rice paper sleeves and switch to them when you open the record for the first time. Many of the better records have them already. If there is important info or art on the inner sleeve just save it in the cover next to the record. 

Mike