Huminguru has performed well and leaves my records clean enough to make the listening experience more enjoyable. I don't expect Degritter level performance for $400 so I am happy.
I mixed tergikleen with my distilled water, and my results with the HumminGuru have been better than using just distilled water alone. Records that removed dust sound almost completely dead quite. I can truly tell between dust and scratches now on my old/new records. My Pro-Ject - VC-E Record Cleaning Machine helps speed up the drying process, and perhaps it helps with getting the last bit of dust out the the grooves. Overall, these two devices make cleaning my collection more enjoyable!
My HG finally arrived last Monday after being held up a week longer than expected. Looking around online it certainly is getting a mixed reception. My personal experience has been fairly possative so far. Most of the records I've cleaned do sound, well cleaner. But to be fair they have been very well looked after in the first place. Only used bare distilled water so far but will try a surfactant soon. I'm not likely to be rummaging through junk piles so I think the HG will suit me just fine for now.
Thank you and great review! I use a Humminguru and did indeed find that a "pre-scrub" with a safe brush +TM-8 cleaning solution helped accelerate the entire process on particularly contaminated surfaces. Tergikleen on the first bath / auto-dry and straight distilled water on a second full cycle / auto-dry (was not sure if you were including drying on any of these cycles) has produced excellent results for the price point. Visually, to the eye, surfaces appear super shiny and particulate free and audibly a significant reduction or elimination of surface noise. I find the nicer pressings (MoFi or Acoustic Sounds, etc.), that are recognized for fairly consistently quality control out of the shrink wrap, require only a single brush (no solution) & 1 bath (no surfactant typically needed).
well, that's what i do to "upgrade" used records i buy .. one full cycle of spinclean, with distilled water, spinclean liquid and high grade isopropyl (to clean big particles and loosen the smaller ones with alcohol). then directly 2 cycles with Humminguru, using distilled water, spinclean liquid and small amount of isopropyl. then spray with distilled water using a empty Windex bottle. and it works beautifully !
I thought this could be the real affordable alternative to very expensive ultrasonic cleaners. Looks like it's not :( It was just too good to be true. So glad I've waited for your review before I pulled the trigger. Thanks for your usual rigorous work, Chris. You definitely tried your best to give The HumminGuru some chances. It seems it's not the shining star I was waiting for...
I’m delighted with my Humminguru. I can’t justify the expense of a Degritter at 10x the cost and the HG is an affordable purpose built automatic US machine. For non commercial use for those of us with reasonably cared for records this device is perfectly fine in my opinion. For those occasions where we do have really grubby records a prewash (as Chris did) might be called for.
I’ve had my Humminguru for about a month and it works as I expected it to. That being said, I always pre-clean dirty records in the sink with Tergikleen, a VPI record cleaning brush and lots of running tap water. That’s followed by a distilled water rinse with a garden sprayer and a drying in my Pro-Ject vacuum machine. Then, I’ll put the records in my DIY Vinylstack ultrasonic cleaning system, or my HG. Even new records will get a distilled water rinse before ending up in one of my ultrasonic cleaning systems. That being said, the Humminguru is NOT a Degritter, Audio Desk, Klaudio, Kirmuss Audio, or even a DIY rig using a generic Chinese-made ultrasonic tank. It’s still a cool little unit, though, and I’m happy with it.
Sounds to me that im glad i didnt waste my $$ on this thing. If you have to do all that it clearly isnt what it was originally marketed ad. Thats disappointing, but at least we know where it stands. Welp, as the old saying holds true, you get what you pay for.
Apparently the Degritter is more effective but it's also way more expensive and out of most people's price range. I'm happy with just my Spin-Clean for now.
I have one as well...plus this HG. The HG by itself is NOT very good. There is a FB group for this machine that has been taking shots at reviews that says anything against their precious purchase. I don't follow that. I'm not that satisfied at all. But, since I have the VPI, that will be my method of cleaning. I'll just use the HG to rinse.
This is an interesting test. However, I might say it might not be all that useful to evaluate the effectiveness of the machine. A machine like the HG will do worse on a test with lots of dirt than a machine with larger water volume in the ultrasonic bath (the DG has 3.5x the volume for example). This is why you might see "dirt spread around", which makes sense as that volume of dirt doesn't have many places to go. But most records don't have a teaspoon worth of dirt on them - and if they did you'd probably want to wipe it off or run it over a spin-clean first.
These tests are so far from actual real world conditions, as to make them pretty useless. The only reason they used chalk in the video, was to provide an easily visible effect on camera. I doubt they're suggesting that you shove a record caked with debris into it without even a cursory brush off. This is just common sense. It's kind of like testing clothes washers, by caking each article of clothing with a thick layer of mud first. I expect the Humminguru just couldn't deal with the absurd amount of dirt shoved into it, saturating the relatively small amount of water. I also expect the machine still had lots of residue left in the pump and other out of reach areas from this abuse, despite "giving the basin a good wash." The real world way to test a record cleaning process is to listen to a used uncleaned record, put it though the wash process, then listen again and note any differences.
@@gotham61 If you're hip to what HG had in mind when making their chalk test video, please kindly ask them why this machine is so underpowered and let me know. Thanks.
@@gotham61 Exactly. A test where I add a teaspoon of dust from my vacuum cleaner is not reasonable. The HG has a 400ml tank, so a test like this will make it look bad. Additionally, it is unclear to me that what is removed through cleaning is necessarily visible - for example a chemical coat from the pressing process would likely not be visible but could produce distortion. As for how to test, what I would do is to take 10-20 dirty records, play and record the silent portions between tracks, clean them, play and record those again. Then do a spectrum analysis and compare the two spectrums - ticks and pops will show in the upper range of that spectrum (they are close to impulse responses) and rumble will show in the lower octaves. This HAS to be done relative to other machines, not just in vacuum, as records will have some surface noise and damage that is not removable by cleaning. Hopefully if done with enough records a pattern should arise.
@@thevinylattack Do you mean the 60w? It uses only 400ml of water, 3.5x less than the DG. So it takes a lot less power to excite that volume of water (I am a physicist). Additionally, the DG works at a higher frequency, so that makes the comparisons even less direct. If you look at the bubble formed as the record surface goes into the water you can see that they are substantial. Like I said before, a test with lots of grime is just not a useful one. I will say that I would estimate the higher frequency of the DG (which forms smaller bubbles) and the frequency sweep (which forms a distribution of bubble sizes) seems to me to be the key advantage of that machine.
A couple of questions I've been pondering: 1 - does adding a surfactant really make a difference when cavitation already breaks the surface tension of water? 2 - if using a surfactant during the cleaning process does indeed reach deeper into the grooves than cavitation alone, would a plain water rinse even be able to remove the chemical from the microscopic crevices?
Man, your first question I've been asking, and I was told because of the cavitation, surfactant has no effect, based on the reason you just articulated. But, people seem to think that those bubble explosions won't work without some Jet-Dry. I was told it doesn't enhance the process.
You can clearly see in the video that adding a surfactant helps. That same surfactant is still present in the rinse cycle, so I've seen no evidence that the rinse water can't get in and clean everything out.
I don’t think cavitation breaks the surface tension. The Kirmuss method works precisely because it helps cavitation get to the deepest parts of the groove by locally adding a surfactant. As for washing off the surfactant, maybe rinsing doesn’t get it ALL off but certainly since there is surfactant in the groove it would itself help with the rinse.
@@thevinylattack I have to wonder if the dust that gets knocked off of the record ends up floating on the surface of the water due to surface tension, to be picked up again by the record as it rotates. I'd bet if you dusted one half of a clean record, ran it through a cycle in the HG, that the dust would then be evenly distributed on the record. Maybe the surfactant allows the water to wet the dust and allow the dust to stay suspended in the water, and not sitting on the surface of it.
@@michaellitscher9456 That's a really good question. I can say for certain that the clean side of the record (that is to say, the side I didn't put dirt on) didn't have any dirt at all after any of the cleanings so I'm inclined to believe that the dust isn't floating for long in the water, but I can't say for sure.
Maybe you should do the same tests and see how well your Degritter does? These tests are the extreme of the extreme. If anyone has vinyl that looks like your test subjects they shouldn’t be collecting vinyl imho.
I actually did that when reviewing the HumminGuru, but it didn't make it to video. The Degritter had no trouble at all cleaning the mess, but I did need to clean my filter right after.
Very nice review. Again I’ve been loving mine and have been using a small amount of Spin Clean fluid added to the distilled water which has drastically improved my results. Very important truth about the temperature of the water when running it over and over….it does indeed get quite warm if you’re doing back to back cleans without a long dry cycle in between. I’ve been keeping a thermometer handy and testing the temp when I feel I’m getting it too warm.
