Restoring Vinyl

JonB1001

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Following a recent upgrade to Rega RP3/Brio R, a lot of snap, crackle and pop is now very evident on some of my older vinyl. This is stuff I've had since I was a student in the early 1990s when my priorities didn't include looking after future classic LPs! For example, I was enjoying Isaac Hayes' 18 minute rendition of "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" off the Hot Buttered Soul LP but was slightly distracted by the fact it appeared Isaac was also deep fat frying chips in the back ground!

Any recommendations?
 
You could get them cleaned on a professional machine if you have a good dealer in you neighbourhood. Failing that you could have a go yourself using the Knosti Disco Antistat device. However, if they are too far gone there is no recovery, apart from buying another copy.
 

Jim-W

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I've got a feeling that the fat-frying crackle was just Isaac preparing for his future role as Chef in South Park as he was recording. I wouldn't worry about it.

Seriously, look at the gooves of your record. What is it that's causing the noise? Are they dirty, mouldy or scratched? You should be able to see something if the record is making that much noise.

As Al said, if it's scratches you'll have to get new copies, but it sounds like the grooves are clogged with dirt to me.
 

thescarletpronster

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I second the vote for a Knosti Disco-Antistat. If you've just got a few affected LPs, then it'll probably be easier to take them into a hi-fi or second-hand record shop (if any still exist where you live) to get them professionally cleaned, and if you're super-serious about cleanliness of vinyl you might want to splash out several hundred pounds on one of these machines for yourself, but if you have lots of vinyl that's dirty and just want it to sound good, a Knosti is a very good compromise.

There's a thread about them <a href=""http://www.whathifi.com/forum/turntables-and-lps/knosti-disco-anti-stat">here</a>." They cost about £40-£50, and it's highly recommended <em>not</em> to use the fluid supplied, as that can leave a residue on the vinyl which then gets on to your stylus. Instead, make your own fluid - there are several recipes suggested on that thread. My best tip is if you have particularly dirty vinyl, do a first run with tap water with a bit of white vinegar and a few drops of washing-up liquid (or dishwasher rinse aid, if you have it), and throw that liquid away after every couple of discs. It costs virtually nothing, so you're not losing out. Then when you've got the worst off, put them through a second time using a solution based on distilled, deionised water, and as most of the dirt was taken off by the first run, this solution will last a lot longer. I made the mistake of cleaning my dirtiest records first, and was astounded by the results, but of course subsequent records were made worse, because some of the dirt from the first ones ended up on them, so I had to clean them again.
 

JonB1001

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Jim-W said:
I've got a feeling that the fat-frying crackle was just Isaac preparing for his future role as Chef in South Park as he was recording. I wouldn't worry about it.

Seriously, look at the gooves of your record. What is it that's causing the noise? Are they dirty, mouldy or scratched? You should be able to see something if the record is making that much noise.

As Al said, if it's scratches you'll have to get new copies, but it sounds like the grooves are clogged with dirt to me.

No apparent scratches so I'm just assuming we are talking about 20/30/40yrs of accumulated dirt. I've brushed them off fairly regularly. Also, post clean, is it also worth getting new anti-static sleeves? I've seen the Nagaoka ones.
 
JonB1001 said:
Jim-W said:
I've got a feeling that the fat-frying crackle was just Isaac preparing for his future role as Chef in South Park as he was recording. I wouldn't worry about it.

Seriously, look at the gooves of your record. What is it that's causing the noise? Are they dirty, mouldy or scratched? You should be able to see something if the record is making that much noise.

As Al said, if it's scratches you'll have to get new copies, but it sounds like the grooves are clogged with dirt to me.

No apparent scratches so I'm just assuming we are talking about 20/30/40yrs of accumulated dirt. I've brushed them off fairly regularly. Also, post clean, is it also worth getting new anti-static sleeves? I've seen the Nagaoka ones.

Always a good idea, not necessarily the Nagaoka ones, because decaying paper sleeves of old are the main culprits when it comes to dusty records. Bin all your old ones. Also a good idea to get a carbonfibre antistatic brush and use this on every record before putting that needle in the groove.
 
