I only have one clarity vinyl LP -- Jethro Tull. The first copy I got was very noisy. The "clear" vinyl had black swirls in it. I examined these swirls under 10x magnification and found that I could actually see where the black substance protruded into the groove, hence..."POP"...or noise I'd been hearing. I retuned the LP and the replacement was better -- less swirls and less noise.I posted my comments about the LP on the well-known LP sellers site, but my comment never appeared. Hum. |
Madfloyd I'm glad you mentioned the cartridge! 2 things on the XV, I had read that it can supress surface noise (so I bought one and found it to be true in my system) and that in my system the ohm loading does make some difference to the noise supression. I run mine at 100ohm and I do have 9 4LP 45rpm box sets and the worst of them probably only has noise/clicks/pops on 2-5% of the whole record, usualy on the 1st or last track. Put differently, they may not be the quietest LPs I have (that honour belongs to the "cheap" Classical Decca/DeuGram etc from 2nd hand shops) but I have never had a reason to want to return one. My current most annoying LP is the Speakers Corner Miles Davis 'Round about Midnight, 1st/title track "breaks up" when the muted trumpet hits the high notes... Anyway I suppose that's why most of us flogged to CDs in the 80s, ticks & pops! So some of them ticks waited for us to come back :-) I guess with Classic Records "gone" one might not have too many options. You might be lucky to have someone pay you double for your "limited editions" and they sound perfect in their system! |
I have the "Somethin Else" Mono 45rpm set on Clarity. It's the only Classic record I have that sounds perfect. No noise, no pops. Beautiful. But the other six I've had(black vinyl 200g) range from "listenable but not really acceptable" to "complete rice crispy garbage".
The most frustrating thing is when someone who's never experienced it suggests you're doing something wrong like "your antiskate is off" "your vtf is too light". You mean my vtf is a problem for records made by one company but not for the hundreds of other records I have?
I'm really happy "Somethin Else" turned out right though. It sounds amazing. |
While it does sound a bit hit or miss, I guess I have been very unlucky.
I don't think it's tracking force (running a Dynavector XV-1s at 2.01) and other vinyl titles are fine.
I do seem to get more problems with 45 rpm though. Doug, what is the slow play test?
Ian |
Just to add more datapoints.....
I own the following three Classics Clarity releases:
Cannonball Adderley, Somethin' Else
John Coltrane: Blue Train
Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington: ? (I forget which one)
Each of these sounds superb. |
I purchased a couple of dozen Classic 180gm and they were all perfect. When they went to the 200gm I got about 1/2 that were from good to perfect,(a few pops to perfectly quiet) a few that were bad but not worth the trouble of sending back and about a third that were absolute garbage. My purchases were from Music Direct, Elusive Disk and Accoustic Sounds. Each of these companies completely backed the product and I can highly recommend them. I did get two sets of clarity vinyl and they are both fine but I again have written off classic records, primarily due to their response to this problem. They seem to completely ignore it and continue down the same path. |
I have four of the 45rpm box sets and all of them were noisy out of the box, after a wash. I washed them thrice more and the Holly Coles are still noisy (I have both).
For this kind of money one should get dead quiet vinyl without needing to clean it at all. An example, I bought The XX's debut lp for about $15 and this was on flimsy vinyl from a garage rock band and WOW so quiet! Not audiophile grade mastering but the LP was black like a CD. I paid $120 for my Holly Cole Temptations set... Great dynamics, i's are dotted, t's are crossed save for the vinyl itself. This concoction is in my opinion far more hype than anything else.
That said, I have regular older 180g black vinyl from Classics (like the Harry Belafonte Live at Carnegie) which are superb! So a hit and miss company. When I'm paying a premium for their so-called top offerings, I expect what I get from say Music Matters, let alone from a band like XX on whatever indie label they are on. |
Fromunda wrote:
"These records already cost a small fortune. They will refund or exchange."
Not true if you bought directly from Classic Records as I did--Troy Thompson refused to refund money as it is not "their policy." This is especially frustrating as my replacements were as noisy as the original discs, and took two months to receive to boot. As you can imagine, I'm not a happy customer.
Syntax--happy to hear you have silent discs. It's obviously very variable and, perhaps, title dependent. |
I only have the Lung by Tull on Clarity and Look of Love by Dusty.
noticeable pops, clicks, and some groove noise between tracks. Reference Tull I have an original pressing, the mofi, and the normal classic reissue.
I also treat them with love. SOTA record cleaner, with mofi enzyme, deep clean, regular clean rinse and then LAST record preservative and mo-fi replacement sleeve.
Despite the noise I prefer the sonics of the Clarity and find it to be the superior sounding of all the Aqualung pressings I have, BUT, you have to listen through some noise which I can deal with. |
Have you considered the possibility that your tracking force may be set too low and the stylus is skipping about in the grooves? |
Big star #1 Record and Radio City sound brilliant. Send them back, you should not stand for bad pressings and Classic Records know it.These records already cost a small fortune. They will refund or exchange. |
Ian,
Have you performed the slow play test on those noisy passages? It sounds like pressing flaws or bad vinyl to me, but you might as well find out definitively. Posting about it won't solve the mystery of any individual LP; investigation will.
|
I played a few of them and I am surprised about their sonic quality. The ones from me are dead silent and based on that I can listen to a superior dynamic range from the record. I was never really mad about their 200gr Pressings in comparison to the first 180gr release, but this clarity vinyl is a "break-through" in vinyl quality of today. My Clair de Lune in 33upm is top and the 2449-45 Gibson/Faust is unbelievable good. What a blockbuster.
Seems that there are still some problems with the cooling process when I read the lines above, but mine are good, |
I only have the Norah but it is excellent. |
I'm glad someone started this thread because my experience has been hit and miss, and VERY frustrating. I've come to believe the Clarity formulation is more hype and marketing than any science because while my Armstrong/Ellington sets are fine, my Jethro Tull Aqualung is among the noisiest discs I own--even after replacements. I agree with the OP--it's like fireplace is popping like mad in the same room. Ridiculous for this kind of money.
My other sets (Norah Jones and Holly Cole) fall in between these two extremes of noise, so overall, I am down on the formulation and would discourage anyone from spending their money on these sets. |
There are recordings of clarity vinyl 45rpm which I found the regular 180grams is better. Like for example: Royal Ballet - the yellow cover has a better recording. |
I have the following:
Somethin Else
Blue Train
Tull
Armstrong/Ellington Together for first time
They are all quiet with fantastic sonics. |
I have most of them and have had very good luck, they are all quiet and dynamic as Mofimadness.
The only one I have a problem with is PG's So, it is very hot on the treble, the vinyl is quiet. |
I have 8 or 9 of the 45RPM Classic Box Sets on Clarity Vinyl and have around 6 regular titles on Clarity Vinyl.
I find most of them to be excellent. Very quiet and dynamic. |