Thanks for the video. I'll stick with my manual cleaning method as it seems to be just a good a the HumminGuru and a heck of a lot faster. I'm a low budget audio guy so I'm not running anything on a $1000 cart.
You folks just cannot compare what this little 3-4 hundred dollar machine can do compared to the 3-5 k machine!...Imagine complaining that you live in a 400 dollar a month 1 bedroom apartment. Of course your buddy who lives in luxury in his 5k plush 4 bedroom apartment is sitting in a the lap of luxury. I'm going to think about this and although Im perfectly happy cleaning my LP's by hand, with a little elbow grease in combination with the Guru it should work all right. AS long as we don't expect to be living in the lap of luxury:-)
Hey, another detailed and thoughtfully laid out product review. I wasn't really considering this device, yet still found your process helpful in developing my own cleaning process. Thanks !
Pardon my ignorance. Ingredients of dirt on my records are airborne. I assume this grit is lightweight since it is airborne and, since the record has a charge on it to allow the dirt to stick. So, a release agent, clean water and a water agitator. Without these steps I am uncertain just how you can clean any record. Typically, the rinse is twice as important as the wash cycle. Now that I haven't helped at all, I will bid you farewell. Thank you for your channel it is very insightful and the delivery is most excellent.
I've used the HG for a couple of days. I've also got a DIY ultrasonic that uses the Chinese 5 litre tank commonly sold online and a rotisserie unit that clamps on the side of the tank. I also have a DIY vacuum RCM. For the latter two, I use the typical brew found online of isopropyl alcohol, Ilfotrol and distilled water. My typical regimen in the past was ultrasonic for 13 minutes, then rinse and vacuum dry with the RCM. I was curious to see how the HG compares just using it as designed, with distilled water, since the HG is very convenient and my DIY setup is anything but. I used some good sounding records but also pulled a couple of "problem children" from the collection. On a couple of these tougher records, there was a SLIGHT improvement with the DIY setup but almost all the noise was still there. Disappointing. Same thing with the HG. No real improvement. Ultrasonic cleaning isn't going to work miracles. For the HG, I am using it to clean a record just before playing. This means the record is probably pretty clean already, as I have cleaned most of my collection over the past five years. It is in an equipment room adjacent to my listening room. I listen at between 70 and 85 db and can't hear the HG while it is running. Big props. The other ultrasonic is so noisy that I need to run it clear across the other side of the basement, several rooms away. Using the double automatic cycle, the HG does its thing before the record I am playing is finished. I don't have the issues others seem to have with insufficient drying. The humidity in the house in the winter is 40%, so not bone dry (good for static) and the record dries just fine. When I put it on the platter, I use a Swiffer to clean any particles that may have been lifted from the grooves but are still on the record. I am very happy with the performance of the HG but admittedly, I am just using it to clean records that are already pretty clean. Still, it is so easy to use and so slickly implemented that companies that sell similar units for much, much higher prices (like the Degritter) should be concerned by the HG's presence in the market. I don't think ultrasonic is as marvellous as some think (and all of us hope for). We are better off paying a more for used records to get the quality we are after.
@@thevinylattack in the audiophile community, if a product enters the market that challenges the current state off affairs it brings out a lot of mud slinging. The DIY ultrasonic crew are spitting feathers as are people that champion more expensive products! Haha I think it’s a great product, and the pricing is spot on. The only misstep from the manufacturer is the silly ‘only use distilled water’ thing. It runs counter to decades of ultrasonic cleaning experimentation. I’m fairly certain they are just covering their backs with this. I can’t see mild surfactants or very low mixtures of ethanol being an issue with the running of the unit.
@@lewiswaddo5045 I'm not quite sure why they issued such a limiting statement either. For $400, I'd risk it and run whatever makes the damn thing work better.
Tbh by the looks of it if I would still have to run it 3 maybe 4 times plus a pre clean I might as well carry on with the the spin clean. It does take a wash a play and a wash to get the beat results with the spin clean but I get there and once done I don’t really expect to clean those records anymore for many months if not years if cared for properly. I’m glad I currently only have a small collection.
HuminGuru now provide their own surfactant with new machines. It works great and, on all but the dirtiest of records, one intense auto clean (5mins ultrasonic + 5 minutes dry) produces perfectly clean and dust free records. I've not gone to the lengths of doing a distilled wash afterwards; any reason why you think that is necessary?
Without testing it myself, I'd still be reluctant to buy this machine based on the promises they've made. It just doesn't deliver. You should always rinse a surfactant from a record. Deposits = bad.
Would you please try wood glue but a specific wood glue would you get some titebond LV to do it ? A lot of us have tried wood glue and say it works well but the argument that comes back is it can't possibly get to the bottom of the groove well that particular glue I mentioned has a viscosity just above orange juice it should be able to get to the very bottom of the groove. It's thickness is about 1/15 of the wood glue everybody uses. It'll cost you a little over a hundred bucks though it does only comes in a 5 gallon or larger it's for commercial use it's for "doweling" making machines. With it being so thin I have a hunch that that would be the absolute best cleaning method or would rival incredibly high-end ultrasonics. I've noticed with my wood glue adventures the record is unbelievably staticky after you pull the layer of glue off but I think then you could hit it with your deionizer. I'd love to see a video of that process
Use proper amount of distilled water and 17 drops of Tergikleen surfactant added to distilled water. Wash/dry record with Surfactant/ distilled water once then wash/dry record with just distilled water. This works MUCH better than just plain distilled water. Use one water tank for Surfactant/distilled water and another water tank for just distilled water.
Great job Chris. I have a HG and your findings line up with mine. It’s great for cleaning a new record or for a touch up but doesn’t get crackles and pops out of my old ones, which I was desperately hoping it would do. I use a drop of G-Sonic and it helps restore dynamics, but I guess the machine isn’t strong enough to get the deep dirt ... Sad… Maybe you can review the Kirmuss one day. 🤞🤞
@@thevinylattack Speaking of crackles and pops, have you considered that static build up may be the problem once the record appears clean? You have an interesting review of a de-static device on your channel. Maybe combine both? I like your methodical approach. It makes it possible to critique results, because you show the procedures you used to get the, helps discussion.
Hey Chris! you know it would be really cool if you do a review/how to on the “mother of all” DEGRITTER. I should be receiving my machine in 2 weeks. Cheers JC/Miami
If you are putting a record into the HG that is really dirty it is to be expected that not all that dirt will be drained away after a cleaning cycle and a lot of it will glom onto the surface of the record during draining. I know this is for test purposes but you are just setting the HG up to fail. In reality I assume people are running a brush over their records before putting them through a cleaner to try and get as much dust etc off.
I'm not setting anything up to fail, I'm showing what the results are in a test situation. It's not far off from the chalk test HumminGuru themselves posted.
Great video after reading the manual for the Hummin Guru there is no mention of adding a cleaning solution do you recommend it will I void the warranty I doubt it will harm the machine..courious on your thoughts .... Thanks keep up the great vidoes....
Great review! What seems to work for me on very dirty vinyl has been to do a vacuum clean using the Groovinator fluid followed by a humminguru cleaning with Groovinator fluid added to its distilled water then a rinse thru a spin clean of plain distilled water and air dry in a dish rack... More intensive a cleaning process than I anticipated thinking the humminguru would suffice but I have gotten great success with the sound of some vinyl I had given up on ever sounding good... Have you tried using the Groovinator fluid?
You comment that the HM is underpowered, but I think we need to qualify that statement. A lot of ultrasonic cleaners use a bigger tank. My other ultrasonic is a 5L, so more than 10X the volume of the HM. Less fluid means less energy required.
While I see where you're coming from, I still feel it's underperforming. Others seems to love it. Mainly I'm trying to show it's capabilities or lack thereof.
Too many hoops to have to jump through. If Im going to have to go through all this I might as well just hand clean or purchase an ultrasonic with proper power and do modifications to accommodate records. Thanks Chris!
Thank you for your videos you get down n dirty sussing out what these machines can really do :) Please please please do a showdown between the Degritter vs HumminGuru vs Project VC-S!! That would make an awesome video!!!!!!
There's need to do a showdown between the HG and the Degritter other than entertainment value. The Degritter is in a completely separate league. If I get my hands on a vacuum machine I will test that however.
@@thevinylattack Great video.......Hi, Doing a showdown between a Degritter and Hummingru is like doing a showdown between a 1990's Hyundai and a 2021 Mercedes. totally different class, different frequency. 120khz gives a much better clean and rinse than 4okhz especially when it runs underpowered in the Humminguru. I run my Codyson with adjustable frequency transducers. (40, 80, 120khz). We had to modify it since Codyson refused to do it. 40khz for 5mins, 80khz for 5mins, 120khz for 5 mins then into second machine for 5mins rinse at 120khz. 120 khz gets deeper into the groove than either 40 or 80khz.
