Yes, I absolutely concur. It's an indispensable part of my qc for test pressings as well as anything I play.
Same here. Now... it's possible that some of the homebrew US machines are doing something to mess up high frequencies since the frequency of the US used for vinyl is very critical from what I have heard. What I do know, without a doubt, is that the AD Pro simply makes vinyl sound its best. And that's after a ton of testing by me back when I first got the original AD US machine when it first came out. US is amazing but do make sure you have one that is designed to clean vinyl.
I've done $30K in upgrades to my system over the past year, and brought it to new levels of resolving detail in all frequencies. If US was negatively impacting HF – or anything else in playback – I would have noticed by now, since I've been cleaning a replaying many of my favorites that I know well.
I was wondering how folks handle the topping off of the AD when you get the low water level light? This happens several times for me before I hit the 100 records clean level. The cleaning fluid is what helps makes the "scrubbing bubbles" happen. If you just top it off with distilled water you are altering the ratio of water to cleaning fluid and each time you do this, you are diluting it more. I was thinking it might make sense to mix up a spare batch of the AD cleaning solution and use it for topping off the AD when you need to. The only PITA thing is finding a container to hold 4.5l of fluid when you first mix it. When I do the 100 disk drain and refill routine I pour 700ml of water from aa second bottle into a measuring cup together with the AD cleaning solution. I pour this into the RCM first and then add the gallon of water. I figure running the machine serves to mix the two pours together. But mixing this spare batch you, would end up with 4+ gallons of cleaner and nothing convenient to store it in. I suppose you could measure off half a bottle of the cleaner and do a half batch for topping off purposes. I know, I know, probably overthinking this by a factor of 3x, but having the right ratio of cleaning agent to water seems important to generating the "scrubbing bubbles". I have become used to/addicted to quiet vinyl and the closer I can get with every record, the better. Your thoughts?? Is a spare batch of cleaning fluid for topping off a good idea?? How does everyone handle topping off their own AD's??
My barrels were correctly installed and I still got wet records - not all the time but enough times to get me POed that a $4K machine would have this kind of problem almost from the get-go. Since I modified my AD I never get a wet record of any thickness and even mildly warped records are dry. Moreover, the inner grooves are never cleaned because the water levels can't get high enough - I tried adding more and more water until it weeped out from the fan housing and then I removed some.
At the time I was using a Klaudio, which does not use any fluids, just distilled water. The brittleness in high frequencies did not happen every single time but quite often and it was most obvious in the sound of the strings in the high frequencies. They seem to acquire a “metallic” signature that was not there before. Of course, it is very possible that it is all in my head. This is a very subjective hobby, people hear differently and have different sensitivities. I have no way to prove objectively to others what I am hearing and I do not claim that what I am hearing is what you should be hearing. Second possibility. The ultrasonic revealed faults that already existed in these albums and were masked before the cleaning. Although these records had been cleaned before on a VPI, sometimes more than once, this is a quite reasonable explanation, since I noticed that ultrasonic cleaning made other imperfections also to stand out and become more apparent. Now that we got these things out of the way, let me just say what concerns me about ultrasonic cleaning. Ultrasonic is a very aggressive type of cleaning. Among the manufacturers of ultrasonic cleaners there is no agreement about what is the right frequency that cleans without doing any harm. Klaudio uses 40KHz, Kirmuss uses 35KHz, Degritter uses 120 KHz, while the Audio Desk claims that "during the cleaning cycle the...ultrasonic transducer runs through multiple frequencies for varying durations. The actual frequencies and other details are proprietary information, and not available for release". Read more at KLAUDiO KD-CLN-LP200 Ultrasonic Record Cleaning Machine Reviewed There is anecdotal information online about manufacturers that attempted to make ultrasonic cleaners. Here is one of these: “When I have taken the Vinyl Cleaner to the various audio shows, almost every show someone from the audio industry will come up to me, sometimes from a manufacturer of other LP cleaning systems, and tell me how they had thought about ultrasonic LP cleaning some years ago and had worked on a design that had to be abandoned because of their inability to control the powerful ultrasonic.” Read more at KLAUDiO KD-CLN-LP200 Ultrasonic Record Cleaning Machine Reviewed Maybe the ultrasonic manufacturers, like Audio Desk, Klaudio etc. know what they are doing. But maybe they don't. I have not seen any proof for either. I still own a homemade ultrasonic system, the one that tima wrote about here tima's DIY RCM I use it very rarely and only for records that are hopeless to be cleaned otherwise. So, this is my experience with ultrasonic cleaning. I am not trying to persuade anybody for anything, just stating my experience.
