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

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

  1. Jim0830

    Jim0830 Forum Resident

    When at home LPs are generally my preferred source. I adopted CDs right from the beginning because ticks and pops took me right out of the experience of listening to music, Now that I have returned to vinyl 30 plus years later with better equipment I was stunned how good vinyl LPs can sound. But realistically you need both analog and digital. There is material available on each that will never be available for the other format. Plus you will need digital for music on the go. The SC-2 makes it so easy to digitize my music I can listen to LP only material anywhere with comparable sound. Big win.
     
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  2. Jim0830

    Jim0830 Forum Resident

    The beauty is to my ears it sounds identical even on Mobile One Step’s and Analogue Productions LP’s. I can have the goodness and no chance of a random pop from something in the air. I have become so spoiled I expect zero pops and clicks these days and that is what I seem to get.
     
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  3. Ninjur

    Ninjur Forum Resident

    Location:
    Karlstad, Sweden
    If you use a bigger CPU for the next generation, will the left channel clicking be fixed?
     
  4. Joel Cairo

    Joel Cairo Video Gort / Paiute Warrior Staff

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    If it's truly a Linux issue, I wouldn't think the size of the CPU would be the crucial factor...

    - Kevin
     
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  5. ODS123

    ODS123 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
    Well my brand new SweetVinyl SC-1 Mini is up and running! ..Already loving it. ..I have a wall with a 12 LP's mounted for decoration, chosen primarily because I bought them used and found them unlistenable b/c of scratches, pops, etc.. ..Bob Dylan Desire is a great piece of music that was relegated to the beauty wall for this reason. Well, I just listened to the whole album and sounded fantastic.

    My only gripe is that I can't keep the darn thing connected to my network. The App and the Browser interface work only for the 6 minutes the unit is in wifi setup mode (accomplished by pushing the knob for 5 seconds). .After 6 minutes, it disconnects and the app/browser won't communicate with it.

    While I can use the controls mounted on the front, it seems you need to connect via the app or browser to fine tune some of the settings. Plus, it's kinda cool being able to switch b/w modes from my chair. Anyone else having issues with this??
     
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  6. ODS123

    ODS123 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
    To the above post, I'll add:

    Can one use a Bluetooth USB Dongle in place of the USB Wifi-Interface dongle? Connecting to devices via bluetooth seems much easier than dealing IP addresses and all that :)
     
  7. keiron99

    keiron99 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Stockport, UK
    I never got the app working properly with my original SC1. Exactly the same issues as you.

    But frankly, after a while I just got used to the idea that I never fiddle with it. It just sits there doing its thing. Occasionally I need to reboot to remove the ticking in the left channel. I don't think that problem is present in the newer models though.
     
  8. SweetVinyl

    SweetVinyl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mountain View, CA
    We sent instructions after your emails last night in the manual that was shipped on the USB drive about using an ethernet cable to first establish a web browser session with the wired IP address - and then configuring the SSID and password combo for WiFi to get a WiFi IP address. The WiFi setup mode that lasts for five minutes is only intended to connect your mobile device to the SugarCube for the WiFi configuration step. However as iOS changed the OS support for the app - the app right now is unable to complete that step and makes it look like you are connected hence the confusion that makes you think this is an intended operating mode. We are working on updating the app - in the meantime using the ethernet cable as a means of configuring wifi is the best way and fully documented.
     
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  9. ODS123

    ODS123 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
    Working fine now - through the Web-browser on my MacBook. Thanks Dan @ SweetVinyl!
     
    Hogues likes this.
  10. marblesmike

    marblesmike Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    I used the web browser version on my phone too.
     
  11. ODS123

    ODS123 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
    Okay... After shutting down and restarting my SC-1 Mini several times, and being turned off throughout the night, I'm pleased to report that it has reconnected with my wireless network each time. So problem fixed. Again, thanks SweetVinyl for your quick replies in helping resolve this - on the weekend no less!

    Oh how I regret all the albums that I've thrown away over the years because of clicks and pops. I wish I knew about this several years ago!
     
    keiron99 likes this.
  12. Old Zorki II

    Old Zorki II Storm Watcher

    Location:
    near Tampa, FL
    Wait until you try some chamber classical music.. Or quiet piano jazz.. What a difference even on NM records!
     
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  13. coolhandjjl

    coolhandjjl Embiggened Pompatus

    Location:
    Appleton
    To me, the absence of pops and clicks always bothered me. Now that I am back into vinyl 35 years later I welcome the occasional pop and click. Reminds me that things are real and not perfect, and all is well. But I am enjoying the 2016 Pink Floyd remastered vinyls that aren't all beat to heck. :D
    And Gillian Welch's Harvest & Harrow...nothing like it!

    It's like that first Shreck movie that was all CGI. Too perfect, it was creepy. The later one had artificial artifacts introduced to make it appear more real.

    But that's just me. I grew up seeing photographs and movies with grain and scratches, and recorded music with pops and clicks. That's just how I learned to see and hear.
     
    BKphoto likes this.
  14. Jim0830

    Jim0830 Forum Resident

    I hear your Shrek analogy, but there it is something unreal trying to appear as real. To me LPs are trying to capture real music and make it sound as real as possible.

    Back in the 60's, 70's and first half of the 80's the occasional very minor random clicks and pops didn't bother me too much. It was a fact of life. But scratches you heard repeating every few seconds drove me wild. I wanted to bang my head against the wall to their tempo. Also louder pops took me right out of the moment. I love listening to headphones, but don't get me started about try to listen to LP's on my Koss Pro 4-AA headphones. I bought a CD player within 6 months of them going on the market. I thought the silence was golden.