@@thevinylattack I know that, I was commenting on your response to Steve Porter's comment as well as to Steve Porters comment at the same time. Trying to do a response to two points can be problematic. I really don't think the HG is much good, too low a power, which would have to affect the frequency of the unit. I don't have HG but a friend of mine does, my multi frequency and record cody runs rings around the HG. The cody is getting some more improvements then I will see about its viability in being marketed. Will cost more that the HG but is way better. Going to do a comparo against the Audiodesk for just washing in next days.
I think by reusing the same dirty water from an unusual dirty record is not a fair test, of course a percentage of the crap will stick back onto the record. I’m thinking this unit in conjunction with my Spin Clean might be the ticket. Cleaned hundreds of records with the Spin Clean with great results that are very apparent through listening tests. I never cleaned more the a dozen or so records with the same water. Have stayed away from ultrasonic cleaners due to worry of possible damage, this unit has me rethinking my approach. 🤔
Sooooo. Manual scrub, plus 3 cycles in Humminguru @ 5 mins/cycle? Then it overheats after 5 records? Methinks a motorized SpinClean might be a better option! 😉. Thanks for the informative videos, and keep up the awesome work!
@@thevinylattack Is the frequency to high or is it just too robust for soft plastics? I watched the video of the developer using it over and over on one record so I was beginning to wonder if it was cleaning anything at all.
From all of your testing and gathering results, I would wonder if the HummGuru is best suited for cleaning brand new unplayed LPs from manufacturing debris.
Could you do the same exact test with the Degritter please? I would also like to see a comparison with the Audiodesk (which you might not have of course)
I've done the test with the Degritter and it had no trouble. I just needed to clean the filter after. I don't have an Audiodesk on hand to test though.
@@thevinylattack You showed pics of every stage of the HG cleaning. Would it not make sense to do the same with the DG in a followup? I am just curious what it would look like.
Thanks for the informative review, I pre-clean also with surfactant (triton x-100 surfactant) when using my Humminguru. Although cleaning and drying is ok, it doesn't remove all noise from my records. Assuming standard 40khz ultrasonic transducers are housed inside the Humminguru, these components are generally rated 50-100 watts, so I'm wondering why only a 60 watt adapter was supplied with the unit. Surely an 80-100 watt PSU would improve the cleaning result dramatically. Any thoughts?
Hi Chris, Great video. I appreciate all the hard work you've put into evaluating the HG. I was a bit skeptical about this product from the beginning and you seem to have confirmed my skepticism. If you do any further testing, maybe skip the wet cleaning step and remove the excess dust with compressed air or maybe a dry brush. Then clean in the HG using a surfactant. My expectations of a good ultrasonic cleaner would be minimal to no precleaning. Let the machine do all the work. Maybe my expectations are too high as I have no experience with ultrasonic record cleaning at this point. I have an Okki Nokki record cleaner that does a decent job. When I purchase an ultrasonic cleaner I plan on using the Okki Nokki as a rinse step. Thanks again for all your time and effort.
How many records do you clean with a single load of water. I've been running a surfactant cleaning and then a distilled water rinse before drying by using 2 water tanks.
On my Degritter, I'll clean up to 7 or 8 over the course of a couple of days. It has a much larger water tank so it doesn't get dirty quickly. I also use two tanks. I don't use the humminguru at all.
Nice video! I'm local to the Detroit area as well. How about doing a review on the inexpensive ultrasonic cleaners from Harbor Freight? Thanks and keep on rockin'.
I finally got mine last week. Most of my fathers and mine records are in good shape. The ones I grab from the 2nd hand market, I've cleaned using the Humminguru. I must say I am amazed. Is it perfect? - no. Is the 3k difference compared to Degritter worth it... I would say no - but again, I don't own nor can I get my hands on a Degritter. I would say that for home purpose and normal usage, this machine does the job well. If you own a 2nd hand record store, I would invest the money into Degritter and more cleaning options. Also, I am not using the auto mode, full clean cycle and full dry cycle.
you say: "Also, I am not using the auto mode, full clean cycle and full dry cycle."... so you combine a manual 5 minute clean cycle and a 5 or 10 minute dry cycle? What is the added bonus of that? Because if you use the auto cycle you get just that: a 5min clean + a 5/10min dry without having to get back to the machine mid-cycles. (that being said: I sometimes add an extra 1 or 2 cycles of clean only before the 5-10 auto cycle for extra dirty/noisy records...my results are excellent.)
I'm really enjoying your videos. I doubt that you'll see this but....I'm not terribly interested in the Humminguru as an ultrasonic cleaner per se but I'm kind of a rinse freak. I do my cleaning using a Kirmuss ultrasonic. I brush on surfactant and do the cleaning cycles. I then rinse with ultra pure (lab grade I) water using an older vacuum machine. However I would prefer a more thorough rinse. The small reservoir of the Humminguru is appealin and it's actual cleaning capabilities are less important than just getting the rinse water into the grooves. Thoughts? (There's an intriguing paper on cleaning water and rinsing water out there that is written by a chemist. It convinced me)
@@thevinylattack I thought I asked it elsewhere. I obviously missed your response. I'm legally blind and have to have stuff read to me by a program so I screw up sometimes. And, let's see, with my Kirmuss and this I would have a little over 1/3 of the cost of your Degritter so... Sorry to trouble you.
I bought the Kirmuss early on for $800 so between 1/3 and 1/2. I owe you an apology for my reaction. My vision issues make me feel stupid sometimes and your message pressed that button. Mind you, I can be stupid without vision being related.... I'd pull the trigger on the Degritter but I'd still have to figure out the rinse and prefer it not be dried by the machine. There's an intriguing article on water for cleaning records written by an audiophile/chemist if you're interested. I've foundit to be true after much experimentation. I've been a high end dealer for 35 years and have seen many theories and rarely believe any until I've tried them. Best
Is it possible, that there are strong fluctuations in quality? I‘ve really great results with my HG. Ok, my records are almost all in very good condition, a few have some scratches and pops aso. But i‘ve noticed several times a huge improvement, as example, a Dire Straits record with a lot of scratches, a lot of pops and clics and after 3-4 cleaning circles, the pops and clics are gone. It‘s hard to believe for myself, but it‘s the truth. And that is not the only example! Nearly all of the records with pops and clics sound a lot better with much less background noise after a few cleaning circles. So i really think, that can only be explained by fluctuations in quality …???
Would you consider the same exact test with the Degritter? To me that machine seems to be held by many as the best, and for what it costs it should be, but would you see better results? 🤔
I've done that, yes. The record came out just as spotless as any other, but the filter got dirty a whole lot faster. After that, I stopped testing with it because it's my personal machine and it's pretty pricey.
@@thevinylattack thanks for the update. I’m on the fence with the HumminGuru. It’s seems good for the $$$ but it’s not awesome. I believe it would be better than my current hand cleaning but likely a combo of both would be good. I’ve heard ok to bad in the vac systems like Pro-Ject and it seems more and more complain on the noise after a year so I’ve ruled that out. Ugh. No good answer out there unless one invests $3k+.
@@MD-wk3gj That pretty much sums it up. It does a fair job and I think it's better than probably all of the options near that price point, but it just needs more oomph in the cleaning and drying.
Really nice video Chris. I do like your use of scientific method to do this, a difficult thing to do to make it relevant for the real world. You make a strong case for use of surfactants in the HG which may help address the low US power on this affordable unit. Now for part 3…which additive works the best (or is there a difference at all?). Personally, I’m using 1:200 Kodak PhotoFlo (Triton X100) while I wait for delivery of GrooveWasher G-sonic and Tergikleen. Ok, maybe I’m as obsessive as you are!
I've had mine for about a week, and I don't even know if it's actually working. The water doesn't seem to do anything, perhaps due to the lack of power, or, my machine is no good. My VPI will remain my main method of cleaning because it works so well. Perhaps I can just use this machine to rinse, even though my VPI takes care of cleaning and rinsing.
@@thevinylattack by the way, that is a good idea of having one water tank for cleaning, a second for rinsing. I just checked and they don't sell the water tanks individually. Kind of doesn't make sense.
@@thevinylattack I did ask...all they have for sale is the 10" record adapter. Even the 7" is sold out. The email claims these items should be for sale after the first of the year.
As correctly reported in another video, the machine failed the universal aluminum foil test for presence of cavitation. Using a cavitation tester, no cavitation detected. More of an ultrasonic soap bubbler common in China.
Any of you old enough to remember the Kenner EZ Bake Oven? It was a toy to help teach children to bake. It came with recipes and kids made tiny dishes with it. After a while, people opened it up to discover the heat source was a light bulb. Sure, it cooked. But it cooked slowly and did a lousy job. That's the analogy that comes to mind with the first shipping iteration of the HumminGuru. It's a toy....
