Cleaning old vinyl

Well, a short while ago, I posted a video on the technique I use to clean second hand vinyl that I'm going to bring in to my collection.

Obviously, a lack of money and physical space mean that ultrasonic cleaning is out of my league, but I went around a few friends and eventually came up with a cheap-ish method for cleaning and processing vinyl which works for me. But everyone gets different mileage from different techniques... this is just another method to add to the various available options.

I hope it helps someone...

 

I have not watched the whole video but correct me if I am wrong, you are using your stylus to clean the cleaning product of the record?
Yes it works but you are shortening the life of your stylus, why would you do this? Why shorten the life of your stylus it would be cheaper to find a more effective / cheaper way to clean your record.
If you cannot afford a record cleaner I would recommend getting Record Revirginizer.
I have a record cleaner a Loricraft PRC3 and I also use Record Revirginizer.

The Vid below shows you how to use Record Revirginizer

 

It's an old stylus that I use specifically for this. I rotate stylus... always have a new one for fresh vinyl and the one it replaces is then used for the cleaning.

This is the first time I've heard of Record Revirginizer. I've heard of all sorts of things, Bob Monks, wood glue... all sorts, but this, I'll have to check out. Thanks for the heads up.

 

Using an old stylus for cleaning, you risk damaging your records.
Yes check out the Record Revirginizer, well worth the money.

 

Old is relative, to be honest. Depends how long you let it go before you swap them out. I found a UK seller and I've got a bottle of the stuff on the way. We'll see how well it does!

 

@Michelle Knight Your love is bigger than mine! I am too lazy to use VPI16.5 to clean my records, but thanks to you I got another New Year Resolution
Mike Fremer talked about Revirginizer here
Yet another record cleaner from the land of Gizmology: InTheGroove. I bought it years ago but too afraid to actually use

 

Funny you should mention him. I'm watching Fremer's video right now. So far he's mucked up and is just finishing his second attempt.

My technique is cheap, and it takes time. For the price of this revirginizer goo, it might actually save me some grief. At least it was created by a chemist, which is better than having wood glue invented by some DIY company :-D

 

Unfortunately, he didn't deliver his verdict on listening after cleaning. Hmm... I have my doubts, but not enough to stop me giving this a test for myself.

 

maybe He had some reservations but decided to be nice for a change?
Same with the other gizmo. The original ad for InTheGroove was that it was "invented" by a dentist based on something he used in his practice. He must have had a dog in the office, I do not know, but now on top of being afraid I am also suspicious of the dentists

 

Lots of good tips in your video. I record a lot of vinyl tracks to cassette tape and I do take care not to use tracks that are noisy. I haven't gone to the extent of cleaning up my vinyl tracks with digital software, but it would be nice to do that for my future recordings. Particular vinyl records - especially those that are well-mastered - have such great dynamics.

Nando.

 

I've seen a few people use that "in the groove" roller and I wasn't impressed with the results. I have to admit to being sceptical about the revirginizer also... given the time it has been out, I would have expected a successful product to really take off, but it hasn't. Perhaps the wood glue thing has scared people off, as it works on the same principle. Still... time will tell... and I at least have permission to use a record, so I can show a longer segment than most people on YT.

At the end of the day, I'm not cleaning shed loads of records... and those that I clean, I digitise as part of the process so that I don't have to listen to the original every time, and I save on wear and tear.

I'm going to have fun translating some of my digitized tracks out to tape, when I get everything set up properly, and see what the results are. It's all subjective, of course. That's part of the fun

 

Yes... very much so. Seems to be where the mastering was done with vinyl as a specific target... rather than just being a mimick of what they've also produced for CD.

 

I digitized a few LPs for use on iPod dock when playing with matches and charcoal outside, but then I discovered that Boombox sounds much better. No more digitizing, now it is Vinyl to cassette to boombox for me!

 

The same is true with some pre-recorded cassettes. Some of the analogue recorded and mastered cassettes from the 1980s sound noticably better than the CD versions.

 

That's something else to add to the experimenting list ... it makes sense though... analogue to analogue.

I did an experiment a while ago. I have "Orchestral Rock" by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra on LP and CD. (the LP had three tracks that the CD didn't) so I digitised the CD to flac, and then also cleaned up and sampled the nearly thirty year old vinyl (which I actually bought new when it was released) ... and after all the messing around, I could barely tell the difference between them ... except in the quiet patches, of course.

The medium itself is only part of the story. I was also watching TechMoan's video about reel to reel, and the dynamic range on it... wow... but they were tracks that had been engineered to take advantage of it.

