Record player static noise HELP

[LunaTempesta]

Dear forum goers

I few months ago I purchased my first record player.
However after the initial set up procedure I was stuck with a lot of static noise in my playback.

My set up is as followed:
Technics SL-1500C with the base Ortofon 2M red cartridge.
Denon X4700h as the phone pre-amp
Audiophonics HPA-S400ET driving the front speakers.
KEF R7 Meta

Everything is plugged into an earthed connection
The record player is connect through ground to the Denon (as per instructions)

I have cleaned records with special kits. With mild soaps. Used carbon brushes. Bought anti-static record sleeves. Made sure the rooms humidity is around 60%...
But I cannot get rid of the static noise in my records. One is worse than the other, without me really knowing why.
Attached a video with the problem. I am at wits end. Any ideas?

 

[AnalogSteph]

1. Dragging a diamond through PVC strikes me as a recipe for a triboelectric generator. Records traditionally use carbon to distribute the static electricity (so any non-black record will be more crackly), but even then there still is another insulator in the form of a platter mat (either rubber or felt) in the way before you're anywhere near chassis ground again (which in turn may not connect to tonearm ground, but for high voltage it may be close enough).
2. Because of 1., I would suggest (a) one of these tracking wand-type brushes with grounding wire (some persuasion / modification may be required to get the tracking force just right, apparently, but they tend to be cheap enough), (b) placing an open lid or small cup of water in a corner under the dust cover as a local humidifier (it doesn't have to be the entire room, even if humans tend to appreciate 40-50% as well), or (c) maybe even consider converting to the dark side a.k.a. wet playing, though that's getting a bit hardcore (but it does work, and may be a good option for "rip it and forget it" kind of deals).
3. Modern pressings don't have the best reputation in general. Elevated noise levels, off-center pressings and warping do not seem that uncommon. A well-preserved ca. 1980s record may be useful as a reference.

Isues like these certainly were one reason why people were flocking to the little silvery discs back in the day.

 

[Speedskater]

Can you take your audio rig to a friend's house in a different neighborhood?

 

[Sono]

In some four of five decades I haven’t found anything better than the formerly called »Lenco-Clean«-System to deal with this problem.

 

[JeffS7444]

To me it sounds typical of a quiet passage of music played on vinyl. Ortofon 2M Red has flat frequency response and will not mask it like some other cartridges will.

 

[sergeauckland]

Sounds 'normal' to me, although your clip was only 10 seconds long. Records have noise, and although there are some records with audibly silent surfaces, they're very few.

At the risk of banging on about the same thing, I've found that only a vacuum Record Cleaning Machine reduces, even removes, that sort of impulsive noise. Whether the record is new or old doesn't seem to matter much, only the way it's been treated and cleaned. even an RCM will struggle to remove ground-in grit, and nothing will repair actual groove damage or wear, although a modern line-contact stylus will go a long way to reduce the effect.

S

 

[LunaTempesta]

1. Dragging a diamond through PVC strikes me as a recipe for a triboelectric generator. Records traditionally use carbon to distribute the static electricity (so any non-black record will be more crackly), but even then there still is another insulator in the form of a platter mat (either rubber or felt) in the way before you're anywhere near chassis ground again (which in turn may not connect to tonearm ground, but for high voltage it may be close enough).
2. Because of 1., I would suggest (a) one of these tracking wand-type brushes with grounding wire (some persuasion / modification may be required to get the tracking force just right, apparently, but they tend to be cheap enough), (b) placing an open lid or small cup of water in a corner under the dust cover as a local humidifier (it doesn't have to be the entire room, even if humans tend to appreciate 40-50% as well), or (c) maybe even consider converting to the dark side a.k.a. wet playing, though that's getting a bit hardcore (but it does work, and may be a good option for "rip it and forget it" kind of deals).
3. Modern pressings don't have the best reputation in general. Elevated noise levels, off-center pressings and warping do not seem that uncommon. A well-preserved ca. 1980s record may be useful as a reference.

Isues like these certainly were one reason why people were flocking to the little silvery discs back in the day.