Its cleaned my record nicely. I don't' really have any with a vacuum cleaners worth of a dust mashed in them. For actual use my records are quieter and I'm happy. Cheers on the super clever analogy though.
Coming in way late, but watch The Audiofile Man's videos on record cleaning, mostly because you are using the brush wrong. When you use it, you put pressure on it and the bristles splay out and are lying sideways to the vinyl and not digging deep in the grooves. Choke down on the hairs with your fingers, leaving about 1/2" or so hairs sticking out. This keeps the bristles straight and can go straight down to the bottom of the grooves. Hate to say it, but think you are not getting good results because your brush isn't doing any work.
I assure you my brush works fine. The point you should take away is that you need a brush at all for this product. You shouldn't. It should clean a record as it is.
@@thevinylattack Yeah, kinda having a friendly poke at you, I find everything needs abrasion to remove dirt. From washing cars, parts and records. I've worked in several positions that require professionally cleaning various equipment and that's my experience anyway. (haven't used ultrasound before) Really like the info and test you do, thanks for educating me on many aspects of this hobby.
A comparison to the Degritter is actually less interesting to me, as it costs seven times more than the HG. I’d rather see it compared to cleaning machines in its price range, even if they’re vacuum-based.
Tergitol is a surfactant that breaks surface tension to allow for easier cleaning of the grooves. I'm currently using a name brand called Tergikleen which can be found pretty much anywhere online.
Aha, ok, thanks . So if I understand correctly: 1) simpel destilled water clean with brush 2) ultraclean with Tergitol / destilled water 3) ultraclean with destiled water + dry One question in step 2: what is the ratio Tergitol / destilled water ?
@@frankkortstee9877 The best result was a pre-clean and wash with tergitol and water, then the rinse of just water. The ratio will vary depending on the manufacturer, but they'll tell you.
If it becomes necessary to damage a brand new LP for testing, I would highly recommend using records by Billy Joel and Phil Collins. I have found that dropping crate loads of their records into an active volcano removes all traces of unlistenable dreck from the LP's grooves, this method also ensures a level of zero static and removes all surface noise.
@@gotham61 They are just not my jam. Susudio and Uptown Girl make me hang my head. I wasn't too unhappy with Phil Collins until Susudio came out, just a little board when he came on the radio. After it came out I wrote him off entirely, same with Joel when Uptown Girl came out. I think of it this way Ronnie Van Zant wrote Free Bird, John Kay wrote Magic Carpet Ride, John Lennon wrote Imagine, and Paul Simon wrote Bridge Over Troubled Water. Four great songs from the rock era. These examples of fine song craft, make Uptown Girl and Susudio grate on my nerves.
Well let's just use Bruce Springsteen/Phil Collins...don't you dare damage Billy Joel;-)!! Uptown Girl is Billy showing off how he can make you think Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons were back :-) Bruce getting 500 million for his portfolio, what will Billy get? 800 million?
@@Tunz909 I would like to clean a copy of Uptown Girl with an orbital sander and 80 grit sandpaper. But sometimes I think I'd use a jackhammer to clean up a huge pile of Billy Joel records.
Speaking for me, the HumminGuru seems to fall short of its marketing claims. I prefer better-established ultrasonic restoration systems. Maybe it's better than a SpinClean system, but I don't think so. My opinion only.
@@thevinylattack: So asking this, what is the next-best step? Let's eliminate home-built ultrasonic clear systems that use consumer-based ultrasonic systems for now. I believe that those are ineffective, and they might even cause more damage to the LPs than people might imagine. I'll bet you've seen some of them. What are your thoughts?
@@TBNTX Right now, the next best step is the giant leap to the Degritter. You're dead-on about the utility type of ultrasonic cleaners being dangerous to vinyl. There isn't any middle ground at the moment.
Clearly this is def not what it was hoped to be. Thanks so kuch for these videos showing the lengths u need to go to in order for this thing to actually do something. So happy i didnt waste my $$ on it. Still holds true in life, you get what you pay for. Def will habe to pony up the cash for a real US now it seems. Disappointing to say the least
I thinking your asking to much from the Guru! Who's records are that dirty or have that much crap on them. I think this device is just for a light cleaning to knock lite dust off stored records.
@@biga8230 Not true at all. I have an $80 ultrasonic that can punch holes through aluminum foil because it's so powerful. I wouldn't use it on records, but that's not the point.
With all due respect your testing methodology is flawed. Who is cleaning records that have had a hoover dumped on them or cleaning products mashed into them? An actual test would be to buy a new and old record from a shop and A/B them before and after and compare the noise floor and sound quality. 900 records cleaned now with mine and the difference it has made compared to the spin clean I was using previously is jaw dropping.
@@thevinylattack it’s flawed in that it’s not it’s real world purpose. That is to clean the inner grooves of a record and improve sound quality and stylus wear. It does that. Also even if it does clear that kind of heavy dirt off the record some will end up back on the record during draining and drying because it doesn’t filter as it cleans. It’s competitor that does that costs 14 times the price.
@@josephmcgranaghan3951 I'm certain there are plenty of records out there that have this kind of dirt, even if only in one area of the record. If the machine can't clean as the manufacturer claimed, I think people should know so I test.
@@thevinylattack We will agree to disagree. Ive bought some mank looking old records in my time but whilst I’ve seen all sorts it’s most often paper dust that you get from old records stored in those horrible paper sleeves, never the type of thick heavy dust particles that would be in a hoover! With new records it’s really the oils that are released from the formulation to stop it sticking to the plates, rather than that type of dirt, that you’re looking to clear and given the black oil I’ve had to clean out of the reservoir it’s clearly getting that!
I would like to see the same testing methods for the Degritter just to see how much better that does the job. I understand you are testing here, but mashing all of that dirt into a record is hardly real world. I know you address that, but it makes me curious to see how the high end handles such an extreme case as well.
I actually did that when reviewing the HumminGuru, but it didn't make it to video. The Degritter had no trouble at all cleaning the mess, but I did need to clean my filter right after.
@@thevinylattack As I had mentioned before Hong Kong in the past design is their strength. But I think they could not execute due to their current political issues. It's a shame. I have had in the past many projects with H.K back in the day.
Why don't you just take some new or used records that have surface noise and do a before and after? That's the purpose of this machine, to remove the usual dust and debris from the grooves of new/used records. Your methods seem to be based on the idea that people are digging for records deep in the forest or wrangling feral records in the dusty desert. But the vast majority of records out there aren't absolutely filthy, and the HG cleans those well.
I don't own any records that have surface noise because I take care of my stuff. My method is simply to test the cleaning ability of the ultrasonic. In my opinion, it should have no trouble cleaning what's there especially given the claims made by the company.
@@thevinylattack This doesn't really make sense though. I truly doubt that you don't own any records with surface noise. And if it is true, then why would you even want an ultrasonic cleaner? "I take care of my stuff" doesn't have much to do with surface noise--even new records have surface noise often. Nobody is cleaning records that have a tablespoon of dirt on them. The HG works quite well especially for its price point. I have a VPI 16.5 and have used it for years but have noticed much more of an audible difference with records cleaned with the HG over the VPI. And that's even without a surfactant. I just picked up some Tergitol to see if that makes any difference with the HG. As others have pointed out, buying a used record and a new record and doing an A/B is a much better test of this machine than pouring out a bunch of dirt that would never be on a record and complaining that it doesn't fully clean it.
Very disappointing. I just received mine after a 4 month wait. Haven't even unboxed it yet! Tempted to send it back and get a refund. Has anybody tried that? I bought it specifically hoping to deal with mold issues on vintage vinyl (unavoidable damp storage plus open fire soot!). Doesn't seem like the HG is gonna be fit for purpose -did I have ridiculously high expectations?? Thanks for your efforts VA...wish I'd waited!
Personally I don't think your expectations were too high. A properly powered ultrasonic should be able to deal with mold. I'm not sure this machine can. I'd be very interested in hearing if it does should you keep and use it.
@@martinscase3904 all right, you going to try to get a refund? I'm sure they have a return policy if you can prove it's defective. Yea, it's like many products, they just don't do what they advertise, exactly;-) that Degritter is way over priced as far as I'm concerned. The good Lord gave me two strong hands, I play piano , guitar, I'll clean my LP's using elbow grease!:-) Good luck man!!
Looks like it don't work worth a shit to me. A cheap spin clean is much better lol. By the time you set it up and fuss around with it I can clean like 10 records.
That's totally up to you. I'm not in your situation so I really can't say. I'm just trying to give you objective feedback that showcases what the machine can do clearly.
Perhaps its not! Not sure why the pile on. It’s doing the job it is meant to for me and I’m perfectly happy with its real world performance (Chris is pushing it to it’s limits with his testing and it still did a pretty good job). I haven’t used my spin clean in ages as it’s too cumbersome for everyday use for me.