The more frequently you change the liquid in these machines, the better. The water is not filtered so any of the particles coming off dirty records is now hitting the next record. Check out these pictures of what a filter grabs when you filter the water (scroll down to see the picture with 2 filters, new and used): Record Cleaning: Tima’s DIY (Ultrasonic) RCM – followup #1 - The Vinyl Press When I owned an AD and the water level dropped I would just add water a couple times and then change it entirely. I think that is your best bet.
I just add a second bottle of the cleaning fluid to a full backup container of distilled water, and I use that to top off the the Audio Desk.
I just top it off with distilled water, as the instructions state. I suppose one can start to overthink it, but my records continue to come out clean after top-off. I keep a note pad with ticks for each cleaning so I know how many records I've cleaned with a batch of solution. I have a 6-pack of concentrate ordered. I was considering making a spare batch for topping off since that seems like a reasonable thing to do.
Hi everyone! After years of perusing this forum I finally joined, hence this is my first post. I'll be joining the growing numbers of those using an Ultra Sonic Record Cleaner: I've ordered the Degritter record cleaner and I'm eagerly awaiting it's arrival. I'll detail my journey to choosing that machine: I only got back heavily in to vinyl within the last couple of years and, yup, I'm addicted as evidenced by my growing stacks of records. I went digital long ago, but out of laziness kept my old LP collection around. I was using an older Micro Seiki turntable (a very good one actually) to occasionally spin my old LPs and was always happily surprised by how nice vinyl sounded. Digital still sounded more accurate, but vinyl was such a nice place to visit. I first became aware of the vinyl resurgence by noticing how many wonderful soundtracks seemed to be showing up on new vinyl. I'm a soundtrack nut, and the beautiful aesthetics of soundtrack releases were really appealing. What's more, there was something newly intoxicating about receiving NEWLY pressed vinyl. Pristine, beautiful covers, pristine wax, mostly silent new pressings. I was so used to the moth-eaten covers and higher level of noise from my old collection that buying new vinyl was eye-opening. As my new records piled up I also started buying older used albums as well, always going for Near Mint gradings. As we know, it's a crap shoot, but generally speaking I was still receiving wax that was quieter than most of what I'd owned previously. And the more records I bought, the more the audiophile-in-me-upgrade-itch arose. So I bought a new turntable (Transrotor) and once I heard what vinyl can really sound like on a great table and cartridge there was no going back. The collection only swelled. The ranks of albums has swelled especially by my going down the rabbit-hole of retro Library Music, which some here will know about: music mostly from the late 60's to mid 80's, composed on spec by very talented musicians, to be sold to production houses making movies, TVs, commercials, industrial films, etc. The album pressings were only made as samples to be sent to editors, from which they chose suitable cuts for their project. Then they were sent tape of the cuts they bought. The vinyl LPs were then often discarded - none ever sold to the public. This was a vast industry happening 'behind the scenes" of the popular music of the day and it's a head-spinning world to discover. Somehow a great many of the LPs survived and can now be found on discogs, to the detriment of my bank account. So I've built up tons of used records that could use a cleaning. Problem is, I'm kinda lazy about this stuff and every single version I'd seen of washing records just looked like a chore, with all the appeal of doing the dishes. I frankly didn't want to add a chore-like activity to listening to music. The only fully automatic solutions seemed to be the Audio Desk and KL products. But they were so expensive and, frankly, especially given their price, I'm no fan of their aesthetics. A bit too "put-together-in-the-garage" industrial look for me. I didn't want to feel like hiding a big record cleaner away when not in use. This is where seeing the Degritter grabbed my interest. It ticks every single box for me: Really easy on the eyes, funky industrial design. Fully automatic operation - put record in, push button, return in a few minutes to a record ready to play. Highly effective method of cleaning - Ultra-Sonic. Looks easy to use, and is highly customizable. One thing that grabbed me are the variable fan settings. I have sensitive ears and HATE dealing with the type of loud fans I've seen in the other record cleaners. The Degritter started with 3 different available dry settings - Low, Medium, High - for different drying noise levels/drying times. At this point you can dial it so finely to taste, there are 22 selections along the dial. On every front, pretty much everything I could reasonably ask for in a record cleaner, this seems set to deliver. Beta testers have been extremely positive. And my very positive interaction with the Degritter team has been just as described by the beta testers - any inquiries are replied to quickly, and with comforting detail. They seem like a great team. Plus...it was cheaper than the Audio Desk/KL units. (When I bought in, almost 1/2 the price of those units). So now I'm just waiting for mine to be shipped, which should be any day now. I'll report back on my experience with the Degritter when I get it up and running. Cheerio! And thanks for all the great info posted in this and other threads.
