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Posted by DJ Mikey Mike on May-31-2003 02:14:

Pops/Crackles

what actually causes pops and crackling on a record? is it just buildup of dust, dirt, hairs etc. ? I live in a house with 3 fecking cats, and altho i try and shut my bedroom door when i leave i sometimes forget. As a result i come back sometimes and my cat has left hairs all over the floor, and my vinyls end up with hairs onto. I use a carbon fibre brush, but im not very satisfied with this coz this often leaves bristles on the vinyl making it worse. Im quite worried now, coz a couple of my vinyls have developed 1 or 2 rather loud pops, like on my solid sleep vinyl for example. So yea i was just wandering is there anything i can do to remove pops. How about just water? or any recommend kits, etc.

Cheers for any help

Mike

Posted by DaveSZ on May-31-2003 02:41:

bah I know what you mean.

I just got my sunday club healing dream record, and on the original mix at the very beginning of the orig. mix it crackles for like 8 seconds and the rest plays perfect. It's used though (and was real cheap), but it looks like the beginning of the track barely has any groove and the rest does. At least I'm getting in another copy so hopefully that will be better. That's the shittyness aspect of vinyl for ya.

Posted by Lanithium on May-31-2003 03:04:

i get alot of new records that come in like this... and no matter how much i clean them it just wont go away!

the worst i've found are tunes by euphonic on white label, every single one i have (5) has crackling n poping all the way thru! they are unplayable

make sure you are cleaning your records the right way (anti clockwise) otherwise you will just be rubbing the dust back into the groove

Posted by DjJade on Jun-01-2003 03:42:

i know some popping happens when you stop a record while the needle is still on the groove after it has been playing...the needle gets hot and burns a spot on the groove.

other than that its probably dust. i know they make machines that use a cleaning solution and actually sucks the solution out along with whatever is deep in the grooves. those are really expencive i vaguely remember plans for making a similar machine that uses a conventional vacuum cleaner

http://www.needledoctor.com/app/sit...category.106/.f

i use gruv-glide pretty religiously and my records look and sound very clean..even the older ones.

Posted by DJ Mikey Mike on Jun-14-2003 17:58:

quote:
Originally posted by Lanithium

make sure you are cleaning your records the right way (anti clockwise) otherwise you will just be rubbing the dust back into the groove

ahh thats actually a good tip. when ive used my carbon brush i hav always gone against the groove but ive never really thought why.

quote:
Originally posted by DjJade

i know some popping happens when you stop a record while the needle is still on the groove after it has been playing...the needle gets hot and burns a spot on the groove.

other than that its probably dust. i know they make machines that use a cleaning solution and actually sucks the solution out along with whatever is deep in the grooves. those are really expencive i vaguely remember plans for making a similar machine that uses a conventional vacuum cleaner

http://www.needledoctor.com/app/sit...category.106/.f

cheers for the link

as a matter of fact i discovered on closer inspection of my solid sleep vinyl that there is a very tiny scratch. so small that the needles only skips over it once. its in a very awkward place tho For those that are familiar with the tune, its rite on the intro where the bass cuts out and there is a couple of seconds of almost silence before the tune kicks back in. In other words i couldnt think of a more shitter place for a scratch to be. lol. will hav to buy another one i think, but im really gona hav to start taking care of my tunes!

any more help replies are welcomed

Posted by DjJade on Jun-15-2003 00:22:

quote:
In other words i couldnt think of a more shitter place for a scratch to be. lol.

isnt that where they always are lol... so many of mine are like that... : \

Posted by Dj Flesch on Jun-15-2003 13:56:

I'm not quite sure if this is hearsay, but I'll write down what I had believed caused pops and crackles.

Pops are caused by a buildup of static electricity. The actual pop is the discharge of electricity between the vinyl and the tip of the needle. Once this happens, it is analogous to a lightning bolt hitting your groove. Of course this will burn a spot in your groove and once it's there, it is very hard to get rid of.

Crackles, I believe are caused by dust, hair or other small particles that get burned into your groove. This is why they are usually much longer of a sound than pops because it occupies much more space than a pop defect. Think of it this way, an electric discharge will burn a point defect into your groove. A particle will get caught under the needle and dragged through your groove from millimeters to inches, depending on how big the particle is.

