Lights annoy me to. So far the only complain I have with SC-1 (talking about nitpicking!) is that blue light on WiFi dongie is way too bright sometimes. It is on back of the unit, so it should not bother in theory - but when lights are out and projector screen down I can see some blue flashes on a screen (unit is 2 feet lower). I probably will have to put tape around it.
Put some black electrical tape over it. I did. Also got some little stickers called "light dims" for other lights on my hifi. They're highly recommended. I got them from amazon in the UK.
Yep, it is also an option. )) I have 8 port switch in my audio system.. I just run out of cables )))). Man, your product is addictive )).
Finally had the software upgrade applied while I was off at work today. First impression - level 2 is working fine with my VG copy of New Order’s “Blue Monday” 12”. Almost no electronic drum transients are being removed, while scratch removal seems stronger than it did before. It’s absolutely good enough for a needle drop. I’ll have to try it tomorrow with a pretty battered Pete Shelley 12” that I know is the worst condition electro vinyl in my collection.
Way more electronic transient clicks *and* regular pops/clicks were noticeable at level 2 on the previous iteration of the algorithm. It wasn’t acceptable for a needle drop. Now it is!
I believe what he's saying is that when he monitored what was being taken out of the vinyl rip, the old version of the software was removing more electronic drum transients (which are part of the music), in addition to the pops and clicks. And now: "Almost no electronic drum transients are being removed, while scratch removal seems stronger than it did before." Sounds as though they made a pretty effective fix to the software...! - Kevin
The SC-1, with 2.0, can now output digitally over USB! Currently sending direct into my Chord M Scaler...
To answer the obvious question: the analogue output direct to the preamp sounds way better than the USB output. USB was smeared and veiled compared to the analogue outputs. Jitter, I guess. Am hoping the SC-1 Plus does better, especially over optical, as I’d like to consider moving to this method of output, via the Chord M Scaler, for a number of reasons.
Wait, whaaaat? Edit: OK, saw your follow ups. I’ll stick with analog out to my minidisc deck for ADC. I go optical from there to my PC and it’s superb.
Can confirm that level 2 worked well on my most damaged electro 12” single, Pete Shelley’s rare “Homosapien II” remix. Now - the real electronic music test will be Morton Subotnick’s Silver Apples Of The Moon.
Ordered the SC-1 Plus with a view to doing similar - I will pass its USB DAC output direct to PC for ripping (which bypasses my current much longer route and should sound better) while sending optical to the Chord M Scaler for electrically isolated digital direct from the SC-1 - this has the potential of sounding better than the analogue output from the SC-1 Plus but will come down to jitter over optical versus the reconstruction of the analogue output on the SC-1 Plus.
Very possibly. I've yet to find a USB implementation that sounds better than traditional SPDIF connection. Cables? Electrical noise? Not sure. The SC-1 Plus has optical and SPDIF output as well as USB, so plenty of options to find the best sound.
My hope was to if I ever would want to needledrop (not sure), I will simply connect digital out (not usb) to Tascam digital recorder and done with it. )))
Even at the SugarCube’s level 1 setting, more abrasive sawtooth waveforms on the Subotnick were treated as pops and clicks. This is SweetVinyl’s biggest hurdle in future versions of their algorithm, because besides early electronic music, this kind of sawtooth waveform shows up with hard-edged brass on jazz albums. Background listening will be fine, but for critical listening, headphones and needle drops of this kind of music, it’s far more problematic. All that being said, for most music it’s completely non-destructive, and I wouldn’t be without my SugarCube at this point. ETA: It’s kind of weird but pleasant to listen to older hip hop albums that have their tics and pops from vinyl samples almost completely removed.