Cool cover. Never heard of it tho.
Will give it a listen on my streamer.
Received some records but didn’t really got to it yet.
Some Daft Punk, Pink Floyd, Lynyrd Skynyrd, BN and
Everclear (mastered by K. Gray from high-res)
Strange combination. Like a computer with a coffeemaker or landing flaps on a bike. Or a hammer and a screwdriver in one. You can buy a perfect scale for about €10. So why add it as a feature for a stylus cleaner when it's not an integral part. You can't clean and weigh in one step or spot, you have to turn it around to weigh. Ah, yes. It saves space when not in use. Good argument. No matter, this is a marketing gimmick.
The ultrasonic is what Hummingguru does. That's good. Do what you're good at. I'll just stick to my 0.001 cent worth of magic eraser. I'm not going to risk another diamond in flight. But we talked about that. It's probably safe and effective.
Edit: after due diligence
It's ultrasonic, but it's quite different from what we've talked about before. It's not a brush. It's like the lp cleaner: it uses 110 kHz in a few drops of water and uses the same cavity bubble principle. The cantilever rests unexited on the poolside so to speak (since the are no pretty girls in bikini present I suppose). It's pre-sale price is $115.
Also
Just keep your records clean. That's prevention of the problem. A good machine is an investment. But well worth it when you have a large collection or buy a lot 2ndH. The other Hummingguru is good for that.
---
I have to edit every time when I'm not sure about how my writing is perceived. I'm agitated about my last standing vinyl order. It's been 3 months now and haven't received a thing (other than irritation and arguments). So I just made a phonecall and this time didn't get the same #&@ owner but someone who was quite helpful and not argumentative.
"I've been waiting for 3 months now"
- "Ok, I'll send your money back".
-Hold on, hold on. I said I wanted to solve this. Can I switch titles?
- Yeah sure send me a message with the titles. I'll return the rest of the money.
OK, now was that so hard? Tss. Not a word wasted. No apology either.
Customer satisfaction used to be important. Professionalism is good but dealing with real human beings is better (like the guys at Boomkat, really heartwarming).
One thing is for sure, when this is received I'll never shop with them again. I really don't want to have to pump myself up to communicate to get something normal done every time. We normal people shouldn't make each other miserable every time. There's enough filth and evil in the world as it is.
Strange combination. Like a computer with a coffeemaker or landing flaps on a bike. Or a hammer and a screwdriver in one. You can buy a perfect scale for about €10. So why add it as a feature for a stylus cleaner when it's not an integral part. You can't clean and weigh in one step or spot, you have to turn it around to weigh. Ah, yes. It saves space when not in use. Good argument. No matter, this is a marketing gimmick.
The ultrasonic is what Hummingguru does. That's good. Do what you're good at. I'll just stick to my 0.001 cent worth of magic eraser. I'm not going to risk another diamond in flight. But we talked about that. It's probably safe and effective.
Just keep your records clean. That's prevention of the problem. A good machine is an investment. But well worth it when you have a large collection or buy a lot 2ndH. The other Hummingguru is good for that.
I do have some concerns with stylus dipped in water as well.
That’s why I urged some caution. And personally, I would probably use it periodically on cheaper cartridges only. I’m not sure how much they will ask for it but I thought that it might be worth mentioning.
Ultrasonic stylus cleaner that I own, uses micro-silicon like brush that needs some lubrication to work.
It works great on all of my carts but as always, use it at your own risk/discretion.
Hummingbird will get some competition from another crowdsourcing project that should start shipping their ultrasonic LP cleaners soon. And for a quite a bit less. We will see if these budget cleaners will get better and actually be effective at record cleaning…
What criticism I heard on different ultrasonic washers is that the frequency and space between discs is important. Higher frequency means smaller cavitation bubbles and better cleaning. And better reach. Some cheaper models don't clean well because of that. Supposedly.
I don't think (demineralised/distilled) water is detrimental to the cantilever. It hardly leaves moisture /drops and dries very quick. It's not like it dissolves glue or knaws at aluminium pipe. I've seen pictures of cantilevers crumbling from alcohol based stylus cleaner. Horrible.
What criticism I heard on different ultrasonic washers is that the frequency and space between discs is important. Higher frequency means smaller cavitation bubbles and better cleaning. And better reach. Some cheaper models don't clean well because of that. Supposedly.
I don't think (demineralised/distilled) water is detrimental to the cantilever. It hardly leaves moisture /drops and dries very quick. It's not like it dissolves glue or knaws at aluminium pipe. I've seen pictures of cantilevers crumbling from alcohol based stylus cleaner. Horrible.
