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Biggest, most dramatic upgrade I have ever made

75.131.45.141
Posted on April 1, 2015 at 19:04:56
MLGrado
Audiophile

Posts: 90
Location: TN
Joined: March 5, 2015
 I am experiencing Vinyl playback now at a whole new level. I had no idea so much music was lying deep in the grooves.

I have had for the last decade a Nitty Gritty Record Doctor hand operated Vacuum cleaner. It has always worked well. Or so I thought.

I dumped the stock fluid and brush for a Mobile Fidelity record brush and their Enzyme cleaner. WOW! My vinyl has NEVER played back this quietly. I have pressings that I thought were just noisy, that now playback with a DEAD QUIET, black background.

Seriously. This isn't hyperbole. Since I used both the new brush and cleaner at the same time, I can't really say if the difference is with one, the other, or both. All I can say is the difference is truly dramatic.

I had considered getting one of the expensive ultrasonic cleaners. Now, I don't think that is necessary. How much quieter can it really get?? Not much.
I have never experienced this much joy listening to my records. I am like a kid in a candy store revisiting my collection.

WOW.
Andrew

 

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RE: Biggest, most dramatic upgrade I have ever made, posted on April 1, 2015 at 19:20:57
John Elison
Audiophile

Posts: 23900
Location: Central Kentucky
Joined: December 20, 2000
Contributor
  Since: January 29, 2004
 Is this the brush?

Is this the Enzyme cleaner?

I might try them and see if I experience any improvement.

Thanks,
John Elison

 

RE: Biggest, most dramatic upgrade I have ever made, posted on April 1, 2015 at 19:22:42
MLGrado
Audiophile

Posts: 90
Location: TN
Joined: March 5, 2015
 That is the brush, but not the cleaner. This is the cleaner

http://www.mofi.com/product_p/mfslplus32.htm
Andrew

 

RE: Biggest, most dramatic upgrade I have ever made, posted on April 1, 2015 at 19:24:00
MLGrado
Audiophile

Posts: 90
Location: TN
Joined: March 5, 2015
 Of course, YMMV. It may simply be the case that my existing brush was a worn out piece of junk.


Andrew

 

RE: Biggest, most dramatic upgrade I have ever made, posted on April 1, 2015 at 19:25:01
Mel
Audiophile

Posts: 2993
Location: New York City Area
Joined: February 21, 2001
 Or you can try "Nature's Miracle" available at your local pet store for about $6.95. It's a strong enzymatic cleaner sold to clean up cat pee. 3 capfuls in about 12 oz. of distilled water and two drops of Dawn. Let it soak for 15 seconds and brush with a MoFi or DiscDoctor type brush and vacuum off.

 

Just read my bottle of Nature's Miracle and searched the net., posted on April 1, 2015 at 23:47:21
alaskahiatt
Audiophile

Posts: 7508
Joined: December 9, 2000
Contributor
  Since: November 1, 2005
 Nature's Miracle has enzymes for starch(amylase) and protein(protease), but none for fatty acids. It also contains peroxide, surfactants, isopropyl alcohol, and citrus scent. I guess that makes it a pretty good all around record cleaning solution. The alcohol can take care of the fatty acids, but the old Buggtussel company(Vinyl-Zyme) always said not to use alcohol before using enzymes.

Another good commercial enzyme product is Sporicidin which only contains enzymes for starch, proteins, and fatty acids, and some surfactants.



 

Evaporates?, posted on April 2, 2015 at 05:25:32
briggs
Audiophile

Posts: 1674
Location: Connecticut
Joined: April 16, 2002
 "Then evaporates, taking all residues with it."

That's quite a trick!

 

Methinks people forget to clean the brush, posted on April 2, 2015 at 06:09:11
Bry
Manufacturer

Posts: 5610
Location: S. Florida
Joined: July 21, 2005
 Just using the brush then setting it aside is just making it into a mud distribution device. When cleaning records, I frequently rinse the brush and then roll it back and forth on a folded paper towel to suck the liquid out of it.

 

RE: Evaporates?, posted on April 2, 2015 at 06:13:34
Bry
Manufacturer

Posts: 5610
Location: S. Florida
Joined: July 21, 2005
 That IS quite a trick. I understand that enzyme cleaner is supposed to break things down rather than just suspend them, but I still don't want any used cleaning fluid evaporating on my LPs.

 

RE: Biggest, most dramatic upgrade I have ever made, posted on April 2, 2015 at 06:20:01
Bry
Manufacturer

Posts: 5610
Location: S. Florida
Joined: July 21, 2005
 My experience has been that the proper cleaning regimen varies with used LPs. You just never know what they've been exposed to. Sometimes a regular wash does the trick, and sometimes they keep improving with various methods. I don't always get an improvement with enzyme cleaner, but sometimes it makes a dramatic difference.