That's the thing though, it's not complete trash. It works, it's just underpowered by those of us with high standards. Being stuck right in the middle is kind of a tough thing to review actually.
Huminguru has performed well and leaves my records clean enough to make the listening experience more enjoyable. I don't expect Degritter level performance for $400 so I am happy.
I'm glad to hear it.
I mixed tergikleen with my distilled water, and my results with the HumminGuru have been better than using just distilled water alone. Records that removed dust sound almost completely dead quite. I can truly tell between dust and scratches now on my old/new records.
My Pro-Ject - VC-E Record Cleaning Machine helps speed up the drying process, and perhaps it helps with getting the last bit of dust out the the grooves.
Overall, these two devices make cleaning my collection more enjoyable!
I'm glad to hear it. I don't know about you, but getting the most out of my vinyl is a big part of the fun for me.
@@thevinylattack Thank you! I agree, cleaning and preservation for our records is part of the hobby and I enjoy it as well.
@iamspyvspy I shall try that, thanks for tip!
I use the same combination. Project for dirty records then Humminguru and Humminguru for clean records.
My HG finally arrived last Monday after being held up a week longer than expected.
Looking around online it certainly is getting a mixed reception.
My personal experience has been fairly possative so far. Most of the records I've cleaned do sound, well cleaner. But to be fair they have been very well looked after in the first place. Only used bare distilled water so far but will try a surfactant soon.
I'm not likely to be rummaging through junk piles so I think the HG will suit me just fine for now.
I'm glad to hear it's working for you.
Thank you and great review! I use a Humminguru and did indeed find that a "pre-scrub" with a safe brush +TM-8 cleaning solution helped accelerate the entire process on particularly contaminated surfaces. Tergikleen on the first bath / auto-dry and straight distilled water on a second full cycle / auto-dry (was not sure if you were including drying on any of these cycles) has produced excellent results for the price point.
Visually, to the eye, surfaces appear super shiny and particulate free and audibly a significant reduction or elimination of surface noise. I find the nicer pressings (MoFi or Acoustic Sounds, etc.), that are recognized for fairly consistently quality control out of the shrink wrap, require only a single brush (no solution) & 1 bath (no surfactant typically needed).
Right on. Thanks for the follow up tests.
No problem.
well, that's what i do to "upgrade" used records i buy ..
one full cycle of spinclean, with distilled water, spinclean liquid and high grade isopropyl (to clean big particles and loosen the smaller ones with alcohol).
then directly 2 cycles with Humminguru, using distilled water, spinclean liquid and small amount of isopropyl.
then spray with distilled water using a empty Windex bottle.
and it works beautifully !
nice & fair review..tks!
I thought this could be the real affordable alternative to very expensive ultrasonic cleaners. Looks like it's not :( It was just too good to be true. So glad I've waited for your review before I pulled the trigger. Thanks for your usual rigorous work, Chris. You definitely tried your best to give The HumminGuru some chances. It seems it's not the shining star I was waiting for...
Analog Jedi: "This not the droid you are looking for, move along".
@@mpachis For now, I'll keep using the force, with my spin clean
I’m delighted with my Humminguru. I can’t justify the expense of a Degritter at 10x the cost and the HG is an affordable purpose built automatic US machine. For non commercial use for those of us with reasonably cared for records this device is perfectly fine in my opinion. For those occasions where we do have really grubby records a prewash (as Chris did) might be called for.
It seems like it just gets them wet. I don't think it actually cleans them really. I use a knock off spin clean and that thing works fantastic.
I glad you found it helpful, that's what I was after.
Thanks, Chris. Been waiting for this. I’ll wait for v2 (if there there ever is one) and stick with my Record Doctor. I had such high hopes………
I think many people's expectations were set that way when HG released the chalk test video. Shame it hasn't quite lived up.
I’ve had my Humminguru for about a month and it works as I expected it to. That being said, I always pre-clean dirty records in the sink with Tergikleen, a VPI record cleaning brush and lots of running tap water. That’s followed by a distilled water rinse with a garden sprayer and a drying in my Pro-Ject vacuum machine. Then, I’ll put the records in my DIY Vinylstack ultrasonic cleaning system, or my HG. Even new records will get a distilled water rinse before ending up in one of my ultrasonic cleaning systems.
That being said, the Humminguru is NOT a Degritter, Audio Desk, Klaudio, Kirmuss Audio, or even a DIY rig using a generic Chinese-made ultrasonic tank. It’s still a cool little unit, though, and I’m happy with it.
Sounds to me that im glad i didnt waste my $$ on this thing. If you have to do all that it clearly isnt what it was originally marketed ad. Thats disappointing, but at least we know where it stands. Welp, as the old saying holds true, you get what you pay for.
That sounds like quite a process, but I'm happy it's working for you.
Apparently the Degritter is more effective but it's also way more expensive and out of most people's price range. I'm happy with just my Spin-Clean for now.
Thanks for this, Chris! I’ll be sticking with my VPI HW16.5 👍🏼
I have one as well...plus this HG. The HG by itself is NOT very good. There is a FB group for this machine that has been taking shots at reviews that says anything against their precious purchase.
I don't follow that. I'm not that satisfied at all.
But, since I have the VPI, that will be my method of cleaning. I'll just use the HG to rinse.
I'm hearing that a lot.
I agree with many of the other viewers… I’d like to see the same test with the same record and closeup photos but using the Degritter.
When I review the Degritter, I'll make sure to keep that in mind.
This is an interesting test. However, I might say it might not be all that useful to evaluate the effectiveness of the machine. A machine like the HG will do worse on a test with lots of dirt than a machine with larger water volume in the ultrasonic bath (the DG has 3.5x the volume for example). This is why you might see "dirt spread around", which makes sense as that volume of dirt doesn't have many places to go. But most records don't have a teaspoon worth of dirt on them - and if they did you'd probably want to wipe it off or run it over a spin-clean first.
The manufacturer set this bar by doing their chalk test. A good ultrasonic should have no trouble removing this kind of dirt.
These tests are so far from actual real world conditions, as to make them pretty useless. The only reason they used chalk in the video, was to provide an easily visible effect on camera. I doubt they're suggesting that you shove a record caked with debris into it without even a cursory brush off. This is just common sense. It's kind of like testing clothes washers, by caking each article of clothing with a thick layer of mud first.
I expect the Humminguru just couldn't deal with the absurd amount of dirt shoved into it, saturating the relatively small amount of water. I also expect the machine still had lots of residue left in the pump and other out of reach areas from this abuse, despite "giving the basin a good wash."
The real world way to test a record cleaning process is to listen to a used uncleaned record, put it though the wash process, then listen again and note any differences.
@@gotham61 If you're hip to what HG had in mind when making their chalk test video, please kindly ask them why this machine is so underpowered and let me know. Thanks.
@@gotham61 Exactly. A test where I add a teaspoon of dust from my vacuum cleaner is not reasonable. The HG has a 400ml tank, so a test like this will make it look bad. Additionally, it is unclear to me that what is removed through cleaning is necessarily visible - for example a chemical coat from the pressing process would likely not be visible but could produce distortion.
As for how to test, what I would do is to take 10-20 dirty records, play and record the silent portions between tracks, clean them, play and record those again. Then do a spectrum analysis and compare the two spectrums - ticks and pops will show in the upper range of that spectrum (they are close to impulse responses) and rumble will show in the lower octaves.
This HAS to be done relative to other machines, not just in vacuum, as records will have some surface noise and damage that is not removable by cleaning. Hopefully if done with enough records a pattern should arise.
@@thevinylattack Do you mean the 60w? It uses only 400ml of water, 3.5x less than the DG. So it takes a lot less power to excite that volume of water (I am a physicist). Additionally, the DG works at a higher frequency, so that makes the comparisons even less direct. If you look at the bubble formed as the record surface goes into the water you can see that they are substantial.
Like I said before, a test with lots of grime is just not a useful one.
I will say that I would estimate the higher frequency of the DG (which forms smaller bubbles) and the frequency sweep (which forms a distribution of bubble sizes) seems to me to be the key advantage of that machine.
A couple of questions I've been pondering:
1 - does adding a surfactant really make a difference when cavitation already breaks the surface tension of water?
2 - if using a surfactant during the cleaning process does indeed reach deeper into the grooves than cavitation alone, would a plain water rinse even be able to remove the chemical from the microscopic crevices?
Man, your first question I've been asking, and I was told because of the cavitation, surfactant has no effect, based on the reason you just articulated.
But, people seem to think that those bubble explosions won't work without some Jet-Dry.
I was told it doesn't enhance the process.
You can clearly see in the video that adding a surfactant helps. That same surfactant is still present in the rinse cycle, so I've seen no evidence that the rinse water can't get in and clean everything out.