I just saw your edit. I often do the same. Either something I forgot or needed expansion on the subject or, bc of a horrible writing/grammar mess that is usually the fruit on the go urge to respond (like right now).
Yeah, frequency that is used in “exciters” in ultrasonic cleaners is a bit confusing and far from clear as far as effectiveness is concern.
IMO, it’s the usual hype that competing brands use to promote their line of products.
How difficult would it be to present a scientific proof and effectiveness results of various frequencies used on vinyl records?
“It’s effective in removing grease from cookware and gentle enough to clean the jewelry” is probably the extent of logic in those opportunistic manufacturers “lab” departments.
Smaller cavitation bubbles do intact mean better grove penetration. But it also means less aggressive, gentler process. Which is preferred or more suitable for vinyl cleaning is a question? Perhaps combination of 60kHz and 120 KHz would make more sense at this stage of exploiting this technology?
When in doubt, just nuke the hell out of it. And probably in 2 cycles, each for specific frequency. Not a bombardment of a competing frequencies. At least that is how I, a simple man, would approach it.
But I am not as smart as scientists who are responsible for saving entire turtle population by forcing us to use paper straws, so I could be just another crazy charlatan. Who knows?
I used to work in an analytical lab. We used heavy duty ultrasonic baths to extract heavy metals from samples for analysis. We all cleaned jewelry and I did clean a few records back in the day. I had to lay them down as we didn't have a wheel or rotator, but I could stand it up in the smaller one and hand rotate. Worked well. The big one did 80 and 120khz and the smaller one was 40/80. One guy brought in a bunch of brass and ancient coins I remember til another chemist told him not to ruin the patina! Lots of perks at that job, retired after a long career there.
I used to work in an analytical lab. We used heavy duty ultrasonic baths to extract heavy metals from samples for analysis. We all cleaned jewelry and I did clean a few records back in the day. I had to lay them down as we didn't have a wheel or rotator, but I could stand it up in the smaller one and hand rotate. Worked well. The big one did 80 and 120khz and the smaller one was 40/80. One guy brought in a bunch of brass and ancient coins I remember til another chemist told him not to ruin the patina! Lots of perks at that job, retired after a long career there.
For that amount, perfection expectation is unrealistic. Sure, you can get couple somewhat accurate readings from those cheap Chinese knockoffs. But, sooner then later, they get out of spects rather quickly. And need calibration often.
I also don’t expect repeatable accuracy from Hummingbird duo.
According to some, Rega’s premium scale is one of the best ones out there. A little pricey tho. Unless you have quite a collection of carts and swap them quite often.
I haven't researched sonicators for vinyl cleaning but I'd think if within budget, it probably makes sense as different particle and groove sizes would react differently. We had a cleaning solution for glassware, but unless there is fingerprint grime, spillage or mold I'd not think it is necessary for just dust. I always just turned it up full power and max freq of the particular sonicator and added a few drops of the glass cleaning solution.
Interestingly, we also did weighings in the nanogram range and static was such a pain on the microbalances that I brought in a zerostat gun and my bosses loved me...lol.
I haven't researched sonicators for vinyl cleaning but I'd think if within budget, it probably makes sense as different particle and groove sizes would react differently. We had a cleaning solution for glassware, but unless there is fingerprint grime, spillage or mold I'd not think it is necessary for just dust. I always just turned it up full power and max freq of the particular sonicator and added a few drops of the glass cleaning solution.
Interestingly, we also did weighings in the nanogram range and static was such a pain on the microbalances that I brought in a zerostat gun and my bosses loved me...lol.
As to which records to clean and how? Well, that’s a loaded and complexed question. At least for me.
Mold and greasy fingerprints are probably the most problematic to address. And probably require more aggressive and deliberate approach . (I make my own cleaning mix for that purpose)
Used records can also be an issue as we don’t know what was used to clean them. Years ago, it wasn’t uncommon for “flippers” and used vinyl owners to use lighter fluid to give records an appealing shiny/mint look. Extremely devastating for records btw (and stylus).
New records cleaning is a controversial subject. Some go to extreme lengths to remove “mold release agents”. Commonly used in record pressing process. Is it an issue? I have no idea. Wet/vacuum or short ultrasonic cleaning isn’t a bed idea for new vinyl records. As we know, vinyl manufacturing process isn’t taking place in “clean room” like CDs and it is usually a messy as well as dirty process.
Few chemicals I personally use to make my own cleaning mix for vacuum lp cleaner and ultrasonic cleaning machine:
I tried to get my hands on wetting agent once, even went to a specialty shop for photographers, but I got zilch. Now I just use a soft detergent for doing the dishes that also has the same stuff added 'no need to dry the dishes anymore'. And a bit of Glassex alcohol detergent. Just a drop in a bottle will do.
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