2. analog
  3. 1124430620

battling the pops and clicks

I recently put together an vinyl rig (Nottingham Horizon w/Dynavector 10x5 and Whest phono stage) I am really liking the sound, and I see what all the talk is about for sure. This setup really gives my Ayre D1xe digital setup a run for the money, and if it weren't for the pops and clicks I think I would certainly prefer the sound overall. This is saying a lot considering the price gap between my digital and analog setup.

I have the VPI 16.5 and disc doctor brushes and cleaning fluids and have spent some time and effort to fully clean my records in an effort to eliminate all noise. I bought quite a few new 180 gram records so I would have a good idea of what sound vinyl has to offer. I also have plenty of dusty old records from years back, which is the real reason I wanted a turntable to begin with. As much as I work at cleaning the records, it seems no amount of work will eliminate the pops and clicks. The more I focus on trying to get rid of them the more it bugs me. It seems to happen just as much with the new records as the old ones.

What I'm wondering is, do I need a better table and cartridge if I expect to listen to records with total silence? Or what am I doing wrong with my current setup? I've followed the cleaning instructions very closely and even taken it a step further by adding additional rinsing cycles with distilled water. I've used stylus cleaner and of course always used the carbon fibre dry brush before playing, and clean sleeves too.

The cleaning has reduced the noise, pops and clicks greatly, but in my opinion, more is still there than I would consider acceptable. Is this something that you just learn to tune out from or is there a way to fix it completely?

thanks, -Ryan
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willster
66 posts
 
Nsgarch wrote "I know it's true, but I've never heard anyone explain WHY some cartridges seem to transmit (or reproduce?) "pops and clicks" while other don't."

The only explanation I've ever run across is related to stylus tip profile, i.e. some cartridges ride differently in the groove and in some cases this means tracking in areas less damaged by other cartridges or less likely to collect contaminants.
wc65mustang
524 posts
 
Willster wrote about the stylus shape contributing to the (lack of) pops and clicks. I can't recall where I saw it, perhaps in one of these threads, that stylus size determines to a great extent the amount of noise heard in any given recording. Again, I can't recall where, but I also read that Zyx styli are much smaller than their competition.
That being said, my Airy 3 is the quietest cartridge I've heard in 45 years. Even my oldest vinyl (late 1950's) is quieter than it ever has sounded. Based on my own experience and if this Zyx information is factual, I would assume that stylus size for certain and perhaps shape affects the background noise we hear. I know without question that my Airy 3 tracks difficult passages better than anything I've used. I'd be interested in others' thoughts.
larkyparka
23 posts
 
"Anyone who can tune out clicks ans pops is either blessed or lying!"

Before CDs came out, nobody really seemed to have any problem with it. Sure, the audiophiles did their best, but a touch of surface noise here and there was not fussed over.
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
I agree with Willster, and with Wc65mustang regarding ZYX's in particular being very quiet in the groove. They're quieter than my Shelter 901 for example.

The ZYX stylus is indeed incredibly tiny. A friend of mine took 200x photos of the styli on a Grado, a Denon 103, a Shelter 901 and a ZYX Airy 2. The Grado looks like a war club, the Denon like an axe, the Shelter like a chef's knife, the ZYX like a surgeon's fine scalpel. Seeing those photos side by side brought home one reason for their differences in performance.

Some other cartridges have similar styli. The Lyra Olympos was as quiet as the ZYX UNIverse when I heard them side by side. The Lyra stylus was longer, but it looked equally tiny in cross-section. They probably both ride deep in the groove, below much surface damage. I believe most VdH's and top Dynavectors are similarly equipped.

One downside of styli like this is that records must be kept scupulously clean. They will scour anything out of the grooves, and the tiniest fleck of dust will impair their otherwise remarkable tracing of HF groove modulations.
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Larkyparka...Without getting into the arguement about whether vinyl surface noise exists, I must correct your statement that before CDs came along no one was bothered by surface noise. Most preamps had "scrach" filters, and many outboard electronic devices, dynamic filters (some like the Carver Autocorrelator were very sophisticated), and pop and click eliminators were marketed. So someone must have been bothered. DBX-processed LPs were the only approach that was really effective. I lived through this period, and tried most everything.
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