Results with new turntable

[zounder1]

So,
I am playing around with my new Rega RP1 turntable hooked up to my computer with an ARTcessories USB Phono Plus V2. Previously I was using a Yamaha YP-B4.

The sound quality of captured audio has taken a very nice jump up overall.  One odd thing though.  With I use "Scan for clicks" the recording actually has significantly more clicks (3X more) that are being detected and cleaned up from the record.  (Vs the same album recorded on the Yamaha)  This seems a bit odd for a higher end turntable.

Does this seem normal?  One side of me says yes as the more sensitive table will pick up more problems (and significantly more clarity in the good areas).

Should I be adjusting the sensitivity of the click reduction?

The sound quality with the click reduction is much, much better than the Yamaha recording (witt click reduction) but I'm wondering if there are more tweaks possible here.

I'm also going to try doing a thorough clean of the record as well to see what happens.

[Paul Sanders (AlpineSoft)]

It does seem a bit odd, but the declicker is very sensitive so it is not impossible.

The default declicker settings work quite well but you might experiment with increasing the Percussion Protection setting.  This is set rather low by default in an attempt to catch all the clicks but for recordings in decent condition you can minimise percussion damage (which is the worst side-effect of declicking) by adjusting it upwards.

Thorough cleaning can work wonders!  Sponging with a dilute solution of washing up liquid in water is good for very dirty discs, then rinse off and drain.  Keep the label dry!

[zounder1]

Just to follow up.  I looked more closely at the recording and I noticed that most of the extra click reduction occurring was actually BETWEEN tracks.  So small clicks in the already sections were being cleaned up.  So it seems things were working as expected.

I have cleaned a few records and will see what happens.  I recording one of those newly clean records right now.  I had to set the needle down level to 2% to reliably auto-start recording.  With 5% is would only start recording when the music started!

I'll report back with what happens to the click reduction on the new recording.

[Paul Sanders (AlpineSoft)]

OK, best of luck.  Normally, the needle hitting the record surface is enough to start VinylStudio recording but perhaps you have an arm with a very soft landing.  VinylStudio does in fact 'pre-record' the first second or two of audio but if a track starts quietly you may still miss the start of it if the Needle Down level is set too high.

[zounder1]

My recordings with carefully cleaned records improved things immensely.  The number of clicks has dropped quite a bit so I am happy with the results overall.  I have noticed that Vinyl Studio thinks the needle is up between tracks sometimes on records in good shape... (the sound level is too low..)  But this seems to be be fine.  I still get quite a bit of click reduction between tracks but that is to be expected I suppose.

The arm mechanism on the RP1 does indeed have an extremely soft landing.  (Too slow in my mind as it sometimes takes too long to have the arm drop fully.)

Thank you for your comments around this issue.  I'm am very happy with Vinyl Studio and highly recommend it.

[Paul Sanders (AlpineSoft)]

Excellent, thank you.

If VinylStudio is terminating the recording prematurely you can increase the 'Needle up timeout' setting in the Record window.  And yes, some clicks between tracks are to be expected.  Hopefully VinylStudio will take most of them out.