The static part during reboot was purely intentional on the part of Sweet Vinyl and is a homage to an old over the air TV set. If you notice the gain on a particular record is too high when you get clicking, have you tried changing your input level setting? It is found under Settings>>Input Level. You can choose +0db, +6db, +12db or +18db.
Yes, I've reduced the input to the lowest level, and the meters indicate that the audio is nowhere close to clipping. Some tracks still cause clicking. I may have too much gain coming from the phono pre, but I've played around with changing the tubes in my phono to lower output, removing a SUT from the chain, etc, but haven't isolated when the clicking does and does not happen. I still would not part with my Sugar Cube, it's great, but can be a source of frustration.
Sorry to hear you are having problems with your Sugar Cube. I have had off and on issues with my SC-2 too, but not like you and some others have experienced. I got mine in June of 2020 and there were some things to iron out for about the first 6 months. Since then there have been a few issues for me associated with various firmware updates, which are often cured with the next firmware upgrade. Lately things have been so good during the past year it is very easy to forget the SC-2 Mini is even there. It will often take an unexpected firmware upgrade where the SC goes into Bypass after the install and suddenly you can hear clicks and pops again. I will say the last firmware before this current one gave me some occasion cases of the left channel clicking. It appears to be gone with the latest firmware. As far as the clicking, it may also be associated with the type of music that you listen to. In the past electronic music has been problematic for some but not all people. The music itself generates sounds that are quite similar to clicks and pops and can fool the SC. I'm glad you like the SC despite some frustrations. What it is able to do is rather amazing.
I have the SugarCube SC-2 Mini. I am trying to record needle drops with it, but for the life of me I can't figure out any of the post recording process in the SugarCube software like splitting tracks and removing the silence before track 1. Would anyone be able to help me by phone some time? I would greatly appreciate the help. I am located in the US in the ET zone. John
I'll vigorously champion how good their algorithm is but I have to agree that the user experience is unrefined. Very early adopter-ish even after five years on the market. Still, I very much miss my SC-1 Mini and I dearly hope that I get it back from Sweetvinyl with the bugs ironed out. All I ask is that it sits on top of my stack quietly and does the job without random left channel clicks.
They've only had it three weeks. Life kept getting in the way of me sending it. They've been in touch and they're going to repair the pcb rather than replace it.
Overseas shipping is a real PITA, especially since the pandemic and all the turmoil that has happened in the world since that time. I shipped my ultrasonic cleaner from the US to Germany. It sat in customs for 1 month. The repairs were completed in less than a week and then it sat in custom for another two months before it cleared customs. The company in Germany tried to expedite things, but even they were not successful. Then as fate would have it they shipped me someone else's UCM which was a different model. They company let me use this machine while they shipped the right machine to me. This "only" took a month. This machine stopped working after 2 days and the ended up shipping me a brand new 2021 vintage machine. This failed after 9 months and I decided I wasn't playing this game anymore and bought the new Klaudio UCM. So I definitely feel your pain. Hopefully things will go faster and better for you.
It's definitely unnerving. And the cost of sending it was shocking. Thankfully it didn't spend too long in customs. I'm just keeping my fingers tightly crossed that it functions properly when I get it back.
No worries, although I'm sure many people viewing this thread would like to have found a Sugarcube on eBay for $250
California. I'm in the UK so it's a fair trek. I spoke to Leo at Sweetvinyl last weekend and they expect to have the unit back to me in the next few weeks.
Anybody using a DS-Audio (003) setup with the SugarCube? Considering this as my next cartridge and wondering if I can put the SugarCube back inline without the dreaded 'tinks' I get with my current cartridge?
Just placed an order for the DS Audio 003 and energizer, so should be able to answer this soonish. Fingers crossed. Would be nice to get the SC back in the chain.
It's good to know they're still slowly shipping stock...steadily providing surface noise silencing solutions in these strained times.
I have an update on my persistent left channel click situation. Leo from SweetVinyl emailed me this afternoon. They want me to pay $250 plus shipping. "I am sorry for not getting back to you earlier. Your board got back from the chip replacement work just as at the height of our Christmas rush to fulfill orders. The board did not work though the replaced controller chip did operate indicating further damage to the board. We decided the additional work on the board to not be worth the effort. We decided to replace the board and the new mainboard and CPU have been in burn-in for two weeks and now ready to go. We are partially to blame as we misunderstood your intentions and would have otherwise instructed you not to send the board but just the CPU. We will offer to split the cost of the new mainboard ($500.00) with you for a $250.00 repair charge plus shipping. Please let us know if that is acceptable. If so, we will ship the board and CPU on next Monday" Needless to say I'm taken aback. The controller chip they replaced was responsible for the screen and front panel controls. A problem I never had. The implication being that I've damaged the board during disassembly or that it happened in transit...very unlikely. I work in electronics and I'm capable of safely handling a PCB and sliding it into some anti-static packaging. So as it stands, I'm over a barrel. They have my (hopefully working) SugarCube and I'm in another country.
I'm confused. Why should the customer be on the hook for *any* repair costs to a product that is still under warranty? The product failed, it's under warranty, the repairs themselves should cost the user absolutely nothing, aside from shipping charges to and (occasionally) back, no? EDIT: I see their website only mentions a 30-day satisfaction guarantee. No word on any warranty of any kind. However, if the repair costs were deemed to be the responsibility of Sweet Vinyl, they should be footing the bill (minus shipping costs).
Assuming the warranty period is a year, my SugarCube was out of warranty by the time I got it back to them. Even though I'd been in communication about the issue well within the warranty period.