I don’t think cavitation breaks the surface tension. The Kirmuss method works precisely because it helps cavitation get to the deepest parts of the groove by locally adding a surfactant. As for washing off the surfactant, maybe rinsing doesn’t get it ALL off but certainly since there is surfactant in the groove it would itself help with the rinse.
@@thevinylattack I have to wonder if the dust that gets knocked off of the record ends up floating on the surface of the water due to surface tension, to be picked up again by the record as it rotates. I'd bet if you dusted one half of a clean record, ran it through a cycle in the HG, that the dust would then be evenly distributed on the record. Maybe the surfactant allows the water to wet the dust and allow the dust to stay suspended in the water, and not sitting on the surface of it.
@@michaellitscher9456 That's a really good question. I can say for certain that the clean side of the record (that is to say, the side I didn't put dirt on) didn't have any dirt at all after any of the cleanings so I'm inclined to believe that the dust isn't floating for long in the water, but I can't say for sure.
Thanks for being there for us Chris.
Great show, I always get to learn something. Very nicely done!
I appreciate you watching and supporting the show Dana.
Maybe you should do the same tests and see how well your Degritter does? These tests are the extreme of the extreme. If anyone has vinyl that looks like your test subjects they shouldn’t be collecting vinyl imho.
I actually did that when reviewing the HumminGuru, but it didn't make it to video. The Degritter had no trouble at all cleaning the mess, but I did need to clean my filter right after.
Very nice review. Again I’ve been loving mine and have been using a small amount of Spin Clean fluid added to the distilled water which has drastically improved my results. Very important truth about the temperature of the water when running it over and over….it does indeed get quite warm if you’re doing back to back cleans without a long dry cycle in between. I’ve been keeping a thermometer handy and testing the temp when I feel I’m getting it too warm.
A good idea. I'm glad to hear it's working out well for you.
How much Spin Clean fluid do you add to the water? I’d like to try this method.
Thanks for the video. I'll stick with my manual cleaning method as it seems to be just a good a the HumminGuru and a heck of a lot faster. I'm a low budget audio guy so I'm not running anything on a $1000 cart.
If you have a system that works, that's all that counts.
You folks just cannot compare what this little 3-4 hundred dollar machine can do compared to the 3-5 k machine!...Imagine complaining that you live in a 400 dollar a month 1 bedroom apartment. Of course your buddy who lives in luxury in his 5k plush 4 bedroom apartment is sitting in a the lap of luxury. I'm going to think about this and although Im perfectly happy cleaning my LP's by hand, with a little elbow grease in combination with the Guru it should work all right. AS long as we don't expect to be living in the lap of luxury:-)
Great info. Thanks Chris!
You bet!
What are the two parallel line across the record which I assume is the big white that can be seen in the close up pictures ?
I made those to make sure I was looking at the same spots on the record under the microscope for consistency.
Hey, another detailed and thoughtfully laid out product review. I wasn't really considering this device, yet still found your process helpful in developing my own cleaning process. Thanks !
Glad I could help!
Pardon my ignorance. Ingredients of dirt on my records are airborne. I assume this grit is lightweight since it is airborne and, since the record has a charge on it to allow the dirt to stick. So, a release agent, clean water and a water agitator. Without these steps I am uncertain just how you can clean any record. Typically, the rinse is twice as important as the wash cycle. Now that I haven't helped at all, I will bid you farewell. Thank you for your channel it is very insightful and the delivery is most excellent.
Thanks for stopping by to watch.
I've used the HG for a couple of days. I've also got a DIY ultrasonic that uses the Chinese 5 litre tank commonly sold online and a rotisserie unit that clamps on the side of the tank. I also have a DIY vacuum RCM. For the latter two, I use the typical brew found online of isopropyl alcohol, Ilfotrol and distilled water. My typical regimen in the past was ultrasonic for 13 minutes, then rinse and vacuum dry with the RCM. I was curious to see how the HG compares just using it as designed, with distilled water, since the HG is very convenient and my DIY setup is anything but.
I used some good sounding records but also pulled a couple of "problem children" from the collection. On a couple of these tougher records, there was a SLIGHT improvement with the DIY setup but almost all the noise was still there. Disappointing. Same thing with the HG. No real improvement. Ultrasonic cleaning isn't going to work miracles.
For the HG, I am using it to clean a record just before playing. This means the record is probably pretty clean already, as I have cleaned most of my collection over the past five years. It is in an equipment room adjacent to my listening room. I listen at between 70 and 85 db and can't hear the HG while it is running. Big props. The other ultrasonic is so noisy that I need to run it clear across the other side of the basement, several rooms away. Using the double automatic cycle, the HG does its thing before the record I am playing is finished. I don't have the issues others seem to have with insufficient drying. The humidity in the house in the winter is 40%, so not bone dry (good for static) and the record dries just fine. When I put it on the platter, I use a Swiffer to clean any particles that may have been lifted from the grooves but are still on the record.
I am very happy with the performance of the HG but admittedly, I am just using it to clean records that are already pretty clean. Still, it is so easy to use and so slickly implemented that companies that sell similar units for much, much higher prices (like the Degritter) should be concerned by the HG's presence in the market. I don't think ultrasonic is as marvellous as some think (and all of us hope for). We are better off paying a more for used records to get the quality we are after.
Plenty of interest in this at the moment. Ultrasonic cleaning community divided also!! Great fun.
There does seem to be two very split camps on this thing. I'm trying to be as objective as possible.
@@thevinylattack in the audiophile community, if a product enters the market that challenges the current state off affairs it brings out a lot of mud slinging. The DIY ultrasonic crew are spitting feathers as are people that champion more expensive products! Haha I think it’s a great product, and the pricing is spot on. The only misstep from the manufacturer is the silly ‘only use distilled water’ thing. It runs counter to decades of ultrasonic cleaning experimentation. I’m fairly certain they are just covering their backs with this. I can’t see mild surfactants or very low mixtures of ethanol being an issue with the running of the unit.
@@lewiswaddo5045 I'm not quite sure why they issued such a limiting statement either. For $400, I'd risk it and run whatever makes the damn thing work better.
Tbh by the looks of it if I would still have to run it 3 maybe 4 times plus a pre clean I might as well carry on with the the spin clean. It does take a wash a play and a wash to get the beat results with the spin clean but I get there and once done I don’t really expect to clean those records anymore for many months if not years if cared for properly. I’m glad I currently only have a small collection.
You'll save a good deal of money by sticking with what you have in this case.
HuminGuru now provide their own surfactant with new machines. It works great and, on all but the dirtiest of records, one intense auto clean (5mins ultrasonic + 5 minutes dry) produces perfectly clean and dust free records. I've not gone to the lengths of doing a distilled wash afterwards; any reason why you think that is necessary?
Without testing it myself, I'd still be reluctant to buy this machine based on the promises they've made. It just doesn't deliver.
You should always rinse a surfactant from a record. Deposits = bad.
Would you please try wood glue but a specific wood glue would you get some titebond LV to do it ? A lot of us have tried wood glue and say it works well but the argument that comes back is it can't possibly get to the bottom of the groove well that particular glue I mentioned has a viscosity just above orange juice it should be able to get to the very bottom of the groove. It's thickness is about 1/15 of the wood glue everybody uses. It'll cost you a little over a hundred bucks though it does only comes in a 5 gallon or larger it's for commercial use it's for "doweling" making machines. With it being so thin I have a hunch that that would be the absolute best cleaning method or would rival incredibly high-end ultrasonics. I've noticed with my wood glue adventures the record is unbelievably staticky after you pull the layer of glue off but I think then you could hit it with your deionizer. I'd love to see a video of that process
If someone wants to donate a bottle of the glue, I'll happily test it. Otherwise, I'm afraid you're out of luck.
ATTAAAAACK
Use proper amount of distilled water and 17 drops of Tergikleen surfactant added to distilled water. Wash/dry record with Surfactant/ distilled water once then wash/dry record with just distilled water. This works MUCH better than just plain distilled water. Use one water tank for Surfactant/distilled water and another water tank for just distilled water.
I'm pretty sure that's what I said in the video ;-)
Great job Chris. I have a HG and your findings line up with mine. It’s great for cleaning a new record or for a touch up but doesn’t get crackles and pops out of my old ones, which I was desperately hoping it would do. I use a drop of G-Sonic and it helps restore dynamics, but I guess the machine isn’t strong enough to get the deep dirt ... Sad… Maybe you can review the Kirmuss one day. 🤞🤞
I doubt I'll get my hands on a Kirmuss, but I'll certainly test it if I do.
@@thevinylattack Speaking of crackles and pops, have you considered that static build up may be the problem once the record appears clean? You have an interesting review of a de-static device on your channel. Maybe combine both? I like your methodical approach. It makes it possible to critique results, because you show the procedures you used to get the, helps discussion.
