The SugarCube Is Here At Last...Clicks & Pops R.I.P.

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by DigMyGroove, Nov 12, 2017.

  1. Old Zorki II

    Old Zorki II Storm Watcher

    Location:
    near Tampa, FL
    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.
     
  2. keiron99

    keiron99 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Stockport, UK
    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.
     
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  3. SweetVinyl

    SweetVinyl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mountain View, CA
    You can also put it on Ethernet - and remove the WiFi dongle...
     
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  4. Old Zorki II

    Old Zorki II Storm Watcher

    Location:
    near Tampa, FL
    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 )).
     
  5. Hogues

    Hogues Forum Resident

    Ordered the SC-2 mini. Can't wait to get it.
     
  6. Ben Adams

    Ben Adams Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ, USA
    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.
     
    uzn007, Strat-Mangler and Stereolove like this.
  7. Joel Cairo

    Joel Cairo Video Gort / Paiute Warrior Staff

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    Just curious-- how was it on "Blue Monday" before the upgrade...?

    - Kevin
     
  8. Ben Adams

    Ben Adams Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ, USA
    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!
     
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  9. keiron99

    keiron99 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Stockport, UK
    Are you saying the new software is not as effective at removing pops and the lower setting?
     
  10. Joel Cairo

    Joel Cairo Video Gort / Paiute Warrior Staff

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    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
     
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  11. keiron99

    keiron99 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Stockport, UK
    Thanks. Looking forward to getting my update!
     
  12. Joel Cairo

    Joel Cairo Video Gort / Paiute Warrior Staff

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    I'm looking forward to getting my SC-1 Plus...!!

    - Kevin
     
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  13. Ben Adams

    Ben Adams Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ, USA
    Exactly!
     
  14. Hogues

    Hogues Forum Resident

    Man, I can’t wait to get my sc-2. How's the track splitting in the latest software?
     
  15. Ninjur

    Ninjur Forum Resident

    Location:
    Karlstad, Sweden
    This sounds really good. A little more testing with electronic music and I can get the SC-1 again.
     
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  16. r.Din

    r.Din Seeker of Truth

    Location:
    UK
    The SC-1, with 2.0, can now output digitally over USB! Currently sending direct into my Chord M Scaler...
     
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  17. r.Din

    r.Din Seeker of Truth

    Location:
    UK
    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.
     
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  18. Old Zorki II

    Old Zorki II Storm Watcher

    Location:
    near Tampa, FL
    I wonder if some USB->SPDIF conversion device with reclocking would yield better results...
     
  19. Ben Adams

    Ben Adams Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ, USA
    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.
     
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  20. Ben Adams

    Ben Adams Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ, USA
    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.
     
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  21. Ninjur

    Ninjur Forum Resident

    Location:
    Karlstad, Sweden
    Ben, let us know when you test it.
     
  22. r.Din

    r.Din Seeker of Truth

    Location:
    UK
    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.
     
  23. r.Din

    r.Din Seeker of Truth

    Location:
    UK
    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.
     
  24. Old Zorki II

    Old Zorki II Storm Watcher

    Location:
    near Tampa, FL
    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. )))
     
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  25. Ben Adams

    Ben Adams Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ, USA
    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.
     
    Ninjur likes this.

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