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

Finally I was able to detect clicks in left channel, even without playing any electronic music (at least I do not remember one). Clicks are so faint I was only able to detect them with my ear to a horn of my left speaker, but they were there! I did not reboot my SC-1 for a while, that could be the reason..
I am running 2.3-577, so I just pressed bypass twice, then switched back to process and vuala - clicks gone.
Not sure if it also works from controlling software - I just used hard button.

 

This past Saturday I got some VERY faint clicks here too. There was nothing particularly different about this LP to set it apart from others, certainly not electronic music. It was the Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra - All My Yesterdays Resonance Records LP which is Big Band Jazz from 1966. The clicks were so faint that at first I wasn't sure I even heard them. When a soft passage in the music came I went close to my left speaker and sure enough there were regularly occurring faint clicks.

I rebooted the SC and it's been 48 hours now and no clicks. Recently that has seemed to be my history with clicks, a restart makes them go away for days or more. I rarely get them, for example the last time was last October (I think) and the next firmware upgrade banished them. The first few months I had the SC-2 Mini, June thru August 2020, they were a regular event occurring every few LPs. But as I said, now many, many months go by without clicks. Fortunately they do not seem to occur in the recordings I make with the SC-2 Mini, just in the realtime playback. I would be wicked pissed if they ruined my needle drops. So for me, other than the first few months of ownership they have been a very minor issue for me.

 

I've had the same issue and success with rebooting. I did however get a response from customer service and they said if the clicks reappear, press the bypass button twice and see if that clears them. So far for me, no clicks yet, but I'll definitely be trying that before rebooting!

 

I did click bypass twice (it was in latest update notes) and it indeed worked. For me it is much easier option then trying to reach behind the unit -and takes couple of seconds.

 

Is this only the physical button on the unit, or can you click the BYPASS button in the software?

 

I'm going to assume it's the physical button

 

Did not try software one.. next time

 

Would someone know if the power supply for the SC-1 good for both 120v & 230v?

 

I've found the click fix feature to be hit or miss. Sometimes it doesn't work. Feels like a lacklustre solution either way.

 

Not that I have to do much at all these days, but I generally do it the old fashioned way. Power down count to 3 and power up.

 

It's amazing how often things work with that!

 

I never hooked mine up to the internet. Got the ticking once. Other than that no issues.

 

I'm wondering whether the clicking is more likely with the SC-1. What model are you using?

 

SC1 Plus

 

Anecdotal but it seems to me that most users complaining of persistent left channel clicks are SC-1 and SC-1 Mini owners.

 

This is a bit of a strange one. I received a firmware update late yesterday afternoon while I was out. As usual I didn't notice it until I played a new record this morning and heard a click. Sure enough I was in BYPASS mode due to a firmware update. When I looked at the version, I found it was not a new version number. Both were version 2.3-622. Looking at the remainder of the version number it had changed from SugarCube 2.3-622-gda1fac45-20220204-0344-prod+tsc to SugarCube 2.3-622-gda1fac45-20220330-1809-prod. Part of the difference reflects the date of the update "20220330". The "1809" may reflect the time of the update since I received it around 6:09PM. What the lack or presence of "+tsc" means you guess is a good as mine. I wonder what is up with this apparently minor upgrade? Of course it would be nice if Sweet Vinyl had the release notes available and up to date at the same time they push out the firmware upgrade, but I guess that is crazy talk.

I see no difference in performance and so far no left channel clicking. However left channel clicking is a rare occurrence for me.

 

That really would be wacky wouldn't it.

 

I decided to let my unit update to this new mystery firmware. Just in case they made some progress on the clicks. Unfortunately within two days it was happening.

 

The left channel click issue persists. I've taken to leaving my unit powered down unless I'm listening to music. Within two minutes of boot up it was clicking with no input. The double press bypass feature did not fix it.

A couple of months ago Leo from Sweetvinyl said he would get back to me on this specific issue but so far it's been quiet. Now that my unit is out of warranty I feel extra uneasy.

 

That's original.

 

I sent an email to Leo at the same time as my post. He has replied quickly. I kind of expected this but at least I have an avenue to fix the issue. Postage costs are insane right now but ultimately I'll have to suck it up.

 

Couldn't you open it up, remove the board and just send that?

 

That would be the sensible thing to do. It's not hard to disassemble. If Sweetvinyl aren't willing to cover return postage I'll suggest it.

 

I would send the whole thing just to make sure. Chances are, they would just give you a whole new unit.