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cleaning records
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so, how does everyone clean their records apart from the traditional carbon fiber brush?
i got a tech a while ago and since then i've bought a bunch of records and some aren't in very good condition and i'd like to restore their sound quality as well as i can. some of my records have small crackles in them throughout the tracks and i can't ing stand them.
i've been thinking about getting a kab ev-1 cleaning machine for the records that aren't in very good condition, but i kinda doubt if it really can remove the crackles.
so does anyone have any tips for me?
i won't use gruv glide because i don't want any on my records/needle that will stay there.
i also bought nagaoka 102 inner sleeves for all my vinyls and an extreme phono solid state stylus cleaner to keep my needle clean.
also i'm wondering if i should buy a "proper" carbon fiber brush, now i have some cheap one.
here's some links about the stuff i'm talking about :
kab ev-1
extreme phono solid state stylus cleaner
info on the nagaoka 102 inner sleeves can be found on google (i don't think they have a website of their own)
and i'm kinda surprised about all this, because it seems that i'm pretty much the only dj that cares about the sound quality of vinyl. well not the only one, but in the vast minority at least.
most djs seem to buy whatever cartridge they can get even though most dj carts sound like utter crap and it also seems that most djs are not in the slight interested in keeping their records clean and dust free thus extending their life. i've bought many records off the dicogs marketplace and people have claimed them to be mint or near mint and that they can't hear anything wrong with the sound, yet i clearly can tell that some of the records are not in such a good condition. when i've complained about the records being graded wrong, the sellers have been truly surprised about it.
i just can't stand any kind of errors in sound, it makes me go crazy if i hear pops and crackles. most other people don't even seem to notice them. :nervous:
ok, that was quite a ramble, but basically i just want to know if anyone knows anything about cleaning records properly (and thus improving the sound quality if the crackles aren't burnt in to the record). :) |
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| Zoso |
I'm by no means an expert on cleaning records, but I can share what little I do. I clean my entire collection about twice a year with Gruv Glide. I have a stylus brush that came with my Staton Groovemaster series carts, and I use that before I spin. I also keep a can of compressed air (like you clean a computer with) nearby. I give the record a quick shot of that whilst it's rotating and before dropping the needle.
Now, I'm sure some audiophile could point out scientifically how I am destroying my poor records, but working a full time job and raising two kids means that I am only going to allocate so much time to record maintenance. |
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| skip |
does gruv glide in your opinion clean the records deep from the grooves, from where the basic carbon fiber brush can't reach?
also from what i read gruv glide stays on the record, that's why it keeps them anti static "forever" and only needs to be applied once. i really don't feel like putting stuff like that in my records for some reason, even if it would make them sound better.
that's why i'm looking into the kab ev-1 vacuum cleaner because it would get all the cleaning fluid out and the dirt the fluid has detached. |
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| Zoso |
Since I have not used such a brush, I couldn't answer that question objectively, unfortunately. And even though Gruv Glide states that one application will keep your records static free "forevar," I have found this is not the case.
I guess I look at it this way: if I were a single man with few responsibilities, I'd probably invest a great deal more in preserving my records. However, we spend nearly everything we make raising kids and maintaining a home and cars. Also, I'm not going to live forever, and the chances of my records outliving me is not guaranteed (fire, flood, tornado, theft, etc.).
For what use I get out of my records (bedroom DJ only), the Gruv Glide and the compressed air have served me well for nearly two years. I feel like I'm not really helping here. :( |
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| veezee |
i never clean mine..i get a fuzzy feeling inside hearing all the cracks and pops :)
Actually, just a cloth used for cleaning glasses works well.. no scratchy glasses , no scratchy record. :)
Little bit of record cleaner if they are extra dirty.
Jay |
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| PezCore |
dude, I just want to say 1 thing here.. POLYLINED sleeves !! forget those cheap paper inner sleeve that comes with the record, if you're talking preservation, buy that stuff.
All my precious records has one, it will never leave any marks/sounds on your vinyl that a paper or (god, am I saying this ??) no sleeve would do.
It's also very hermetic, so prevent most of the dust to find his way on your records.
Except that, when I buy my records, I clean them once with a product I bought on the net, clear groove, and when the vinyl is getting very dusty when I take it out to play it, I just clean it with the carbon brush.
I must say that I'm not an expert either, and as Zoso says, I don't have time to take 3 hours each week or so to clean my entire collection. |
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| skip |
thanks for all the replies guys.
the nagaoka 102 inner sleeves i got because they're supposedly better than polylined sleeves and i don't really need them to be paper. and they don't have a hole in the middle either, so no dust will get in thru there.
mostly what i'm asking here is this:
how will i get all the crackles out of the vinyl which are deep inside the grooves (assuming that the crackles aren't burnt in)? i have bought some used records that i would like to remedy if possible. and so far a vacuum cleaner seems like the best option. but i'm not really sure, so i'd like to hear from people about their ways of cleaning records and hear what has actually improved the sound (lessened the crackling) they get from the records. or if people just clean their records out of habit and don't really notice any difference in either way.
before i play any record i clean it with the carbon fiber brush so that no visible dust is seen on the record, so all the crackles i hear must be crap inside the groove.
also wouldn't some cleaning fluid just bring the crap to the surface and then when the fluid has evaporated (if it will) the crap stays there and possibly gets back into the grooves or sticks to the needle? that's the main reason why a vacuum cleaner IMO seems like a much better solution (it should get everything out that the fluid will detach). |
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| wesleysnipez |
| What been using is this works great Audio Intelligent - Ultimate Kit by hand with there 3 step cleaning solution method every 3 months. But opposite months I use carbon fiber brush and compressed air. I have VPI - HW-27 Typhoon Record Cleaning Machine on order because hate cleaning by hand at times. |
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| skip |
i finally got the kab ev-1 record cleaning machine. first thing i tried to clean with it was the crappiest sounding vinyl i had:
joshua ryan - pistolwhip (james holden remix)
it was sold to me as mint but there were really bad crackles in the beginning of the track. i couldn't get these crackles away with a brush. the record looked mint, but there was something in the grooves for sure, because the crackles were so apparent.
i cleaned the record with the machine. it was quite easy and fast, no problems there. i thought it would be much harder/time consuming.
anyway, i uploaded wav samples of the first 1:25 minutes of the track uncleaned and cleaned. IMO the difference is remarkable. i don't know if the record could be even better cleaned with the machine (this was my first and only try so far), but if it does this well, it's definitely worth it, for me at least. you can hear for yourselves by checking the samples. the samples are in wav, so you can hear the samples in the best quality i had.
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[[ LINK REMOVED ]]
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| Simcut |
/me cums
that's awesome skip, how much you buy the cleaning machine for? take some piccies and do some more experiments ;)
what size bottle did u get |
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| jpgrdnr |
| those cleaners are a scam < lighter fluid |
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