1. Correct. There is a rubber mat underneath the record. It seems to work as the hairs on my arm are not attracted to the record when it's on the player itself.
2. Actually somebody on another forum suggested the wet-playback option. But as you call it 'a bit hardcore' it seems too much hassle for something which I just wanted to enjoy occassionally. I will try the humidifier option with a small cup of water.
3. It's funny you say that, I have a few Japanese pressings bought during my trip earlier this year (the main reason I bought the record player) and they exhibit way lower levels of 'static' noise.

Can you take your audio rig to a friend's house in a different neighborhood?

I have handed the said record of the video to my parents who have a record player of their own. Though I had my dad listen earlier and he was surprised about the amounts of noise as well.

In some four of five decades I haven’t found anything better than the formerly called »Lenco-Clean«-System to deal with this problem.

See .2, but this is exactly the brand I had recommended.

To me it sounds typical of a quiet passage of music played on vinyl. Ortofon 2M Red has flat frequency response and will not mask it like some other cartridges will.

Sounds 'normal' to me, although your clip was only 10 seconds long. Records have noise, and although there are some records with audibly silent surfaces, they're very few.

At the risk of banging on about the same thing, I've found that only a vacuum Record Cleaning Machine reduces, even removes, that sort of impulsive noise. Whether the record is new or old doesn't seem to matter much, only the way it's been treated and cleaned. even an RCM will struggle to remove ground-in grit, and nothing will repair actual groove damage or wear, although a modern line-contact stylus will go a long way to reduce the effect.

S

Then it's solely up to the quality of the record itself if that's the case and this is considered normal, especially if newer records are of lesser quality pressing.
Makes me wonder if there is a website giving insight to the quality of a pressing.

 

[Elkerton]

What you are hearing is quite normal and, as said, subject to the pressing. Some are quieter than others. That said, surface noise tends to disappear, or at least, become less objectionable 10' (3m) away from the loudspeakers.

 

[DVDdoug]

Welcome to outdated-inferior analog technology.

Some vinyl lovers aren't bothered by the noise and they enjoy the "vinyl sound" in addition to the "vinyl experience".

But some clicks and pops can get pretty nasty! I grew-up with vinyl. I could live with the constant background noise and was the best thing we had, but the "snap", "crackle" and "pop" REALLY annoyed me even though it didn't bother most people. I was especially annoying when it was my record and I knew when that "click" was coming and I'd be anticipating it instead of enjoying the music.

Records and cartridges also have imperfect frequency response and occasionally audible distortion. But the noise is the main issue.

The best day of my audio-life was when I got my 1st CD player!

 

[LunaTempesta]

That would explain why I hear such a big difference between certain records.
Bummer overal tho, as even on the listening position too many crackles bother me.

Luckily I have a CD player as well, which indeed sounds very good!

 

[Soniclife]

How many records do you have, what percentage are annoying?

Could be the recording but that doesn't sound like normal levels of surface noise to me.

 

[Thomas_A]

Cleaning with "special kits" may not be the best though, depending on what these are.

There is manual way that is the "reference":

https://thevinylpress.com/app/uploads/2024/03/PACVR_3rd-Ed-Ch1_2024-03.pdf

I use the HumminGuru US that works well. It also removes static.

'HumminGuru Ultrasonic vinyl cleaner mini review'

Nov 10, 2023

This is a mini review of the HumminGuru ultrasonic cleaner for vinyl records. The following procedure was used for cleaning. 5 minutes of ultrasonic using alkaline water (≈pH 10) followed by 2 minutes ultrasonic in demineralised water and 5 minutes of drying cycle. Both solutions contained 2 drops/400 mL of the HumminGurus "The Small Bottle".

I made some initial tests with an ABBA record that was bought used and my initial impression was that some noise as well as clicks and pops were reduced. There was also an apparent increase in clarity and detail. To continue measure any effects I...

• Thomas_A

• 

 

[LunaTempesta]

Update

The same record produces similar noise on a family members record player. So it's not in my set up or connection.
As mentioned here probably (very?) bad pressing.

