Farty, Staticy sound?

Tillman

Tillman

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not sure if this is the best place for this question, but...

@HiFi Guy, or anyone else who can help or chime in on this. I was listening to my Experience Unlimited record last night and on the 2nd track on Side B I encountered this:



what I am wondering is what causes this defect exactly? is it actually a defect of the record at all?

I am thinking it is a defect because this isn't the first time I have encountered this type of sound and have replaced records with it where I wouldn't have this issue. but could it be something on my end? I recently encountered it on a John Frusciante record about a month ago and once before on a Khruangbin record maybe a year ago or so. so just sort of wondering what it is.

it only seems to come out of one channel, in this case the left. with the other times, one was only in the right channel (Frusciante) and the other was also only in the left channel (Khruangbin).

in all cases it's a pretty quick sound and doesn't last long, but boy is it unpleasant.

it's definitely not my speakers as it will also happen with headphones, so it's either the record or needle.

any info on this? I did request a replacement for the Experience Unlimited, but since it's now happened a few times I really am starting to wonder exactly what is causing this type of sound.

any feedback would be greatly appreciated!!
 
Do you notice static at all when touching record afterwards? When I get bad static can sound like that. Hard tell through my cheapo work headphones.

Edit: I started run the carbon fiber brush on record before putting it on platter and that helped but weather changing could have helped more.
 
Haimez40 said:
Do you notice static at all when touching record afterwards? When I get bad static can sound like that. Hard tell through my cheapo work headphones.

Edit: I started run the carbon fiber brush on record before putting it on platter and that helped but weather changing could have helped more.
Click to expand...
no, I didn't notice any static issues. and I would also like to add that in all cases it always occurs at the same point of the record and doesn't happen randomly due to other conditions such as humidity or temperature. it's more similar to a scratch or defect that causes a pop in that it will always happen regardless of cleanliness of the record or room conditions.
 
I have never heard anything like that before. I'd be curious, if you played your record on another turntable, what that person might hear. It could be the equivalent of a pop that's somehow behaving differently on your deck.
 
Dang...farty is a good word to describe it. It's like your turntable just let out a little fart. Wish I could help, but that's a head-scratcher :/
 
well, just heard back from VMP that a replacement will be sent. but I am still very curious what this issue may be and what actually causes it.

in other news, the PIF thread should be seeing a farty record soon
 
Tillman said:
well, just heard back from VMP that a replacement will be sent. but I am still very curious what this issue may be and what actually causes it.

in other news, the PIF thread should be seeing a farty record soon
Click to expand...

it could be a fun thing to break out at parties for a laugh.
 
Tillman said:
well, just heard back from VMP that a replacement will be sent. but I am still very curious what this issue may be and what actually causes it.

in other news, the PIF thread should be seeing a farty record soon
Click to expand...

I mean, I'd take it just to see if I have the same problem...
 
kvetcha said:
I mean, I'd take it just to see if I have the same problem...
Click to expand...
true - could be a good experiment to determine if it's a universal problem or something that my system is exacerbating.

I should also try it with the spare Ortofon Red I have to see if it does the same thing with that
 
Your "static fart" is non-fill. Essentially an issue with the material not fully fulling the stampers mold that is unfortunately common at overrun plants like GZ Vinyl. What's happening is tine little dots are forming a rough surface in the groove and the needle is scraping past them, sort of like the sound it makes when someone is foolish enough to rub their finger pad over the stylus. Usually it's best to diagnose the issue visually, but the play surface of this LP is really hard to see thanks to the iridescent color. Check out to see if you can spot these little dots on your other problem records — if you can easily see the play surface I'll bet you can.

IME, the finer the stylus (ie Microline or other advanced profiles) the more loud and irritating the non-fill is. That's one disadvantage of upgrading carts — you can find yourself with formerly quiet LPs that are now a bit noisy. FWIW my VMP pressing has some too, mostly audible on side two in the pauses between songs with along with a slight dish. I think I'm going to reach out to CS even though it's tolerable, because I'm getting really sick of this issue.
 
zombie.modernist said:
Your "static fart" is non-fill. Essentially an issue with the material not fully fulling the stampers mold that is unfortunately common at overrun plants like GZ Vinyl. What's happening is tine little dots are forming a rough surface in the groove and the needle is scraping past them, sort of like the sound it makes when someone is foolish enough to rub their finger pad over the stylus. Usually it's best to diagnose the issue visually, but the play surface of this LP is really hard to see thanks to the iridescent color. Check out to see if you can spot these little dots on your other problem records — if you can easily see the play surface I'll bet you can.

IME, the finer the stylus (ie Microline or other advanced profiles) the more loud and irritating the non-fill is. That's one disadvantage of upgrading carts — you can find yourself with formerly quiet LPs that are now a bit noisy. FWIW my VMP pressing has some too, mostly audible on side two in the pauses between songs with along with a slight dish. I think I'm going to reach out to CS even though it's tolerable, because I'm getting really sick of this issue.
Click to expand...
thank you for the thorough response, I really appreciate it, especially knowing that it is a defect and not something on my set-up's end.

also, I kinda wish my user name was "Static Fart" now.
 
Tillman said:
not sure if this is the best place for this question, but...

@HiFi Guy, or anyone else who can help or chime in on this. I was listening to my Experience Unlimited record last night and on the 2nd track on Side B I encountered this:



what I am wondering is what causes this defect exactly? is it actually a defect of the record at all?

I am thinking it is a defect because this isn't the first time I have encountered this type of sound and have replaced records with it where I wouldn't have this issue. but could it be something on my end? I recently encountered it on a John Frusciante record about a month ago and once before on a Khruangbin record maybe a year ago or so. so just sort of wondering what it is.

it only seems to come out of one channel, in this case the left. with the other times, one was only in the right channel (Frusciante) and the other was also only in the left channel (Khruangbin).

in all cases it's a pretty quick sound and doesn't last long, but boy is it unpleasant.

it's definitely not my speakers as it will also happen with headphones, so it's either the record or needle.

any info on this? I did request a replacement for the Experience Unlimited, but since it's now happened a few times I really am starting to wonder exactly what is causing this type of sound.

any feedback would be greatly appreciated!!
Click to expand...

In my experience that zipper kind of sound is usually caused by a crater or divot in the vinyl. If you get it under an led light you can see the craters, I have more than a few from VMP that do that...

EDIT - ORRRRRRR it's non fill as @zombie.modernist perfectly pointed out and the crater zipper issue is entirely different... I also have lots of non fill from VMP as well.
 
Thanks for all the help and input everyone. Like I said, the most comforting thing is knowing that it isn't a result of my stylus. That said I think it's getting time to replace and/or upgrade the ol' Blue due to general wear and tear, but that's a different issue altogether.
 
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