    With the SugarCube I can listen to albums without any distractions to take me out of the moment. It is just me and the music and I like that. I like audio gear, but it is a means to an end and the less aware of it I am the better. I'd rather feel like I am listening to music than be aware I am listening to a record of music on a turntable.
     
  15. ODS123

    ODS123 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
    An interesting perspective. ..Personally, I love vinyl in spite of the clicks/pops, definitely not because of them.

    Bear in mind that the SC-1 doesn't eliminate groove noise; you're still very much aware you're listening to an LP. And a good percentage of my records are very nearly devoid of ANY clicks/pops because I bought them new or chose the used album very carefully and cleaned it thoroughly. On these records, the SC-1 essentially changes nothing at all. But again, the groove noise is still audible so you're quite sure it's vinyl.
     
    Last edited: Sep 27, 2020
  16. coolhandjjl

    coolhandjjl Embiggened Pompatus

    Location:
    Appleton
    Come a long way since the SAE 5000. But this is out of my price range.
     
  17. Jim0830

    Jim0830 Forum Resident

    Quite true, but I must have a groove noise filter in my head because I can sort of ignore groove noise. It is constant and usually not too audible except at loud volumes or through headphones. Since I now clean all of my LPs with my Vinyl Cleaner Pro UCM I am assured the groove in noise I find is coming FROM the record not from whatsON the record. Plus these days I am buying more high quality releases such as Tone Poets, MoFi, Analogue Production etc. and those tend to have dead quiet surfaces. As I said above: Pops and clicks are repetitive (scratch) or transient and unpredictable, both of which take me away from the music. With quieter pressings, quieter cartridges that track better and devices like the Sugar Cube this was really an excellent time to come back to vinyl.

    As an aside: I also enjoy the act of browsing records even if I don’t buy any that day. It is like flipping through little 12 x 12” pieces of art. CD’s you were often scanning the labels at the top end of the box-more efficient true, but less satisfying.
     
  18. Exactly.
     
  19. Anton888

    Anton888 Forum Resident

    Some questions for owners of a SugarCube SC-2 Mini and Plus models (SC-1 Plus or SC-2 Plus).

    SC-2 Mini:

    Do you get two versions from your recording, a RAW and a processed one?

    SC-1 Plus or SC-2 Plus:

    Is the SVNR Surface Noise Reduction similar to noise reduction modules like in iZotope RX (or other audio software)?
    Is it suitable for 78 RPMs only?
    Does it change the coloration of the musical content in any way?

     
  20. Joel Cairo

    Joel Cairo Video Gort / Paiute Warrior Staff

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    I don't think any of us that have ordered Plus units have taken delivery yet, so you may not get an answer to the second question.

    Soon though, hopefully...!

    - Kevin
     
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  21. ODS123

    ODS123 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
    I believe the SNR reduction is mostly noticeable on 78's. ...I seem to recall seeing this on their website.
     
  22. GuildF512

    GuildF512 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Merritt Island Fl
    The latest from Dan from September 28:

    We are getting close to sending an update – the 2 board samples we received worked except the DAC – everything tested fine on the DACs and the rest of the boards except for the analog out – so we are hoping there are 2 bad chips and having them replaced by the board house. Hope to have good news in a couple of days


    It just got worked out this weekend – a small error having to do with the upgraded DAC. We are now ready to finish the first 20 boards as the hardware appears to be completely verified.


    Best,

    -Dan
     
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  23. Jim0830

    Jim0830 Forum Resident

    On the SC-2 Mini you choose whether to output individual tracks or entire sides. Then you have the choice of formats to output in: ALAC, AIFF, AAC, MP3, FLAC or WAV. Depending on the format selected you can output at several sample rates ranging from 44.1 to 192kbs. You can select a bit rate of 16 or 24bit.

    Up to 10 LP sides are held in memory in the SC-2. You select to output from 1-10 of those sides as individual tracks or the entire side in your format of choice. So until you remove the stored sides from the internal memory, you can output them in several batches in the format of your choice. Each batch you export shares common settings for single tracks or entire sides and one format, in one sample and bit rate. They are saved to internal storage on the SC-2 Mini. From there you can save the tracks either to a device on your network or to a USB memory stick. Mine came with a properly sized memory stick. At this point you either save them again in a different format, or erase them to make room for the next LPs.

    To get what you are calling a RAW (unprocessed) recording you would expert a batch with the "Remove Clicks" function turned off.
     
    Last edited: Oct 1, 2020
    Anton888 likes this.
  24. Anton888

    Anton888 Forum Resident

    Which setting is best for not harming any musical content on VG or VG+ records?
     
  25. Jim0830

    Jim0830 Forum Resident

    When I first got mine I set it down to 3, which removed the clicks and pops from most of the LPs I own. I don't buy crappy used records and 3 seemed to do it. The SC comes preset to 5 on a scale of 1-10. The highest I ever used was 7. When you get a firmware update the setting defaults back to 5. I finally gave up and left it at 5. In my initial testing I heard no no loss of musical content from 3 to 7. Just better tick control. There is a bypass button in the software that allows you to hear playback without the click and pop removal. I put on some of my best sounding LPs and with my vintage ears and on my system in my room I have yet to hear a difference. My SC is on always.

    Other's mileage may vary. You can use the Bypass button to test it with and without Click Removal at the various settings. There is also a Monitor Click button that allows you hear just what is being removed. The idea here is you should only hear clicks and never any music being removed. I never have.
     
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