Hi, Lately I've noticed some consistent low-level snap, crackles and pops on my records. Mostly left channel but possibly right channel too. It's somewhat hard to separate from whatever latent pops and cracks exist on the record. At first I thought it was just dirty records so I cleaned the heck out of them. I cleaned the stylus as well using onzow zerodust. It still persisted. Fairly consistent left-channel noise. I tried a different phono stage. I tried swapping the left and right channel. Still there. I had a spare AT-VM95SE cartridge so I decided to try it out. The left channel noise seemed to go away. I tried multiple albums that the noise stood out on and there was no trace of it with the Audio Technica cart. This is all to say that the playback is still perfectly fine. I'm happy to keep my Mofi till I upgrade or it wears out. My concern is that if this is indeed cartridge damage that I might be inadvertently damaging my albums as well. Does this sound like damage and is there anything I should be concerned with in that regard? BTW the Studiotracker is an elliptical stylus, the AT is bonded elliptical. It's not exactly a day and night comparison but it did cross my mind whether the Studiotracker is just picking up more the groove detail than the AT. It's pretty hard to say. I figure if there are pops in the album it would be picked up by both carts. Thanks!
Try to wet clean the stylus with something like Lyra Stylus Performance Treatment (SPT), it’s a lenient way to clean the stylus. Like you I regularly use a Zerodust during the listening session and also Lyra SPT after each session with great results. I around 10 years ago encountered similar problems and solved them with Lyra SPT. So it’s worth trying.
Well that 200+ hours in 4 years. On the low end of life for a bonded elliptical(300 hours) like the tracker. Does the vm95 sound similar/as good as the tracker? The MoFi carts are based on the AT engine. Also, anti-skate and azimuth issues, which could have worn the stylus unevenly. New tip every four years seems like a plan!
I've used the groovewasher stylus solution in the past. Usually only after significant build-up. Not sure how that would compare to the Lyra. I was trying out a magic eraser up until the time I got the onzow pad and I found it to be a pretty effective solution as well. I was experiencing the noise prior to using the magic eraser but I've been using the groovewasher solution for some time now. I'm somewhat apprehensive of using liquids on the stylus now.
I can't speak to the anti-skate at the moment, but I did check azimuth before removing the cartridge and also since I put it back on. It was perfectly square. Insofar as I'm a good judge of perfectly square. As to whether it sounds as good as the VM95. If I did a double blind comparison I doubt I could tell much difference.
That's cool. If you can't solve the issue and the other cart sounds good, time for a swap or a new stylus I say!! Don't wrack your brain.
So I had time to replace it out with the VM95E. So far so good. I'm not noticing any of the consistent popping and cracking and I think I'm actually hearing less noise on albums that I otherwise thought were problematic albums (kinda hard to tell, though). A couple things I noticed: The cartridge is somewhat shorter than the StudioTracker. So much so that the tonearm is still slightly imbalanced even with the VTA adjustment at its minimum. I don't know if this is good or bad. In the 95E manual it states that the vertical tracking angle is 23 degrees. Does this mean that the stylus itself is at that angle or that the VTA needs to be set to that? If that's the case then the tonearm won't be level with the platter at all. It seems overall quieter than the studiotracker. I have to crank the amp a step further from what I would normally have done so. I'm not sure what specification I could compare this to. It doesn't help that the StudioTracker published specs are light on details. I can crank it pretty high and it still sounds great, it was just something I noticed. After alignment the cartridge is pretty much covered by the headshell. Almost to the point where making it square was a difficulty. As I said this thing is small by comparison. Gotta give it some more listening time but overall I think its a good stop-gap to an upgrade.
