Will an RCM make the Rice Krispies go away?

Rice Krispies are a delicious snack, and I hope they never go away.

Hi Rballdude,

If this is your first turntable you may well be in for a period of adjustment.

While I share Albert's comments about many of my LPs being quiet on my Galibier with a Dynavector XV-1s on the business end of either a Schroeder or Triplanar Tonearm, I know people who go nutty when they hear a single pop.

Now I'm not arguing for the sound of a crackling yule log when I write this, but at the same time, a well set up analog rig should draw you into the music to the point where a few ticks and pops become only a minor annoyance ... like someone coughing in a concert hall.

Tell us about your system. As I mentioned above, this has a lot to do with how prominent record problems will be.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier

I don't have a "Rice Krispies" problem; when people come over to hear my system they are really surprised to learn that I have a album playing. I have a VPI record cleaning machine that does a superb job. Curious; what kind of turntable, arm, cartridge and phono preamp are you using?

FWIW I've found that phono preamps with feedback, particularly transistor units, will often enhance ticks and pops. When I started listening to zero feedback (passive EQ) preamps, I found that my LPs were a lot quieter than I had thought they were.

Bballdude,

I'll second Psychicanimal's comment. Sharp, intermittent clicks and snaps that bear no relation to the music can often be removed by an enzyme-based cleaner. I use RRL fluids too, but Vinyl-Zyme (or something similar) is also an essential step. Neither RRL nor any other non-enzymatic cleaner will remove certain biologicals, and these often make "snap, crackle, pop" noises. Try it.

Ralph's (Atmasphere) observation is also consistent with my experience. The better the phono stage the less it rings and emphasizes the sudden transients of certain record surface flaws. Some cartridges are also much quieter in the groove than others. As Thom suggested, posting your system would ennable others to comment more specifically about that.

Don't give up!
Doug

P.S. A Loricraft is a large improvement over a NG, or any machine with vacuum wands and felts. I strongly recommend them. But if you're throwing money around throw a few bucks at some Vinyl-Zyme first. You'll need it no matter what RCM you use.