I was thinking of doing the same thing with the 6-pack I have. I was a little concerned about how precise you need to be with the mixture since you start with 4.5ml, a bit of an odd amount. To tally my qualities I made a special category in Discogs: "Clenaed?" to track which records have been cleaned. It is a popup list with "No", "Yes-OKN" and "Yes-VCP" for choices. I also have a free app I downloaded for my iPhone. It is a tally counter that advances 1 digit for each click. Since my phone is usually on my person, I am be able to keep tabs on this easily.
I also have saltwater fishtanks.... I make my own RODI water using a single pre-filter, in series with 2 stages of 1 micron ge carbon blocks, 2 RO filters (less waste), and a pair of mixed bed di resins for 0ppm slightly acidic water. This water accepts anything into solution. It's called Reagent Water. It really sucks up salts into solution for making marine water, or as cleaning water. I do know that if I mix x amounts of salt into a container and measure it's gravity as it evaporates, and mark container-adding more 0ppm rod water to the initial point will get me to the initial gravity. IDK what your result is. I would think depending on how often your completely purging you might end up with more soap than you wish. Side note, this thread did get me to order a pair of new foam filter inserts....I replaced that for the first time in 2 years...lol, and purged the machine. The rollers and wipers were replaced last go around. I have found that after draining, to refill and run just with rodi water and draining, before refilling with soap helps keep the res cleaner!
Looks like I chose the wrong thread in which to introduce myself. Normally there's at least one "welcome to the forum" reply for a newbie and some interaction. Anyway, I'll still report on the Degritter once I get it, even if no one here expresses interest in that record cleaning machine, maybe lurkers will get something out of it.
Welcome to the forum, and the US thread. I think we'd like to hear what you have to say about your machine. Hopefully this thread will provide enough insight for newcomers to US cleaning to make informed decisions. Your input is appreciated.
Welcome! I am also interested in how you like the degritter. I have read about it at whatsbestforum.com. It seems like a nice machine. It seems similar to the AudioDesk and KLAudio but hopefully they have improved some things. Unfortunately, without having other machines it is hard to compare but if it does the job that’s all that matters.
Just found this thread. I’ve been thinking about moving up to an ultrasonic for a while. I plan to absorb all the posted wisdom here...
Hi Matt, I missed your post altogether. I think it's because one's very first post is delayed (for review by a mod, I think). Anyhow, when it finally shows up, it lands at the point in the thread where it would have if it had posted immediately, so it is "down thread" from the current action. Belated welcome!
As a new convert and having a newly acquired US cleaner it's been a game changer over my old manual, non-US cleaner I have (Okki Nokki).
Hey, my post wasn't invisble! Thanks very much folks. I'm sure I'll have some questions about US cleaning soon enough. One that comes to mind: I'll be using a system that a number of others seem to use: Clean any record I get, used or new, and place cleaned records in a brand new sleeve (I have the "ultimate" inner sleeves from sleeve city and they are the best I've ever had - luxurious, even!). So my question is for those who do this: Do you find you still have to brush the records before use? Or, once they have been washed and stored in a clean inner sleeve, they are unlikely to build more dust of any sonic consequence?