Ir could be inner groove distortion. This could occur from previous play w/o using anti skate, or simply an older table. If u use a stylus that does not go deep into the groove, such as a conical or a DJ stylus it might not sound as bad. On the other hand, a micro line might run deep enough to miss the some of the damage. In addition, I'd suggest u use more anti skate. That should pull the stylus away from the inner wall of the groove, if indeed you have inner groove damage. I would not worry about the manufacturer recommendation of max AS. U should only use max excessive AS on the vinyl with this distortion. However, if the inner groove is badly damaged, there isn't much u can do except my above advice and any others noted on this thread. It should mitigate the distortion a bit. Bottom line...You can live with it, or look for another copy. I have a few vinyl with similar issues. I've found that not all respond to the same stylus. So, u might experiment with conical, DJ's, and mls. See what sounds best. Good luck.
It means the VTA. You can use an acrylic VTA block (these are usually cheap) and a thicker TT mat (or mats stacked) to get the tonearm up to the right level if it is sloping down. If it is only sloping down a tiny bit I would not worry, but if it's a severe angle I would try to fix it.
In this case it's practically level (barely sloping downward). I checked it with a spare record and its nearly spot-on. If a level tonearm is the goal then I don't think there's much more I need to do there.
This wasn't the issue with a few discs here and there. This was a presence of noise on nearly all discs I have tried. I'm pretty sure that the Studiotracker is either worn out or I damaged it somehow. Both options are pretty likely. It was the first cartridge with my first turntable. I wasn't exactly as gentle then as I am now. haha.
Then, it seems the problem is your system. Switch lines at the amp to the speaker right to left to so if it's a bad channel. If that's OK, trace all your interconnects, and speaker lines. You coukd have a bad line. I had one good bad at the terminal end. If all is well, then, look at ur table. Switch the interconnect lines on your table from its phono or line out to your amp. Do the right to left switch. If OK, then check your phonopreamp. Use the pre of your amp, then the one in your table, if they are included. Switch from your exterior pre, if you have one, to the pre in your amp. If possible get another TT from a friens, etc. If it sounds OK, the problem would be in your table. Than, your looking at the area then look at the lines from the headshell to the cartridge. If that's not a problem, its probably within the arm. If so, and u want to keep the table there are various rewire kits. Things like this are hard to track down. It takes patience. Good luck.
I will confirm that the 95(ML in my case) is less output level than the Ultratracker I have. They both are published at 3.5mv (as is all the Mofi carts). They're not SIMILAR in level....and they're both brand new and nearly brand new styli here FWIW. Different arm/table (here), but sorry--while that makes a difference in noise floor and potentially the extremes of frequency response ...being LOUDER across the board by SO much shouldn't be Cardas wiring and such... Why is a mystery to me. That IS the only spec I know to look at on a cart in terms of level. Are you saying the VTA adjustment isn't enough to set up an AT 95? That's a pretty standard size cart. I might need to set up some third party carts on here STAT while I'm still in the return window for the deck. What did you use to align it? I haven't even looked up the overhang. I'm so used to having a Technics and having to sift THROUGH info on the web for GOOD info...this doesn't seem like there's that much-good OR bad.
I used a mofi geo-disc for alignment. And I think the VTA looks fine, for what its worth. I just had to drop it to the minimum level for my studiodeck tonearm. It's just a hairs breadth not level. Even the studiotracker wasn't perfectly level when I looked at it last. I doubt it's worth a consideration.
Output specs on carts are usually nominal and within a certain tolerance, not exact. If you take 10 different carts of the same exact brand and model, they can have slightly different output. Those are just production variances. A stronger magnet (s) on one sample (ATs have two magnets in a V formation) can make the cart louder. Replacement styli can also vary...
While on the subject, at some point in the next year or so I may want to get something in the same price range ($200-$300) as the StudioTracker. I was happy with the ST but I'd like to try others. Any recommendations in this range? It could be MM or MC but I'm not currently looking to upgrade my phono stage (Pro-Ject phono box) at this point. I'm not sure if a more expensive cartridge would be wasted on a $100 phono stage or not. I probably wouldn't know unless I could do an apples to apples comparison. Just looking for something that would pair well (how do these things pair well? haha). Thanks again for all your responses!
