Records are getting noisy


I asked this as part of someone else's string last week, but I am getting a little more irated every day with this problem. Some of my new vinyl (bought within the last year) is starting to get lots of pops and cracks. Not scratches, not skips, just pops and clicks. Drives me crazy.

All records are cleaned with VPI 16.5(Walker method right now, and steamed if the problems doesn't get any better), machine and tubes are working perfectly. All records then get ZeroStat after cleaning and put into MoFi sleeves. Records are then cleaned with an Audioquest brush prior to playing.

I have even tried Gruv Glide, and no change on certain records. I am listening to one of my all time favs right now, Shelby Lynne "Just a Little Lovin" and it's driving me crazy. The record is clean, has always been well cared for, and now it's a crackin, poppin, annoying mess!!

What have I done, and how do I fix it???
macdadtexas
I'm sure most of you here know this.. but for those that don't, almost all the re issues they are putting out on vinyl these days are coming off digital sources. They are either cutting directly from a source like a CD or are dumping the original magnetic tapes track by track into something like digital pro tools and reworking the mixes. Once you digitize the sound wave.. say good bye to the true quality.

I don't know how loud I can scream this, but you simply CANNOT put back into the music what has been taken away by ANY kind of digital sampling.

Being an artist and record producer myself, I am always shocked at how much we lose even dithering down from a 24 bit mix to 16 bit going onto a CD.

I really have to have a chuckle at people that spend 50K or more on a system that is basically playing standard CD's.

You are always limited by the sound source, and all CD's are junk because of the 16 bit process.

While I have no problem with some light clicks and crackles on my vinyl, I understand that some coming from the digital world might find this distracting. A better option is to go into the world of open reel to reel recordings. Pick your poison. Crackles of vinyl, a thin layer of tape hiss on reel, or the horrible sound of CD's.

I heard the latest so called high fidelity digital files in a high end audiophile appointment only shop in SF, and was not impressed.

If you want great sound.. you have to keep the analog stream away from ANY digital conversions.

Not trying to rain on anyone's parade here but
I speak the truth.
Wt4158 & Astralography

Thanks for chiming in. This infor really is helpful to me. I was at a big box electronic store that does have vinyl but a lot of the records are pretty recent re-issues. The earliest release was from 2008. Are ree-issues done in this time going forward teh bad ones?

Now I saw some re-issues that had the sticker on them that these albums were re-mastered by MFSL at 1/2 speed from the original master analog tapes. So I guess this is BS? Are the master analog tapes played at 1/2 speed and then dumped into pro tools?
"I speak the truth."

I listen to records 90% of the time and consider them superior to CD.

Anyone who makes the quoted statement is full of it. Opinion is just that. There is no "truth" involved.

Wendell