Vinyl cleanliness

10,000 LPSand counting!!

Lately I've taken to the 'finger' test, as a last resort.
Having regularly used L'Art du Son and MoFi cleaning fluids on my Okki Nokki, and they do a fantastic job, but sometimes I still get the odd stubborn 'click'.

Now I gently run my fingertips across the whole surface, and sure enough I can feel tiny specks, and under a magnifying glass I can remove them with a fingernail or toothpick.

I own close to 3000 albums. Most were brought used though i do have a few that I purchased myself up to 30 years ago. Out of that bunch, i have probably 500 that are as quiet as a CD. over 2000 may have an occasional click or pop. I have probably cycled through another 1500 that were noisy after cleaning that i kept only until i found a quiet copy. I am currently listening to a moody blues album that so far on one side had one click.

Now I clean with a RCM every record until it does not need cleaning (sometimes this takes up to 3 passes) then put in a clean sleeve. And I damp brush every time i play the record.

I would agree with Elizabeth. Also, I listen primarily to classical music, and I find that classical music lovers tend to take better care of their records, so even buying used I have had quite good luck with noise issues. Very few of the records I buy used do I have to get rid of due to too much noise. And I think I have only bought one new record that ever had any issues. Perhaps you should find a new source?

My experience is typical of the other posters . I use a carbon fiber brush and a spin clean. Most new stuff only needs the brush and they are very quiet. Even my wife who thinks vinyl is ridiclous can't believe how quiet the new stuff is. It was not that way years ago when all we had was vinyl in most cases.

I do have one older album (Dream of the Blue Turtles-Sting-Original Pressing) that is absolutely dead quite rivals my cd's for the absence of background noise.

Most of my albums are very quiet as well, with very few to no pops and ticks. (There will be some low level noise between tracks, but that is to be expected.)

One thing you can do to alleviate that problem is to wet clean your records and vacuum them dry before you play them, and that includes the brand new ones. Then use a carbon fiber brush before every play to get rid of any stray dust. This will keep your records from quickly accumulating pops and ticks. (However, nothing will keep them pristine forever, so the occasional pop and tick is to be expected and lived with, as that is just the nature of the beast.)

My two cents worth.

Several of my older Deutsche Grammophone records that I bought in the 70s are defect free and still very quiet after all these years. Only one or two in my rock collection could I say are defect free.

Almost all of the new albums I buy (acoustic sounds reissues, etc) have been absolutely dead quiet. The old stuff that I originally bought and took care of (over 40 years) - no ticks and pops (or very few) but some surface noise. Others given to me by friends who never took care of them - very, very noisey no matter how well cleaned.

My new vinyl records, even after 10 - 20 plays - are as quiet as digital. My surface noise on older ones and everything else in general was greatly reduced and on the new discs totally eliminated when I received the VPI Periphery Ring.

Bad quality vinyl will pop and click brand new even if cleaned with an RCM. It's because the vinyl itself is contaminated and there is nothing you can do to remove what's embedded in the pressing. I do have many albums that sound incredibly quiet, however, so it is possible. Most surface noise probably comes from damage done by incorrect set-up or simple carelessness. Part of the hobby, if you ask me, and well worth it.

It's also static; you can't get rid of it completely.
Japanese vinyl is usually very quiet.

Even very quiet records might have some light ticks. Usually it doesn't get in the way of the music.

none. But will have to admit that some of the new 180 gram vinyl starts out pretty amazingly quite . Favourite new albums ( Jeff Beck "Emotion and Commotion fer instance) do pick up surface noise after may be 30 to 50 plays - still not terrible.
The puzzle for me is how some albums I've had for 40 years and have got to have been played hundreds of times - still are remarkably quite - other after 20-30 plays sound pretty noisy ?

The albums that I bought new during the past 40 years 90%. The used albums that I have bought about 50%. Many of the extra "sounds" are not from surface contaminates that can be cleaned away, but from permanent vinyl damage either from poor cartridge alignment, worn out stylus use, or other inadvertent happenings while in the posession of the previous owners.

that's the medium. Its a mechanical device and it traces a record made of vinyl there has to be noise.I don't care how well designed a TT and Tonearm system is. It has to make some kind of noise other then whats recorded.