I also feel that the Spin-Clean bath method out-performs the RCM method in most cases, but I still like to rinse them and use the RCM for drying. RCMs tend to collect dirt on the brush surfaces whereas the Spin-Clean collects most of it in the bottom of the tank.

 

I wasn't impressed with it, posted on April 2, 2015 at 06:51:35
1973shovel
Audiophile

Posts: 10117
Location: Greenville SC
Joined: February 25, 2007
 I tried it some years ago, and didn't notice any difference in surface noise. It seemed to lack a surfactant, and pooled up on the record's surface, creating puddles, rather that uniformly covering the grooves.

After the record was rinsed and dried, I'd sometimes still see evidence of fingerprints after cleaning a used record. I had much better luck with the Sporicidin alaskahiatt recommends in his reply below (in regard to fingerprints).

Maybe MoFi has reformulated since I bought mine, or perhaps it's your new brush. Either way, I'm glad you're getting such good results. I wish I could have said the same.

 

Still prefer Bugtussel Vinyl-Zyme for biologicals., posted on April 2, 2015 at 10:38:43
Opus 33 1/3
Audiophile

Posts: 4184
Location: D.C. Area
Joined: February 19, 2014
 The MoFi pad is good, however.





Opus 33 1/3

 

RE: Evaporates?, posted on April 2, 2015 at 10:54:36
jsm
Audiophile

Posts: 1887
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: October 28, 2000
 Yes, for me the key is to rinse off all the cleaning solution with distilled water before it has a chance to evaporate. The purpose of the cleaning fliud is to remove gunk on the record by either dissolving it or suspending it in the liquid. You could just go directly to a RCM and vacuum off the dirty cleaning solution, but it can contaminate the material on the lips that are in contact with the record surface. Since you may not get it all in one pass by the vacuum, the solution could dry between passes and redeposit stuff on the record where it might even get stuck. I use a small garden-type sprayer with a hand pump to spray with distillled water and rinse off all cleaning fuid before going to the RCM. It takes less than a minute to thoroughly rinse the record.

Joe

 

Thanks for the tip! Ordered a bottle. [nt], posted on April 2, 2015 at 11:24:52
jorisdallaire
Audiophile

Posts: 356
Location: Quebec city
Joined: July 26, 2012

 

I've never tried the Bugtussel , posted on April 3, 2015 at 04:49:50
1973shovel
Audiophile

Posts: 10117
Location: Greenville SC
Joined: February 25, 2007
 Thanks for the recommendation.

My game plan is to order one of the original Disc Doctor brushes the next time I place an order for Miracle Record Cleaner.

 

You're welcome, posted on April 3, 2015 at 04:55:53
1973shovel
Audiophile

Posts: 10117
Location: Greenville SC
Joined: February 25, 2007
 Just passing along something I learned here on the Vinyl Asylum.

The Sporicidin also came in handy when one of my two dogs developed a heath problem. My rug liked Sporiciden too.

 

I don't use Vinyl-Zyme unless the regular MoFi/Pure 2 etc., posted on April 3, 2015 at 08:15:40
Opus 33 1/3
Audiophile

Posts: 4184
Location: D.C. Area
Joined: February 19, 2014
 doesn't do the job, then it's the Bugtussel followed by Record Wash as a rinse.





Opus 33 1/3

 

I use a similar methodology, posted on April 3, 2015 at 09:55:45
1973shovel
Audiophile

Posts: 10117
Location: Greenville SC
Joined: February 25, 2007
 I clean using Disk Doctor's regular formula. If I still see prints, etc. or if the cover of the used record(s) has a mildewy odor, then I'll scrub the LP again using the Sporicidin. That comes off with a power spray from the sink sprayer, followed by a final rinse with distilled water, then vacuumed dry.

 

RE: Biggest, most dramatic upgrade I have ever made, posted on April 8, 2015 at 05:41:56
analogmaniac
Audiophile

Posts: 211
Location: No. California
Joined: September 28, 2001
 I have used many different record cleaners and the Mo-fi cleaners are the best. I've used them when they were called Record Research Labs (RRL). The other cleaners had sonic signatures but the Mo-fi had the least sonic signature and quiet to boot.

 

RE: Biggest, most dramatic upgrade I have ever made, posted on April 8, 2015 at 10:57:02
bill_stevenson@bellsouth.net
Audiophile

Posts: 418
Location: West Palm Beach, FL
Joined: January 6, 2015
 My RCM is a VPI HW17 and I recently bought the MoFi brush and their standard cleaner and had similar results to yours. So I think the brush is the main reason for the improved cleaning. To add to the formulas for cleaning solution, I have used 50% vodka and 50% distilled water on very heavy dirty smudges. I know that is a lot of alchohol, but it is effective and with vacuuming does not allow the fluid to reside on the record for very long. This has worked for me with no problems for over 20 years.

 

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