Tape Test Reports...

orange

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#2
I have most of these NOS...
 

Elite-ist

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#3
Thanks, Tony. I keep a printed copy for reference. I hope people are paying attention to some of those Realistic cassettes because they are competitive with some of the best.



Nando.
 

BlazeES

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#5
Completely off-topic, but tell us about that SC-1 Nando and how it performs?
 

Elite-ist

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Tony: It's one of the premiere components I wouldn't be without. Geri and I bought it because, after the demonstration of a SugarCube SC-1 at Innovative Audio, last year, she said " That's amazing - let's get one!"

Once upon a time I used to use an old SAE 5000 Impulse Noise Reduction System to help reduce the surface noise from some of my vinyl. But, this is a different technology that gets it right and doesn't rely on clipping out frequencies where the clicks, pops, and crackles exist, thereby taking out some of the musical content at those frequencies. We ordered it on Record Store Day, last year, through Innovative Audio which is one of the Canadian distributors of this product. So, we did get a discount by jumping in early. I think it retails for around $2K USD - quite a bit more than we bought it for. I have used it in the making of my past two mix tape projects and I'm currently working on a new one which covers many tracks recorded from vinyl.







Nando.
 
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BlazeES

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#9
OK, I guess you're playing coy on purpose.
I was hoping for some greater impressions ... now that you owned it for a while. So in lieu of that, a performance type question -

How does thing perform on the crackle infested bad production runs, on the lead-in outer (beginning) groove into the first song on a side and then between songs thereafter? Does it have to have dynamic waveform content to analyze & work properly or does it consistently return silence to what is supposed to be silent groves in-other-words ?
 
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62vauxhall

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Tony: It's one of the premiere components I wouldn't be without. Geri and I bought it because, after the demonstration of a SugarCube SC-1 at Innovative Audio, last year, she said " That's amazing - let's get one!"

Once upon a time I used to use an old SAE 5000 Impulse Noise Reduction System to help reduce the surface noise from some of my vinyl. But, this is a different technology that gets it right and doesn't rely on clipping out frequencies where the clicks, pops, and crackles exist, thereby taking out some of the musical content at those frequencies. We ordered it on Record Store Day, last year, through Innovative Audio which is one of the Canadian distributors of this product. So, we did get a discount by jumping in early. I think it retails for around $2K USD - quite a bit more than we bought it for. I have used it in the making of my past two mix tape projects and I'm currently working on a new one which covers many tracks recorded from vinyl.







Nando.
Hey Nando, thats exactly what you can get me for my birthday!! It's on the 19th so lots of time.
 

orange

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#11
And another excellent Type IV tape:



Nando.
Shotwell has some up on eBay *the-mad-buyer and I wish I could have bought some from him, a real sleeper from the Memorex lineup. I got EIGHT NOS 110s in 4 two-packs at $2 a long time ago at a thrift store far far on the end of town :iroc:
 

Elite-ist

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#12
Tony: I conducted a test today to reaffirm what I had heard while using the SC-1 in the two conditions you had mentioned - lead-in groove noise and spaces between tracks on an LP. I used my SC-1 in the default setting of 5 and at the highest setting of 10. I, also, toggled back and forth between the repaired signal and the Click Monitor (only clicks & pops). Yes, the SC-1 does remove a bulk of the unwanted noise, but not completely. I used my old 1972 issue of War's album "The World Is A Ghetto" for the test and I did the test while monitoring with my AKG K-240 headphones through my tape monitor loop. Great album, by the way. This is in contrast to what some people have said in other forums that the SC-1 or SC-2 doesn't work in what is supposed to be silent passages on vinyl.

Nando.
 

BlazeES

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#13
Thanks for taking the time to do all of that Nando. In the time between my question and your reply, I've researched the heck out of these Sugar Cubes.
As a side note, I'm kicking myself for not jumping in on the Indiegogo campaign. I recollect seeing this kick-start product and didn't take it serious at the time.
It would have been cool to get one at the campaign price instead of these current list prices - which I think are a bit excessive.

In any event, through my research I've learned a lot about these 'boxes' and after some exhaustive time on YouTube, I actually found some thoughtful demo's that show just how effective this click/pop removal process is - on outer grooves, between tracks and even with albums that had literal cracks in the plastic.

What I found even more intriguing is that even though the genesis of these was click, pop and essentially digitized scratch removal... these Sweet Vinyl guys are saying that they have plans to introduce low-level surface noise removal and rumble type conditions too. Pretty amazing stuff and obviously a product that is going to evolve. I can envision this tech being licensed and incorporated directly into turntables some day...

Here's a prime example, one I was looking for, where the dude compares the lead-in grooves with & without the processing.
You'll notice that it does take the 'magic' a few seconds to kick in but when it does, the click/pop/crackle attenuation slope is obvious.

High resolution needle drop comparisons. Take note that at the time of this video it was 2018 and early on regarding firmware development.


Cued full video


Another guy demonstrating a massively cracked 78


I don't know if I would be torturing a nice cart with something as severe as clean breaks in the pressing, but again - pretty damned impressive !
 
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Elite-ist

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#14
You're welcome, Tony. It's coming up a year since I have owned the SC-1. Because we were able to demo a unit, I was quite determined to get it. I didn't really look into any testimonials or videos until after I got it. When I first hooked into my system, I had it hooked up between my turntable and preamplifier, but changed it to my dbx 400X Route Selector via the sound processor /tape loop because I have way more flexibility in the sources I can process.

Another article: https://www.henleyaudio.co.uk/shop/product/viewfile?FileId=4708&ProductId=767
 

orange

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#16
And another excellent Type IV tape:



Nando.
Shotwell has some up on eBay *the-mad-buyer and I wish I could have bought some from him, a real sleeper from the Memorex lineup. I got EIGHT NOS 110s in 4 two-packs at $2 a long time ago at a thrift store far far on the end of town :iroc:
They will be mine soon! Hopefully some more of his stash as well!
 
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