 

No need to have doubts, it works that is why I pointed you in it’s direction. It is safer than what you have been doing.
Anyway when you get it you will find out, do let us know.
Like I said when I get a really dirty record from say a charity shop, as well as putting it throw the Loricraft PRC3 they also go through the Record Revirginizer treatment.

 

OK... I put myself forward, so it's only right that I put my money where my mouth is... and that's cool.

Firstly, I think any reasonable person will concede that throughout the many decades of the audio world, that there has been an awful lot of snake oil throughout that period. It has done a lot of damage to people's perceptions of things and I think has resulted in a lot of defensive positions being taken, people getting very passionate about things and... at the end of the day, there's more than one way to skin a cat. Fortunately, cats breed like rabbits... but that's a whole 'nother story !!!

The comment about damage is true. But I have to put forward that the majority of these records bought second hand are... vast majority... going to have been played with less advanced styli, that have been weighed in the tens of grams, rather than 3 like we're using now. The horticultural soap is tremendously soft and crumbles once dry. It doesn't even kill plants !!! ... er... but it does kill bugs I suppose...

And it's not as if I'm using this technique every time I play these records. Indeed, the point is to get the best signal off them as possible, with as little financial expenditure as possible. I'm not going to play violins here, but the health of my house and car come before the vinyl. Priorities !!! And also I don't have room in my little home office. Not only for the footprint of some of these machines, but also the room required for ventilation. That's why I went on this journey in the first place. ... and it's also why I'm willing to give this revirginizer a go.

I'm going to give you a sample here... and before you start freaking out about Richard Burton's voice, this is a remix album .... this is totally unadulterated. Process used was the isoprop spray, then the soap spray. I've shortened it to about 2 minutes, because the bass sections are a bit bonkers. However, beyond digitising the signal, it is completely unprocessed. I haven't even amplified the signal, let alone fed it through the de-clicking software. - http://msknight.com/files/sample.wav - NOTE that the file will be taken down in about a week from posting. Trying to walk the line between copyright and demonstration.

But I think you'll agree that while I'm achieving results like these... spending many hundreds on machines is not cost effective for me.

I'm not closed minded to other techniques, but I have to be cost/space effective. Other people have to be time effective, so other cleaning mechanisms suit their lives better, I believe. Every time an analogue medium is played, damage is done. And some of these second hand records have already been through more than I can ever put them through.... even with a less than perfect needle IMHO. I just circulate them a little more often than I would if I was just running one needle for new records only.

 

I am like you I take everything people tell me with a pinch of salt, I like to do my own testing as my own ears are the best judge for what I like. People only get taken in by so called "snake oil" because they don't do their own research.

Anyway moving on to your test track, I have not listened to War of the Worlds in a long time. I will have to dig out the original vinyl album by Jeff Wayne and the remix 12’ by Ben Liebrand. The Ben Liebrand remix is called Eve of the War.
Here is a copy of the original Jeff Wayne's album in my collection

And below is the Ben Liebrand remix, love the track. It's years since i've played it must dig them out.

 

True - but partially, we have to do our own research because there's so few people we can actually trust these days. On YouTube I've said a number of times that honesty is the new currency on social media. And it's easily lost.

I bought the double CD when I was young, and at a wedding earlier this year, talked with an Uncle who had the LP in his collection, and I used to love looking at the pictures when I was a kid. Oddly, he was bemoaning the fact that he couldn't get a CD copy, so I got one for him (easy enough) and bought the vinyl for myself. Recently I decided to buy the UublaDubUula on vinyl and CD recently. Sadly, the vinyl only contains five Eve of the War mixes (which is what that sample is taken from... I was working on them this weekend) - but my favourite remix track comes from the CD...

 

It’s not just a case of trust, yes that does come into it. What I mean here is, let’s imagine I tell you to go and buy blah blah blah because I think it’s great and the best thing since sliced bread. Imagine you go and buy it and you think what the hell is he talking about, this thing is rubbish. What my ears like and what I find pleasant may not be the same for you. The amount of people that go out and buy something because a magazine rated it excellent or someone on a forum says it is and are disappointed.

I do my research and I will also take equipment home and use it as part of my setup for a weekend / week that way I really know if I like it or not. Spending an hour or 2 in a dem-room does not tell you much. I have tried pre / power amp in the dem-room for an hour or 2, then I took it home for a weekend. Did not like it and I could not wait to get it back it was horrible once i spent more time with it, imagine if I have just listened to a magazine or just based my buying on the time spent in the dem-room I would have wasted my money and once you have opened it it's second hand so you will not get your full money back.

So always do your own research and always checkout equipment with your own music.