2. analog
  3. 1124430620

battling the pops and clicks

I recently put together an vinyl rig (Nottingham Horizon w/Dynavector 10x5 and Whest phono stage) I am really liking the sound, and I see what all the talk is about for sure. This setup really gives my Ayre D1xe digital setup a run for the money, and if it weren't for the pops and clicks I think I would certainly prefer the sound overall. This is saying a lot considering the price gap between my digital and analog setup.

I have the VPI 16.5 and disc doctor brushes and cleaning fluids and have spent some time and effort to fully clean my records in an effort to eliminate all noise. I bought quite a few new 180 gram records so I would have a good idea of what sound vinyl has to offer. I also have plenty of dusty old records from years back, which is the real reason I wanted a turntable to begin with. As much as I work at cleaning the records, it seems no amount of work will eliminate the pops and clicks. The more I focus on trying to get rid of them the more it bugs me. It seems to happen just as much with the new records as the old ones.

What I'm wondering is, do I need a better table and cartridge if I expect to listen to records with total silence? Or what am I doing wrong with my current setup? I've followed the cleaning instructions very closely and even taken it a step further by adding additional rinsing cycles with distilled water. I've used stylus cleaner and of course always used the carbon fibre dry brush before playing, and clean sleeves too.

The cleaning has reduced the noise, pops and clicks greatly, but in my opinion, more is still there than I would consider acceptable. Is this something that you just learn to tune out from or is there a way to fix it completely?

thanks, -Ryan
ejlif

Showing 2 responses by inpepinnovations1e75

inpepinnovations1e75
395 posts
 
I have once wondered that if we were to introduce "snaps, crackles and pops" to a CD would we prefer the "bettersounding" CD to a pristine CD? Oh, and also add the interchannel phase error prevelant on vinyl that is so attractive to vinylphiles, making it sound "so much more real".
I love my vinyl music, but I do not think that, except for some extremely well done recordings, vinyl is superior to digital - certainly not from a noise point of view.

Bob P.
inpepinnovations1e75
395 posts
 
Well Lugnut, I also lived through the LP period and took good care (and still do) of my records. Ticks and pops were a fact of life then and to mitigate I also used compensating devices, the Phase Linear Auto correlator being the primary one, which BTW, also adds another 10db of dynamic range to the dynamic range challenged LPs of that time and also, dare I say, to LPs of today.
I don't think that the "current status of analog" is any different than yesteryear, except for some improvements in cartridges and, vinyls of today are not any better made than those of 30 years ago (probably worse, in fact) and they still suffer from the same limitations of surface noise and dynamic range. I would also wager that most of the vinyl being produced these days are from a digital source and probably, at least, are quieter due to no tape noise - but the tics and pops are still there and the dynamic compression.
Bob P.
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