Frustrated with Vinly

I'm  with longoriam I'd recheck the setup.  My phono is nearly as quiet as my cds

First post here.  I never understand the various posts about pops and clicks with vinyl.  Are people playing grey scratched up VG- copies?  The original post states that these are new records so I suppose not in this case.  There must be an equipment problem.  Cartridge/TT/phono stage?  I rarely hear a pop between songs, much less during the music.  Don’t give up on vinyl, one equipment upgrade and you will get to a place of musical nirvana.
Clearaudio emotion SE TT
Luxman Eq-500 phono stage 

Thanks for everyone's advice and suggestions. 

Much to digest.

By the way, any opinions on Thorens TT's, especially the TD 148a?

Thnx

tomic601 is spot on about seeking out a local dealer dedicated to vinyl. Many advocate cleaning brand new records. That practice may hold some value. It's difficult to find new vinyl pressings that equal the quality of those made during the "vinyl golden age" without paying a hefty price depending on the particular record.If there are the noises you hear on your vinyl that are inherent to the records, cleaning and anti static measures may lessen them. If there is a problem in your component setup, that's another story. Higher end phono systems tend to amplify record imperfections.Take your suspect records to that local expert and then go from there. Don't give up on vinyl. The reward is worth the effort.

Ultrasonic cleaning has indeed been an eye opener for myself Terry.

Now I wonder how I listened to anything before I had a set up!

As Roberjerman says, new vinyl is hit and miss. If you want flawless, you have to either get lucky with used, or spend big on MoFi. And ultra-sonic cleaning is worth the trouble, both in terms of noise and in terms of clarity.

Hi

Your frustration is something I completely understand. At the end of 2015, I thought it would be a good idea to start listing to LP's again. Do, dug out my 45 year old turntable, dusted it off, put a new cartridge in it and I was off to the races. Or so I thought...

Had all the same issues. The pops were driving me crazy, that and static. And, so began the arduous journey into cleaning records. Started with home brew formulas, various brushes, cloths and methods. 

Got a spin clean - which drove me crazy and made me want to walk away from records and cut my losses. The SC seemed to make more noise than it took away. I had replaced the TT with a new one at this point so there was a decision to make.

Problem is, records sound so sweet! (Plus I love the process of having to get up and put one on - took more commitment than streaming something from my computer)

Stubbornly kept at it and decided I was going to see it through.

As I was trying to sort out the cleaning, I was also trying to work my way through what pressing and from where and by who.

A friend of mine deals in UK pressings. He returns to "Jolly Old" three/four times a year and comes back with a stockpile of wonderful product. He was a big help in finding my way through the myriad of options for pressings. 

Picked up a RCM for a good price, and now listening is a joy. The Okki Nokki is by no means a high end machine. But, when the right care is taken. and right materials used during cleaning, I am very happy with the results.

Has completely changed my relationship with LP's. Now, if there is the odd snap, crackle or pop, it doesn't bother me as they are few and far between and more often then not, the result of a mark on the vinyl. 

There will be a point I suspect, where your collection grows to the point where you are "all in", and an RCM will become a part of the set up.

P

Regardless of what the artIcle says this is going back into my reassembly of my 70’s system. 😀

SAE 5000

http://www.swingmusic.net/sae.html

You have a well engineered phono stage, look elsewhere for the gremlin.
search hand washing records in sink for tips

I forgot about one album that I had bought and just played one of the tracks, Dire Straits On Every Street: You and Your Friend

I ran my anti-static brush on it before playing and cleaned the stylus. It played flawlessly, not even one pop or crackle.

Finally, some relief, lol.

But that tells me it's got to be the records and need better cleaning I assume.

Playing Tin Pan Alley by Stevie Ray Vaughan right now as I type and it has just a few crackle's, so that also makes me feel a little bit better. 

I think I tend to panic to quick. Going to need to get a better cleaning method/apparatus. 

By the way, I have another thread asking about opinions on some turntables but wanted to get a quick opinion, what do you all think of the Thorens TD 148a?

I do like the convenience of auto start and stop (especially the stop).

Thnx

Bdp24 is spot on with the possibility that a lot of ticks and pops that a lot of people assume is dirty vinyl is actually a Phonostage that is not quite right.

Now of course it could just be exactly dirty vinyl but I know when I " returned" to vinyl I was extremely underwhelmed with my entry level gear.

Don't give up though as once vinyl sings to you, well there's no turning back then.

And saying that I am sitting listening to a stupendous DVD-A recording right now, lol.😎😎

Pressing quality today is a lot more variable than in the past. And the hype of a 180 gram "audiophile" disk being naturally better is just BS!

@jay73 


some pop or tics in the new vinyls happens to me too but I don't despair.

Forgot to mention that I am alone in the audiophile world, lol.

Meaning, I don't have any friends or family who are into this hobby, otherwise I could have gone to them to compare.

Thnx

* Stylus x2 in above post ... at least I didn't type Needle ...

Thanks for all the suggestions.

As soon as I get some time, I am going to review all these suggestions again.

I forgot to mention that I have a Simaudio 110lp v2 phono stage. As far as I know that is a decent phono stage.

I do realize my TT is very entry level and I am currently researching some new tables. 

The music does sound good and I think it is the records themselves, not the equipment.

I am not doing a good job cleaning them.

I believe that is what I need to improve on.

Jay, you can simply visit some of your friends with better system to play your LPs. Because vinyl is vinyl, if you hear only pops and background noise and no "magic" then the system is very low quality. Normally in a very good system vinyl is pure magic and nobody cares about little pops and cracks, because you're almost there in the studio. It is only possible with great cartridges, tonearms, turntables, phonostages, amps, cables, speakers. Even tape has some hiss, this is nature of the analog media. 

If you're expecting sterile digital sound from vinyl or from tape you'd better stick to digital format.   

Dear @jay73 : Your Ortofon cartridge is ok but that Denon is a very low entry level to the analog world. You need not only a better Denon ( one direct drive model. ) TT but you need to buy a stand alone Phono Stage.

Anyway the LP noise don't really disappears not eben with top analog rigs. LP noise levels are intrinsec to this arcaic medium.
Today digital alternative is way superior.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.

Jay, if you haven't already read them, do a search for posts by member atmasphere (Ralph Karsten) on the subject of LP noise (clicks, pops) being exacerbated by poor RIAA phono pre-amps. By the way, you should list your table/arm/cartridge/phono amp.

IF u are in USA send me offending new album and I will clean it  gratis on my Nitty Gritty machine and return via media mail, your postage will be about $3.5 IF it’s not rap, hip hop or disco, I will play grade it for you.
also check the for sale here on aud, Jack Roberts often sells played once and cleaned on excellent machine LP at very reasonable prices - get yourself a reference disc :-)

Time to make friends with local brick and mortar audio shop that is passionate about vinyl, take your new record w issues in and ask to play. Patronizing them for supplies, setup, etc will help both of you. Maybe have them check your cartridge setup, rake angle can make noise much much worse! The static advice you got above is also spot on !
dont give up :-)
the spin clean is a worthy investment 

Cleaning will help quite a lot in eliminating noise.
Keep the Stylist clean.
Work on the Component / System Grounds and try grounding yourself when changing LPs.
Something like wrist strap ground wire to suitable ground.
Ground yourself when using a preen / the last step before dropping the Stylist.
You may want to try a Zero Stat as well.
Take heart ... the effort is worth while.