The best way that I have found to take care of this is to clean your records before your first play, and coat them with Gruv Glide, as Dj Jade has suggested. Gruv Glide has been recommended by many audiophiles as a great way to maintain the highest fidelity possible. It helps eliminate static buildup and allows your needle to flow through the groove easier. You can read more about what the product does at www.gruvglide.com .

I started a thread about cleaning vinyl about a week or so ago, and there was like one reply. It gave me the impression that you guys aren't cleaning your vinyl! Use rubbing alcohol straight from the bottle. Don't worry, it won't affect your vinyl, I am an organic chemist by day, and on top of that, again, this has been an audiophile recommended way of cleaning your records. Of course don't soak your records in it, and don't leave pools of liquid on them, but IPA (isopropyl alcohol, ie rubbing alcohol) will help dry the water content (store bought stuff is 70% IPA 30% water) quicker. Use a lint free cloth too, not a harsh carbon fiber brush! Microfiber cloths should work very well because they are basically polyester fabric that has been lasered to split the ends of the fabric. This leaves a LOT of small surface areas to get into the grooves. It leaves no lint and is very sturdy.

Make sure that when you wash your cloths, don't use detergant or drier sheets beacause you will leave lots of residues on your cloth, and then your vinyl!

Posted by JohnSmith on Jun-16-2003 19:05:

quote:
Originally posted by DjJade
i know some popping happens when you stop a record while the needle is still on the groove after it has been playing...the needle gets hot and burns a spot on the groove.

http://www.needledoctor.com/app/sit...category.106/.f

hmm.. i never knew that, cheers jade!

BTW, link is dead.. (i gotta get me some gruv-glide)

Posted by DjJade on Jun-16-2003 19:24:

for gruv-glide i suggest ebay.. dont worry abotu the link hehe

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...&category=14968

Posted by IntegraR0064 on Jun-17-2003 04:45:

You probably know this..but another suggestion would be to just go around the problem when it can't be avoided, haha.

Cool edit 2 has an insane pop/hiss reduction feature for after you've recorded a mix. it definitely helps huge amounts if not getting rid of all the record sounds completely.

Posted by bachatu on Jun-18-2003 00:08:

quote:
Originally posted by IntegraR0064
You probably know this..but another suggestion would be to just go around the problem when it can't be avoided, haha.

Cool edit 2 has an insane pop/hiss reduction feature for after you've recorded a mix. it definitely helps huge amounts if not getting rid of all the record sounds completely.

Is it just me, but when you use that pop/hiss reduction, it seems to take away from the highs in the recorded file. Ive tried using that feature (i use cool edit pro) and it always seemed to loose a bit of quality from the original source, specifically having a slight muffled sound.

Posted by IntegraR0064 on Jun-18-2003 00:20:

Posted by DjJade on Jun-18-2003 00:35:

quote:
Originally posted by bachatu
Is it just me, but when you use that pop/hiss reduction, it seems to take away from the highs in the recorded file. Ive tried using that feature (i use cool edit pro) and it always seemed to loose a bit of quality from the original source, specifically having a slight muffled sound.

any time you process music it loses quality... it loses quality with ever extra inch of wire, and every unit that is used to process the music. so no its not just you... : ) honestly the simplest setup sounds the best. thats why its much better to just keep your needles and records in good shape so you dont have to put it through any digital filters and such

Posted by Sharpy on Jun-19-2003 11:25:

I don't know about where you guys are from, but here in Melb many ravers bring talc (talcum powder) into clubs/parties to dance on.
No matter how high up the deejay booth is, the shit ends u all over your records. That plus sweaty hands (hey i get nervous! )makes substance like plaster. Which can be a real ****** if you don't clean it.

I usually use warm (not hot), soapy water.

Posted by dknylady on Jun-19-2003 19:38:

i use swiffer cloths to clean my vinyl of dust and whatever else sticks to them. they have some kind of anti-static property to them, so they work so great. you can use the same sheet for like 2 weeks, and then just change it.
i usually wipe down my vinyl every time i see anything on them. for fingerprints i use a really diluted solution of some glass and surface cleaner that contains no ammonia and won't harm acrylics.

ah one other thing, if you get your vinyl wet, don't play it for 24 hours. let it dry...you can't just wipe down the inside of your grooves, they are too small.

for tough problems i use a damp paper towel that i put some mild dish soap on, then wipe that off with another damp paper towel, then dry, and let dry overnight. that works really great!