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Relaxing Records for Better Sound - Using the AFI FLAT

I am re-posting my review under a new heading.  While this is a device for taking out warps, I think its RELAX function, which improves sonics, is of greater import.

I have had a FLAT (that does have a nice ring to it) for several months and here are my impressions:

1.     I love the look and what appears to be very solid German design and construction.

2.     Its operation is straight-forward and it has performed without any issues. The only thing I would note is that, as stated in the user manual, the cool-down cycle will not function properly in very warm ambient temperature. It basically cannot fully complete the cool-down cycle. After confirming this for myself (I am guessing the room temperature was around 27 or 28 C) I from then on ran it with my aircon on (24 C ambient temperature) for the cool-down cycle with no issues.

3.     I have found its ability to flatten records excellent, five stars. This is described as the Standard function. I thought that I would have limited use for this feature, but since getting the FLAT I have been much more observant and found that quite a few new records that I have bought are dished. The Standard cycle has successfully flattened all my warped records.

4.     It also has another function, Relax, which is of much interest. This is a milder version of the Standard cycle. Unfortunately, there is zero description, apart from how to operate it, that I could find in the 19 page user manual on this. I wanted to know what Relax is meant to accomplish and whether it can be used on both played and unplayed records, and new and old. I have been told, but have not been able to substantiate, that the designer believes it to release something trapped in the vinyl during pressing. I wanted to know whether there is any audible difference using this cycle so I managed to find two identical unplayed records in my collection of Joni Mitchell’s “Blue”. They are US pressings but not the original 1971 pressing but must have been a subsequent Warner Bros/Reprise “Super Saver Series” reissue which I picked up around 1987-88. I checked that they had identical Matrix/Runnout identifiers. I cleaned both with my KLAudio Mk2 cleaner and used the Relax cycle on one. A day later I played the non Relaxed record with a friend with excellent audio ears. The recording quality was not the best. We then put on the Relaxed record. We were both amazed. There was a very significant difference. The non Relaxed record was irritating and the Relaxed record was transformed to listenable.

5.   I later listened to a 1987 German pressing on Warner Brothers of “Shaka Zulu” by Ladysmith Black Mambazo. I would have had this record for over 25 years but had not played it. I had washed it with a KLAudio Mk1 in Nov 2014. It is an excellent recording and pressing. I put it through the FLAT’s Relax cycle and listened to it again. It is not often that I can compare two events separated by 18 hours and categorically be sure of the outcome. The recording had a significant increase in ambient information that turned an excellent recording into something special. I think also that the soundstage was improved in width and solidity.

6.     The Relax cycle will only take out the mildest of warps. Nearly all warps need the Standard cycle.

Since, I started to Relax FLAT all my best recordings. I highly recommend this device to take out warps, and also more importantly for me, to Relax favourite recordings for improved sonics. I would not be without it.

All the best,
128x128bluewolf
teo_audio
2,197 posts
 
thermal de-stressing of 3d prints can yield a 20% (and more) increase in the strength of the printed item. It’s a form of annealing.

due to how records are made, de-stressing and gaining an improved sound quality is most definitely a very real thing.

think of how the vinyl is pressed. to be country simple about it, the vinyl is very poorly handled and is definitely poorly stressed, or notably  over stressed, in bizarre ways, when they 'stamp' a record. the stressing of the vinyl particles or overall slurry, or thick lump, is extremely far from optimal or even.

A huge thing, depending on the given individual record and how much effort one want to put into reaching pinnacles.

It would be difficult to give a perceived increase in the vinyl qualities re the before and after of thermal destressing, but as a relatable point, wars are won or lost, formula one and tour de france races are won or lost, over less than 1% in differences.

Meaning, if I, as a person looking to enjoy, to find some minimal rapture in the playing of a record..if I could gain a feeling we might quantify as being, oh, akin to 5% ’higher’, or more satisfied and I regularly spend lots life and or money in this area, to try and get there..then de-stressing the records makes a real kind of sense.

If one has a large LP collection and listens regularly and spends decent sums on cartridges, turntables, amps, cables, room treatment, etc, then de-stressing the vinyl can be a notable thing, equivalent to a component upgrade, the kind heard across all records, not just one or two.
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
I do not have any warped records. If I get one that is warped I send it back. Records that are stored upright under moderate pressure out of any direct light or heat source do not warp.
I would like someone to explain to me how heating up a record then cooling it off can make it sound better assuming the record was not warped to begin with. 
When you anneal metal you are making it softer and more malleable. You are taking the temper out. You can not temper PVC thus you can not anneal it. When you heat it up it expands and when you cool it down it contracts. You do not change it's durometer permanently.
surge's avatar
surge
29 posts
 

@mijostyn You are not looking closely enough or you have vacuum hold or a clamp. 80% of the records I buy are warped. If I sent them back then 80% of the replacements would also be warped, and I would be spending all my free time shipping and getting mad at the retailers. The AFI is excellent. Much better than the Orb. A must have if you’re serious about vinyl. 

Ag insider logo xs@2x
rauliruegas
13,052 posts
 

Dear @surge  : You are rigth and not only the 80% but 100% because exist micro-warps. Analog is full of " errors " and the pressing of LPs are inside those " errors " analog chain. We all know that analog is far away to be perfect but it's what several of us like to listen.

 

Regards and enjoty the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,

R.

dogberry
649 posts
 

Many years ago I bought the first iteration of the Vinyl Flat and Groovy Pouch. I have had about half a dozen unplayable records (I'm not really interested in treating minor warps where the record still plays. Heresy to some, but there we are. Raul, I don't want to argue with you- but 'microwarps' that do not cause the stylus to leave the groove don't concern me. You may now condemn me!) since then and I think all but one were improved to the point of looking flat and becoming playable without any sonic degradation apparent to my ear.

I know I'd like to have an Orb, but I cannot justify the price for the number of discs I wish to flatten—and there is a risk: the one that did not improve was flattened but damaged. Prior to treatment it threw off the stylus at an edge warp, and after treatment, whilst flat the grooves at the area of the edge warp were very, very noisy! So I'm at 5/6 success rate already, and $2kCDN isn't needed for an Orb. But I have just spent a lot less on ordering the new version of the Groovy Pouch with three heat settings (my old one is on or off) and a digital thermometer, plus the new soft Groovy Rings to try instead of the older hard kind. I have many boxes of inherited records that I have no interest in. Perhaps I should warp a couple and then try to flatten them with the old and the new Groovy Rings and Pouches. Science and all that.

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