Good stuff, subscribed!!!
Welcome aboard!
Hey Chris! you know it would be really cool if you do a review/how to on the “mother of all” DEGRITTER. I should be receiving my machine in 2 weeks. Cheers JC/Miami
It's on my list.
If you are putting a record into the HG that is really dirty it is to be expected that not all that dirt will be drained away after a cleaning cycle and a lot of it will glom onto the surface of the record during draining. I know this is for test purposes but you are just setting the HG up to fail. In reality I assume people are running a brush over their records before putting them through a cleaner to try and get as much dust etc off.
I'm not setting anything up to fail, I'm showing what the results are in a test situation. It's not far off from the chalk test HumminGuru themselves posted.
Great video after reading the manual for the Hummin Guru there is no mention of adding a cleaning solution do you recommend it will I void the warranty I doubt it will harm the machine..courious on your thoughts .... Thanks keep up the great vidoes....
I just use the tergitol I mentioned in the video, but I do believe that it does void the warranty so use at your own risk.
Great review! What seems to work for me on very dirty vinyl has been to do a vacuum clean using the Groovinator fluid followed by a humminguru cleaning with Groovinator fluid added to its distilled water then a rinse thru a spin clean of plain distilled water and air dry in a dish rack...
More intensive a cleaning process than I anticipated thinking the humminguru would suffice but I have gotten great success with the sound of some vinyl I had given up on ever sounding good...
Have you tried using the Groovinator fluid?
I have not. I'm quite happy with tergitol for washing and just distilled water for rinsing.
You comment that the HM is underpowered, but I think we need to qualify that statement. A lot of ultrasonic cleaners use a bigger tank. My other ultrasonic is a 5L, so more than 10X the volume of the HM. Less fluid means less energy required.
While I see where you're coming from, I still feel it's underperforming. Others seems to love it. Mainly I'm trying to show it's capabilities or lack thereof.
Too many hoops to have to jump through. If Im going to have to go through all this I might as well just hand clean or purchase an ultrasonic with proper power and do modifications to accommodate records. Thanks Chris!
Happy to help.
Thank you for your videos you get down n dirty sussing out what these machines can really do :)
Please please please do a showdown between the Degritter vs HumminGuru vs Project VC-S!! That would make an awesome video!!!!!!
There's need to do a showdown between the HG and the Degritter other than entertainment value. The Degritter is in a completely separate league. If I get my hands on a vacuum machine I will test that however.
@@thevinylattack Great video.......Hi, Doing a showdown between a Degritter and Hummingru is like doing a showdown between a 1990's Hyundai and a 2021 Mercedes. totally different class, different frequency. 120khz gives a much better clean and rinse than 4okhz especially when it runs underpowered in the Humminguru. I run my Codyson with adjustable frequency transducers. (40, 80, 120khz). We had to modify it since Codyson refused to do it. 40khz for 5mins, 80khz for 5mins, 120khz for 5 mins then into second machine for 5mins rinse at 120khz. 120 khz gets deeper into the groove than either 40 or 80khz.
@@peterrech2307 This isn't a showdown of anything. It's a video that shows the efficacy (or lack thereof) of the HumminGuru cleaner.
@@thevinylattack I know that, I was commenting on your response to Steve Porter's comment as well as to Steve Porters comment at the same time. Trying to do a response to two points can be problematic. I really don't think the HG is much good, too low a power, which would have to affect the frequency of the unit. I don't have HG but a friend of mine does, my multi frequency and record cody runs rings around the HG. The cody is getting some more improvements then I will see about its viability in being marketed. Will cost more that the HG but is way better. Going to do a comparo against the Audiodesk for just washing in next days.
@@peterrech2307 It is tricky to keep track of all the comments back and forth.
Enjoyed the review.
Thanks!
Could somebody do a review about the Knosti ultrasone cleaner? No one has tested this one yet. 😢
If they send me one, I'll happily review it.
I think by reusing the same dirty water from an unusual dirty record is not a fair test, of course a percentage of the crap will stick back onto the record.
I’m thinking this unit in conjunction with my Spin Clean might be the ticket.
Cleaned hundreds of records with the Spin Clean with great results that are
very apparent through listening tests. I never cleaned more the a dozen or so
records with the same water. Have stayed away from ultrasonic cleaners due to worry of possible damage, this unit has me rethinking my approach. 🤔
If the water filter is doing its job, then the water isn't the same dirty water.
Sooooo. Manual scrub, plus 3 cycles in Humminguru @ 5 mins/cycle? Then it overheats after 5 records? Methinks a motorized SpinClean might be a better option! 😉. Thanks for the informative videos, and keep up the awesome work!
Thanks for stopping by to watch.
Great video. Very helpful. Have you tried the Kirmuss cleaner or is that pretty much the same thing.
The kirmuss is just an industrial-type cleaner that shouldn't be used on vinyl in my opinion.
@@thevinylattack Is the frequency to high or is it just too robust for soft plastics? I watched the video of the developer using it over and over on one record so I was beginning to wonder if it was cleaning anything at all.
@@zyphryx9 The frequency is too low and powerful for vinyl.
@@thevinylattack Thanks for taking the time to reply
From all of your testing and gathering results, I would wonder if the HummGuru is best suited for cleaning brand new unplayed LPs from manufacturing debris.
I would think it is certainly better suited for that.
Could you do the same exact test with the Degritter please? I would also like to see a comparison with the Audiodesk (which you might not have of course)
I've done the test with the Degritter and it had no trouble. I just needed to clean the filter after. I don't have an Audiodesk on hand to test though.
@@thevinylattack Ok, could you post the results?
@@miguelbarrio I don't have any video of it to post.
@@thevinylattack You showed pics of every stage of the HG cleaning. Would it not make sense to do the same with the DG in a followup? I am just curious what it would look like.
@@miguelbarrio I wasn't testing the efficacy of the Degritter. That might happen down the line however.
Hey Chris, would be interested in your take on a Vacuum record cleaner and putting that to the microscope test. ~Peace
ruclips.net/video/7W2ZhGf6JUA/видео.html
Thanks for the informative review, I pre-clean also with surfactant (triton x-100 surfactant) when using my Humminguru. Although cleaning and drying is ok, it doesn't remove all noise from my records. Assuming standard 40khz ultrasonic transducers are housed inside the Humminguru, these components are generally rated 50-100 watts, so I'm wondering why only a 60 watt adapter was supplied with the unit. Surely an 80-100 watt PSU would improve the cleaning result dramatically. Any thoughts?
The only thing I can think of is a cost saving measure.
Hi Chris,
Great video. I appreciate all the hard work you've put into evaluating the HG. I was a bit skeptical about this product from the beginning and you seem to have confirmed my skepticism. If you do any further testing, maybe skip the wet cleaning step and remove the excess dust with compressed air or maybe a dry brush. Then clean in the HG using a surfactant. My expectations of a good ultrasonic cleaner would be minimal to no precleaning. Let the machine do all the work. Maybe my expectations are too high as I have no experience with ultrasonic record cleaning at this point. I have an Okki Nokki record cleaner that does a decent job. When I purchase an ultrasonic cleaner I plan on using the Okki Nokki as a rinse step. Thanks again for all your time and effort.
This machine just isn't strong enough to clean well without some sort of pre-clean effort.
How many records do you clean with a single load of water. I've been running a surfactant cleaning and then a distilled water rinse before drying by using 2 water tanks.
On my Degritter, I'll clean up to 7 or 8 over the course of a couple of days. It has a much larger water tank so it doesn't get dirty quickly. I also use two tanks. I don't use the humminguru at all.
Nice video! I'm local to the Detroit area as well. How about doing a review on the inexpensive ultrasonic cleaners from Harbor Freight? Thanks and keep on rockin'.
Industrial-style ultrasonics are too dangerous for use on vinyl, so I'd rather not put the time into that. I do appreciate the suggestion however.
@@thevinylattack VEVO makes an inexpensive ultrasonic machine specifically for vinyl. Have you seen it?
@@docbriand.7464 They're the same industrial style cleaner that all the cheap brands are using.
@@thevinylattack That is correct. So you’re saying they are not safe?
@@docbriand.7464 Definitely not safe. These machines can easily punch holes through aluminum foil, imagine what they'll do to your records.
out of all the vinyl brushes and brushes to choose from, how did you land on these?
I don't even remember.
I finally got mine last week. Most of my fathers and mine records are in good shape. The ones I grab from the 2nd hand market, I've cleaned using the Humminguru. I must say I am amazed. Is it perfect? - no. Is the 3k difference compared to Degritter worth it... I would say no - but again, I don't own nor can I get my hands on a Degritter.
