Living with popping and crackling

Ditto what Dan_ed and Lugnut said...

The following cannot be over-emphasized: proper cleaning of vinyl is essential. This goes for used records of course, but in one sense it's even more important for new ones. If you don't clean a record before its first play, you will ruin it with its first play. Read the "Record-Playing Rituals" thread stickied at the top of the Analog forum page - 97 seperate opinions on how to do it best.

Better equipment, as Lugnut mentioned, will also contribute to quieter playback. As my rig has gotten better, so have my records! I listen mostly to classical, where noisy backgrounds are often revealed by a wide dynamic range. Yet I have many hundreds of records with absolutely jet black backgrounds. Visitors expecting the old pops and ticks are usually astonished.

Vinyl quality also varies from label to label. I've never heard a noisy harmonia mundi, nor a truly quiet Mercury. That doesn't keep me from enjoying the Mercuries however. If the music, performance and recording are right (as they often were on Mercury) then my ears quickly tune out most surface noise, user-inflicted damage excepted. Of course I still wish they were as quiet as those harmonia mundi's!

Oy veh! 4yanx beat me to it.

If you don't believe it Todd, I'll lend you the two Classic Records and one Speakers Corner I dared to play a few times without cleaning them first. These were ripped-open-the-plastic-myself brand spankin' new. The first couple of plays were pretty quiet but the ole snap, crackle and pop got a little worse each time. Maybe 6 plays each at most. I figured no harm, I'll wash them when I get my RCM.

No dice. The mold release chemicals or whatever else the manufacturer left ON that vinyl is now IN that vinyl, ground in by the stylus. Multiple cleanings on my Loricraft stopped the damage from getting any worse, but nothing will undo it. $100 worth of records are toast.

Be warned or be sorry. Better yet, read the thread I referenced above. I may be crazy, but 95 or so other crazies posted various versions of the same idea (4yanx was about the craziest of them all BTW!)

Dan that was much too reasonable. You're not getting in the spirit here.

Eldartford,
Have you heard Ashkenazy's LvB sonatas on London? If you can find an undamaged copy of the 'Moonlight' you might be surprised.

P.S. They weren't multitracked either.

I've got 3 copies of that Rubinstein and I agree, none of them is particularly quiet. I gave up after realizing that I don't even like Rubinstein's Beethoven. Not sour grapes, I love his Chopin like everyone. But he just doesn't "get" Beethoven for me. De gustibus non disputandem est, or YMMV if you prefer Internet-ish.

Hi Cmk,
I dearly (very dearly) wish that Classic Records vinyl was as quiet as most 20+ year old harmonia mundis, Telfunkens, Archiv Productions, Eratos...

But it isn't IME. I have hundreds of CR reissues and very few can match any of those labels for vinyl quality, and the newest ones are the noisiest. They should have named it Noise-X IMO.

Sorry for bein' a grouch. I should take Robm321's advice!

Cmk,
I quite agree, the quality of virginity has never been lower.

It's pretty frustrating to unwrap a new $25-30 record, knowing there's a 30-50% chance I'll be returning it for replacement. That's my experience in the last six months with both Classic Records and Speakers Corner. I had to replace one disc out of three from both the Starker/Bach Cello Suites and the 20th C. box from SC. PIA, extra postage costs for both the retailer and me, wasted time, etc.

I wasn't trying to make anybody jealous, those nice old labels show up on ebay literally every day. Most of them sell for way less than a new audiophile LP, I routinely snag great records for <$10. If you're on a budget you'll get more music for your money if you're careful. I just had to replace my car so my e-baying binge will have to slow down, for about 60 months! :-( Have at it!