Enjoy in good healthy Robert! Its a pricey gadget, but I have cleaned more LP's in two weeks than I have done in well over a year, as you just love cleaning with this machine!!! All the Best, Vincenzo.
Working on my Sunday stack of lp's to clean. I don't want to play any lp I have not Degrittered yet. I have become addicted to the lack of noise.
Vin: I am on about my 40th lp now. That's 40 in 5 days. I felt a bit guilty about the price for a while. But that went away when I heard the results. I can't put a price on the enjoyment it has brought me. Listened to Bruckner's 8th last night before I went to bed. All those pianissimo passages really came to life.
I could not agree more and now that I’ve completed cleaning my entire collection I couldn’t be happier with the purchase. Practically a must own piece of equipment for any vinyl enthusiast IMO.
I am about to start some more cleaning this week with the Tergitol after I did about 30 LPs with the Degritter cleaning solution to ensure all was working well - I would hope it will continue to work well and that I can now use what is considered a better cleaning solution for my LP's. Very excited to get going again as I have plenty to clean...
VinBob - would be interested to hear your thoughts on any differences you may hear between the Tergitol and the Degritter fluids.
Hey Madrac - I am hoping to have some time this weekend to clean and listen as I have a longer weekend coming. I guess to do a proper A/B test, I would need to have the same LP cleaned with both fluids to be able to do a proper comparison. TBH, I am not expecting to hear anything amazingly different but will see...
You should record cleaning samples so you can listen at a computer with headphones. This will enable you to forensically listen for differences. You could even ABX test then as well...
Thanks for the suggestion but my system doesn’t have the ability to output to a computer - not to mention, I just don't have that kind of time. I will clean with Tergitol and if it sounds good, I’ll just stick with that going forward…
I got a Degritter today. Boy...10 cleans in and I am hooked. Lucky, I still have a few records to clean In the past I used a Okki Nokki and a selfbuild Ultrasonic one (German case, 60khz) with a spinner and all. Also spend a lot of time testing out certain cleaning fluids. My final workflow back than: Okki nokki 1.Distilled water + 99% isoprop 2. rinse 3. Distilled water + L'ART DU SON 4. rinse 5. 10 min. in ultrasonic with clean distilled water Doing it this way - with certain 'layers' of cleaning worked out best for me. But it took so long, so after finding out about the Degritter I sold all this stuff and started saving money. This unit is so easy....I strong believe in the benefits of 120khz placed on both sides (compare to regular ultrasonics that have those conductors (?) at the bottom. I am currently using the cleaning fluid from Degritter and seems to work fine. But I am working my way through this thread to find the 'all time best' solution you guys use. I bought a second watercontainer for that reason. Tip: The Audio Parks Puffin phone-preamp that has a "Grading" option. It is really fun to get a A+ after a fresh wash
Here you go. I tested three A-sides from some eighties ep's. None of the three were cleaned before by me. All measurements where done after the first bump (when needle hits the groove) and after the last musical notes. Played on Thorens 166 MKII + Ortofon Blue. 1. The Alarm - The Deceiver Bit dusty, looks like a not played record, no scratches or whatever. Removed some dust with a brush. Played it and graded by Puffin: A Cleaned Heavy (around 10 minutes) with Degritter and standardfluid. Puffin rated: A+ 2. The Alarm - The Stand More dust, probably played one or two times before, Very slight hairlines but nothing mayor. Removed some dust with a brush. Played it and graded by Puffin: B+ Cleaned Heavy (around 10 minutes) with Degritter and standardfluid. Puffin rated: A 3. The Mission - The First Chapter More dust, three 'spots', looks played but not heavy. Removed, some dust with a brush. Played it and graded by Puffin: B Cleaned Heavy (around 10 minutes) with Degritter and standardfluid. Puffin rated: B Cleaned 2nd time Heavy (around 10 minutes) with Degritter and standardfluid. Puffin rated: B+ Well, what to say. I really think the Puffin can somehow detect and rate the overall state of the vinyl. To get a good rating it is important to have a clean vinyl. All in all it looks like it can give a bit more 'objective' info. I asked Parks Audio how the grading is measured. Maybe he can explain in a blog or so. Curious what you guys think.
Per the Puffin manual, it looks like "grade" uses the same algorithm as "magic" - which is their click & pop remover (which I wonder how it differs from the SugarCube) - and "counts" defects such as ticks, pops, etc. Grade is calculated by time/defects. Manual doesn't indicate what constitutes an A+, A, A-, etc. Would be interesting to clean either 2 or 3 above again and see if the grading improves. I recall reading a review (don't recall which) where the reviewer heard improvement after multiple runs (maybe 3 or 4).
I also own a Parks Audio Puffin. My results are very similar to yours in grading, cleaning and then grading again. I don't see much improvement on the Puffin after an initial cleaning or two.
i'm sure it's been discussed, but if you know you're not gonna be cleaning records for a while, do you drain the tank and let it sit empty? Do you put the empty tank back in place? (Don't degas, in that case?)
I'm afraid you've come to the wrong forum. Just kidding. If it were me and I was putting it away in storage I'd do a vinegar clean or two and then air dry in the sun for an hour or so before storing away. Also put all your water tanks in the dishwasher and get those nice and clean as well.
Anyone know if the folks at Degritter are working on a new design for a 7" adapter? Seems like a lot of users are unhappy with the design for these. Degritter seems to be on top of making improvements to their gear. Not really interested in dropping $80 for one if an improved version is in the works.
haha, yeah, actually it's more like "I need to clean a few records, and haven't cleaned records in a while... The tank smells musty. What's the best thing to do?"
I'm very close to deciding to buy the Degritter, because of course we all need this! I'm wondering if anybody heard if possible there is a new version on the way to wait for? Of course this is usually not information that the factory is willing to share.
I have now cleaned about 340 lp's in just over a month. I have cleaned some twice and some even three times so an individual count would probably be closer to 300 lp's. I have become familiar with the machine and its care and feeding. I have learned what 1.5 ml is. I could not be happier. Now I do not play any album that I have not run through the Degritter. That includes new lp's. Although now that I have been cleaning some older lp's I have slowed way down on buying new lp's. I have been amazed at the machine's ability to "restore" an old LP that I had resigned to the "I'll never play you again" rack. That's it. Just another happy Degritter user.
I haven't heard of a new version of the machine itself. I have heard that there is another all in one that is about to be released (humminguru) - it uses 40khz transducers, though, and doesn't look as nice. Price looks to be around $400/$450 with 7 & 10" adapters. (I wish degritter would revisit pricing on their adapters -$80 per each is a bit outrageous, IMO, especially since I may have only a handful of records these sizes)
I'm curious about how long it will last. I get very good results with my RCM and home brew Ultrasonic machine. If it might last for 3000 cleaning cycles, then I can justify the purchase at $1 per cleaning + fluids. If you've all kept track (or have solid estimates), how many cycles have you completed with your machine?
The Price that you post is about right in China...over here (in the US), once one of the ( or several) 'distributors' will get their hands on the humminguru, you can bet that the price will quadruple or much more! After all, it takes a LOT of effort to place orders with the Chinese Co. from the US... (similar as to what happened with the DeGritter, once Music Direct got their hands on it!)
