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The insidious vinyl misting problem


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36 minutes ago, awayward said:

There is a whooshing sound ?. I have a few records with misting and luckily all sound as good as new, and unfortunately there is no common factor as to the actual cause that I can identify.

If your records sound clean there is obviously no need to tamper. 

I'm unsure why you rolled your eyes at my comment regarding a whooshing sound. 

If a record I have in my collection is unpleasant due to background noise I'll try multiple options.

 

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5 minutes ago, aussievintage said:

because you asked what was the harm, when the harm is obviously that they make a wooshing sound :) 

Really? 

Maybe I didn't  make myself clear. 

If a record is ruined through misting and background noise. 

And the general consensus is that nothing will fix such an issue. 

What is the harm in trying something. 

The other option is to throw the record out. 

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So easy to misunderstand 'intent of post' on threads/messaging/internet in general. ....but I thought it was pretty obvious that @The Blues meant 'if the LP is stuffed, you would subsequently never play the LP so there is no harm in trying this method, ie: there's no problem either way. It may work and that's a bonus and no problem if it doesn't.....you'd be throwing away said album anyway.

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4 minutes ago, stevoz said:

Relevance?

One possible downside to playing a misted record might be that you are coating your stylus with whatever misted the vinyl.  Especially as I think the records improve after some playings.

 

No biggie, just means it might be worth cleaning the stylus after you play one.

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6 minutes ago, aussievintage said:

One possible downside to playing a misted record might be that you are coating your stylus with whatever misted the vinyl.  Especially as I think the records improve after some playings.

 

No biggie, just means it might be worth cleaning the stylus after you play one.

I acknowledge that point.....it is the main reason I am reluctant to try this method.....but if I did and the record was still stuffed it would be thrown out anyway. That is the point I was making and the point @The Blues was making with his initial post.?

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28 minutes ago, stevoz said:

I acknowledge that point.....it is the main reason I am reluctant to try this method.....but if I did and the record was still stuffed it would be thrown out anyway. That is the point I was making and the point @The Blues was making with his initial post.?

 

Actually what happened is that I, and others I suspect, just misread, and didn't realise he was asking about the harm of the process in the video.  I see it now, and apologise.

 

btw.  I don't see any harm in trying out the video method, but only on records so bad that they can't be played, particularly as playing them seems to help.  It actually makes me think that the misting might be, not a residue, but a fine pitting in the surface - hence it is so hard to remove and doesn't leave a residue on the stylus.   Both repeated playing and this video polishing method, might just be doing just that, i.e. polishing the surface.

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At this point I'm wondering if anyone has put a misted and whooshing record under a fine microscope? Surely anything that impacts sound would be identifiable across all grooves. This issue (though not that common) has impacted some official archives, not just small private collections.

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Ok. I won't be going for my 4 K walk today.

Good news.

I got the Plastx and tried it on two LP's.

One was an original English pressing of Alladin Sane that my niece got me around 30 years ago.

Side two was bright and distorted. Dont think this was from Misting but you never know. Got stuck into it. The process took me around 20 mins to do side two.

Still bright with no distortion at all. A few clicks is all. This side was originally that bad I could not listen to it. Smiling.

Now, Ry Cooders, Boomers Story. Another of my favourite albums but really badly mist up and damaged.

This took me around 40 minutes. I applied a little more then what the bloke did in the video and used a linen cloth that was rather large.

Heavily rubbed the polish into the record and went over it numerous times. Sprayed some water on the LP and kept rubbing. When the surface was close to drying or just dried, I wet a part of my rag and kept rubbing. When the water had evaporated, I put some more polish on the LP and started the process again.

End Result is quiet passages are that quiet now, I can hear all the fret work easily. Great end result.

P.S. Thank god I only have a few to do. Its bloody hard work for a 64 year old with two slipped discs.

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1 hour ago, aussievintage said:

Yes, I thought it would be hard work.  Maybe use one of those electric car polish buffers with the big spinning woolly pad? :) 

Could be the trick mate if you have a lot. Only thing would be trying to hold the LP still.

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17 minutes ago, aussievintage said:

This thread is not about that video though

I am aware the whole thread is not about that video but It is the same video as the one posted by @The Blues,  13th post, page 3 of this thread. And discussion following that post has been about the merits of polishing the mist off with abrasive polish.

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14 hours ago, EV Cali said:

I am aware the whole thread is not about that video but It is the same video as the one posted by @The Blues,  13th post, page 3 of this thread. And discussion following that post has been about the merits of polishing the mist off with abrasive polish.

Which has worked. Two things though. Side one of the Cooder LP still has a slight wooshing sound here and there. Although this side is more dynamic then side two.

It has the sound you get when cleaning a fairy new LP that has been played a couple of times with a Nitty Gritty. Detailed and dynamic. (MRA gone). I will give it another polish today.

Yesterday, after playing both sides, I did notice a very fine white dust on each side. Obviously left over polish. I monitored the stylus as it played with an eye piece and glasses and noticed that the Stylus (Stereohedron) had picked up no contaminate at all. 

I experimented on this LP as it was F..ked! Plain and simple.

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  • 1 month later...

Sorry to bring this thread up again - wanted to see what others would recommend for replacement sleeves? I only have a small collection (probably around 100 records) and was thinking of clearing out any old sleeves and replacing with something new, especially in cases where they were bought second hand and the existing sleeves are getting on a bit.

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3 hours ago, MangledLeg said:

Sorry to bring this thread up again - wanted to see what others would recommend for replacement sleeves? I only have a small collection (probably around 100 records) and was thinking of clearing out any old sleeves and replacing with something new, especially in cases where they were bought second hand and the existing sleeves are getting on a bit.

Just get these anti static ones off ebay @$11.00 for 25.....they're fine.

 

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/25-NEW-RECORD-VINYL-LP-12-PLASTIC-INNER-SLEEVES-ROUND-BOTTOM-ANTI-STATIC/232630044276?hash=item3629d4c674:g:oAcAAOSwG-1WzNkB

 

Or if you prefer MOFI style one's (and who doesn't?), try these at a great price for fifty ($30):

 

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/50-ANTI-STATIC-RICE-Inner-Sleeves-for-Vinyl-LP-records-LIKE-MOFI-Original-Master/264046523603?epid=223607726&hash=item3d7a6634d3:g:yHwAAOSwyA1dmBb5

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It's the outer sleeves that have caused the problem over the years. These from Decibel won't create any problems

 

http://www.decibelhifi.com.au/9224-ultimate-lp-outer-sleeves-2-5-25/

 

Inner sleeves, the MOFI are okay if you use the inner cardboard MOFI jacket but are a right royal pain in the backside otherwise as they scrunch up everytime you try to slide the record back in the outer sleeve. Hugely overrated. The best are the paper/poly lined from Covers 33 in the UK. Postage can be expensive but worth buying. I buy them in 500 lots. https://www.covers33.co.uk

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1 hour ago, Hergest said:

It's the outer sleeves that have caused the problem over the years. These from Decibel won't create any problems

 

http://www.decibelhifi.com.au/9224-ultimate-lp-outer-sleeves-2-5-25/

 

Inner sleeves, the MOFI are okay if you use the inner cardboard MOFI jacket but are a right royal pain in the backside otherwise as they scrunch up everytime you try to slide the record back in the outer sleeve. Hugely overrated. The best are the paper/poly lined from Covers 33 in the UK. Postage can be expensive but worth buying. I buy them in 500 lots. https://www.covers33.co.uk

 

We have a winner.   Covers33 inners rock.  

 

Mofi sleeves suk - made for audiofools. 

  

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