Tho I have also tried having a little cup of water under the dust cover for a day or so to see if humidity did something or nothing at all.
Without positive effect. I'm still interested to try a proper cleaning solution in the near future and see if that atleast reduces it to some extend.

I'm not interested in playing the lottery with modern records to see if they are proper or not, if the level of noise is linked to the quality of the pressing.

 

[DSJR]

To me it sounds typical of a quiet passage of music played on vinyl. Ortofon 2M Red has flat frequency response and will not mask it like some other cartridges will.

A better stylus profile may reduce the perceived noise floor a little, along with the subjective *effects* of surface noise. As I've now mentioned a few times, I'm a long standing fan of the 2M Bronze, the stylus of which easily fits in the standard 2M body.

If you want the best fidelity, GO DIGITAL!!! Vinyl is still a fun hobby, really, for old hands like me who grew up with the format and with substantial vinyl collections to be played.

By the way, once a record was 'Lenco-Cleaned,' the debris that the liquid held in suspension, settled as sludge in the groove once dried out and the records then either had to be wet-played every time, or subsequently needed professional wet-n-dry cleaning to clear said debris away.

 

[MaxwellsEq]

Dear forum goers

I few months ago I purchased my first record player.
However after the initial set up procedure I was stuck with a lot of static noise in my playback.

My set up is as followed:
Technics SL-1500C with the base Ortofon 2M red cartridge.
Denon X4700h as the phone pre-amp
Audiophonics HPA-S400ET driving the front speakers.
KEF R7 Meta

Everything is plugged into an earthed connection
The record player is connect through ground to the Denon (as per instructions)

I have cleaned records with special kits. With mild soaps. Used carbon brushes. Bought anti-static record sleeves. Made sure the rooms humidity is around 60%...
But I cannot get rid of the static noise in my records. One is worse than the other, without me really knowing why.
Attached a video with the problem. I am at wits end. Any ideas?

Completely normal record noise. When I first started buying music and HiFi gear all that was available were LPs CD was not yet available. This is what we all had to put up with.

Things that can reduce the impact (other than returning particularly crackly LPs to the store you bought them at):

Use a phono preamplifier with a lot of headroom

Use a fine-line or elliptical stylus

Check downforce

Ensure your tonearm and cartridge compliance match

 

[evalrat]

Its certainly not insufficient sensitivity or a missing RIAA correction. To me this simply sounds like a record that gathered a lot of dust and debris during its lifetime. You could try cleaning and playing it not loudly. But first you should try a pristine record before condemning the audio set.

 

[Sokel]

Boi, this is way above normal, no vinyl should ever sound like this.
Who pressed this thing?

It seems that experience has drained off about pressing, the ones that do it are probably apprentice wizards.
It might be good for them to find some old, experienced technicians to show them how it should be done properly.

Imagine what they would do if they had to press 30Hz, uncorrelated, stereo lows like the masters did at '50s, listeners would be at danger by flying needles!

 

[Thomas_A]

This LP is probably poorly pressed. As a last try, wood glue method could be tried to clean it up.

 

[Snoopy]

Get a ML cartridge (AT 95ML / 540ml / ortofon bronze) , a record cleaning kit and a parks audio waxwing phono stage

 

[LunaTempesta]

Completely normal record noise. When I first started buying music and HiFi gear all that was available were LPs CD was not yet available. This is what we all had to put up with.

Things that can reduce the impact (other than returning particularly crackly LPs to the store you bought them at):

Use a phono preamplifier with a lot of headroom

Use a fine-line or elliptical stylus

Check downforce

Ensure your tonearm and cartridge compliance match

I tried playing with the downforce before but it didn't seem to do much if anything at all. I will give it another try.
The cartridge was set up exactly according to the Technics spec, since it was the one that came with the system.

I appreciate all the comments and helpful tips. As I will try to experiment a little bit more. It's funny to me that all the locally sourced records seem to have some form of noise high or low. While the japanese bought ones seem way less prone to the issue. It's probably completely random but it did catch my attention.