B

BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW

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Go for a Knosti antistat, but my best advice would be to not use tap water, ever. I bought a load of records at the weekend, and one of them was barely playable, with constant crackling, so I put it through the Knosti, spinning for 20-30 seconds in both directions, I then place the spindles of the supplied clamps in my drill, tighten carefully, and spin all the excess fluid off the record. I used to let the records drain, but I found that some particles would dry on the record, and you'd still get the occasional pop. The supplied fluid is ok, but some people have complained of a residue which clogs up on the needle. There's loads of advice on here for homemade fluids, but let me reiterate, don't use tap water, I did in the past, and it knackered a couple of records of mine.

http://www.conrad-electronic.co.uk/ce/en/product/345296/Disco-Antistatic-Record-Cleaner/?ref=search&rt=search&rb=1

Antistatic sleeves are good, but personally I don't bother.
 
JonB1001 said:
Thanks for the cleaning solution tip. I'll check out the Knosti machine. I have a collection of 800+ LPs so I think this is the way to go.

Crikey. If they all need a clean your in for a long winter with the Knosti. It would also be very expensive getting them all done professionally. Cheaper to actually buy your own record cleaning machine and sell it on after you are done.
 

JonB1001

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Thankfully not all of them need cleaning - It was only Isaac that was frying chips at the weekend. Neil Diamond, Leftfield, Yes, Firehose and De La Soul were fine (I have varied musical tastes - for which I thank John Peel). I'd estimate maybe about 100 of them need some attention. Also, most of the vinyl I buy is used and I guess I can then just work through the rest of them at my leisure.
 
B

BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW

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Al ears said:
JonB1001 said:
Thanks for the cleaning solution tip. I'll check out the Knosti machine. I have a collection of 800+ LPs so I think this is the way to go.

Crikey. If they all need a clean your in for a long winter with the Knosti. It would also be very expensive getting them all done professionally. Cheaper to actually buy your own record cleaning machine and sell it on after you are done.

I did a thousand + with my Knosti in one month (work was very quiet at the time). I was staying up through the night to watch the victorious Ashes series, and it gave me something to do while watching the cricket. Was hard work though, and incredibly tedious.
 

Jim-W

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I don't think brushing makes a huge amount of difference if the dirt is erm established and embedded. Looks like they jus need a good clean so there's nothing to worry about. If they don't sound great after a clean, the stylus will remove a certain amount of debris that you've loosened so don't panic until you've played them through twice. Nagaoka sleeves are fine; I don't bother but they're a good idea because dirt and static, oh and sunshine are your enemies.

Choose whatever cleaning method takes your fancy; there's some excellent advice already. There's nothing more satisfying in the whole world than restoring cacked up records: I love it! Even if there's a few clicks or pops after you've cleaned them so what? Record collecting is much more than building a pristine collection of mint originals. Well, that's my opinion.
 

iMark

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Last night I offered friends to take a bunch of old records home to digitise them. Very optimistically I said to them that my recording software (Vinyl Studio) does pop and crackle removal.

I tried the first record of an opera box set today and it was completely unlistenable. Not just pops and crackle, serious distorted sound. I have a feeling that these records may have been played with something like Lencoclean. (Yuk). But of course they may have been played with a worn stylus. Anyway, I wanted to get a Knosti anyway to clean some second hand records I bought earlier this year. So I ordered one through Conrad and should arrive in a couple of days. I will let you know how I got on with the opera records.

The second hand Minidisc deck I bought a couple of years ago works great as a cheap ADC. Fortunately I have a rather old MacBook which has optical in so I have an optical connection between the ADC and the computer. I can leave the MacBook near the stereo. After the recording I transfer the files to Vinyl Studio on the Mac Mini in my study for relaxed titling, editing, pop and crackle removal and sometimes CD burning. I have thought of looking for a better ADC, but to my ears the recordings I made in Apple Lossless 16/44 sound great.
 

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