I would say that for home purpose and normal usage, this machine does the job well. If you own a 2nd hand record store, I would invest the money into Degritter and more cleaning options.
Also, I am not using the auto mode, full clean cycle and full dry cycle.
you say: "Also, I am not using the auto mode, full clean cycle and full dry cycle."... so you combine a manual 5 minute clean cycle and a 5 or 10 minute dry cycle? What is the added bonus of that? Because if you use the auto cycle you get just that: a 5min clean + a 5/10min dry without having to get back to the machine mid-cycles. (that being said: I sometimes add an extra 1 or 2 cycles of clean only before the 5-10 auto cycle for extra dirty/noisy records...my results are excellent.)
I'm happy it's working out for you.
I'm really enjoying your videos. I doubt that you'll see this but....I'm not terribly interested in the Humminguru as an ultrasonic cleaner per se but I'm kind of a rinse freak. I do my cleaning using a Kirmuss ultrasonic. I brush on surfactant and do the cleaning cycles. I then rinse with ultra pure (lab grade I) water using an older vacuum machine. However I would prefer a more thorough rinse. The small reservoir of the Humminguru is appealin and it's actual cleaning capabilities are less important than just getting the rinse water into the grooves. Thoughts? (There's an intriguing paper on cleaning water and rinsing water out there that is written by a chemist. It convinced me)
I answered this question the last time you asked it, bud. It seems like a lot of money to rinse a record.
@@thevinylattack I thought I asked it elsewhere. I obviously missed your response. I'm legally blind and have to have stuff read to me by a program so I screw up sometimes. And, let's see, with my Kirmuss and this I would have a little over 1/3 of the cost of your Degritter so... Sorry to trouble you.
@@rickmilam413 The kirmuss and humminguru would be half the cost of the Degritter, but the Degritter would still be the better choice by far.
I bought the Kirmuss early on for $800 so between 1/3 and 1/2. I owe you an apology for my reaction. My vision issues make me feel stupid sometimes and your message pressed that button. Mind you, I can be stupid without vision being related.... I'd pull the trigger on the Degritter but I'd still have to figure out the rinse and prefer it not be dried by the machine. There's an intriguing article on water for cleaning records written by an audiophile/chemist if you're interested. I've foundit to be true after much experimentation. I've been a high end dealer for 35 years and have seen many theories and rarely believe any until I've tried them. Best
@@rickmilam413 I just picked up a second water tank for the Degritter to do my rinsing. The machine drying is one of the best parts.
Thank you for the update!
You bet!
I was very close to buying this POS, so for once I made a right decision! Thanks.
Happy to help.
looks like "pre-clean" is a cleaning itself and the machine just rinses the record.
Is it possible, that there are strong fluctuations in quality? I‘ve really great results with my HG. Ok, my records are almost all in very good condition, a few have some scratches and pops aso. But i‘ve noticed several times a huge improvement, as example, a Dire Straits record with a lot of scratches, a lot of pops and clics and after 3-4 cleaning circles, the pops and clics are gone. It‘s hard to believe for myself, but it‘s the truth. And that is not the only example! Nearly all of the records with pops and clics sound a lot better with much less background noise after a few cleaning circles. So i really think, that can only be explained by fluctuations in quality …???
I'd say it's certainly possible that there are variations in QC, but more importantly I'm glad to hear you're getting good results.
Would you consider the same exact test with the Degritter?
To me that machine seems to be held by many as the best, and for what it costs it should be, but would you see better results? 🤔
I've done that, yes. The record came out just as spotless as any other, but the filter got dirty a whole lot faster. After that, I stopped testing with it because it's my personal machine and it's pretty pricey.
@@thevinylattack thanks for the update.
I’m on the fence with the HumminGuru.
It’s seems good for the $$$ but it’s not awesome.
I believe it would be better than my current hand cleaning but likely a combo of both would be good.
I’ve heard ok to bad in the vac systems like Pro-Ject and it seems more and more complain on the noise after a year so I’ve ruled that out.
Ugh. No good answer out there unless one invests $3k+.
@@MD-wk3gj That pretty much sums it up. It does a fair job and I think it's better than probably all of the options near that price point, but it just needs more oomph in the cleaning and drying.
Really nice video Chris. I do like your use of scientific method to do this, a difficult thing to do to make it relevant for the real world. You make a strong case for use of surfactants in the HG which may help address the low US power on this affordable unit. Now for part 3…which additive works the best (or is there a difference at all?). Personally, I’m using 1:200 Kodak PhotoFlo (Triton X100) while I wait for delivery of GrooveWasher G-sonic and Tergikleen. Ok, maybe I’m as obsessive as you are!
I go with tergitol because that's what the US Library of Congress uses to clean its archival records.
Rad video have you done one with your degritter?
Not yet, it's on my list.
@@thevinylattack I don't have one yet but think the degritter will be the one for me.
@@s.t.e.r.e.o. It's pretty much the greatest thing ever.
I've had mine for about a week, and I don't even know if it's actually working. The water doesn't seem to do anything, perhaps due to the lack of power, or, my machine is no good.
My VPI will remain my main method of cleaning because it works so well.
Perhaps I can just use this machine to rinse, even though my VPI takes care of cleaning and rinsing.
That might be a good method.
@@thevinylattack by the way, that is a good idea of having one water tank for cleaning, a second for rinsing. I just checked and they don't sell the water tanks individually.
Kind of doesn't make sense.
@@rcpsammy7186 I'd send them an email and ask. They seem to sell all the other replacement parts for the machine.
@@thevinylattack I did ask...all they have for sale is the 10" record adapter. Even the 7" is sold out.
The email claims these items should be for sale after the first of the year.
As correctly reported in another video, the machine failed the universal aluminum foil test for presence of cavitation. Using a cavitation tester, no cavitation detected. More of an ultrasonic soap bubbler common in China.
Any of you old enough to remember the Kenner EZ Bake Oven? It was a toy to help teach children to bake. It came with recipes and kids made tiny dishes with it. After a while, people opened it up to discover the heat source was a light bulb. Sure, it cooked. But it cooked slowly and did a lousy job. That's the analogy that comes to mind with the first shipping iteration of the HumminGuru. It's a toy....
Its cleaned my record nicely. I don't' really have any with a vacuum cleaners worth of a dust mashed in them. For actual use my records are quieter and I'm happy. Cheers on the super clever analogy though.
You might not be far off.
Funny, I'm an early Boomer, and of course my little sister had one;-) thanks for the memory:-)
Coming in way late, but watch The Audiofile Man's videos on record cleaning, mostly because you are using the brush wrong.
When you use it, you put pressure on it and the bristles splay out and are lying sideways to the vinyl and not digging deep in the grooves.
Choke down on the hairs with your fingers, leaving about 1/2" or so hairs sticking out. This keeps the bristles straight and can go straight down to the bottom of the grooves.
Hate to say it, but think you are not getting good results because your brush isn't doing any work.
I assure you my brush works fine. The point you should take away is that you need a brush at all for this product. You shouldn't. It should clean a record as it is.
@@thevinylattack Yeah, kinda having a friendly poke at you, I find everything needs abrasion to remove dirt.
From washing cars, parts and records. I've worked in several positions that require professionally cleaning various equipment and that's my experience anyway. (haven't used ultrasound before)
Really like the info and test you do, thanks for educating me on many aspects of this hobby.
A comparison to the Degritter is actually less interesting to me, as it costs seven times more than the HG. I’d rather see it compared to cleaning machines in its price range, even if they’re vacuum-based.
There is no comparison in this video. It's just a few cleaning method tests.
@@thevinylattack I realize that, but there are a lot of comments referring to the Degritter and you’ve mentioned it in some of the HG videos.
Turgatoll? Is that cleaning fluid?
Tergitol is a surfactant that breaks surface tension to allow for easier cleaning of the grooves. I'm currently using a name brand called Tergikleen which can be found pretty much anywhere online.
Aha, ok, thanks . So if I understand correctly:
1) simpel destilled water clean with brush
2) ultraclean with Tergitol / destilled water
3) ultraclean with destiled water + dry
One question in step 2: what is the ratio Tergitol / destilled water ?
@@frankkortstee9877 The best result was a pre-clean and wash with tergitol and water, then the rinse of just water. The ratio will vary depending on the manufacturer, but they'll tell you.
If it becomes necessary to damage a brand new LP for testing, I would highly recommend using records by Billy Joel and Phil Collins. I have found that dropping crate loads of their records into an active volcano removes all traces of unlistenable dreck from the LP's grooves, this method also ensures a level of zero static and removes all surface noise.
I kinda like those guys so I think I'll stick with something from the modern pop era ;-)
Their combined 300 million records sold, would suggest that yours is not the prevailing opinion.
@@gotham61 They are just not my jam.
Susudio and Uptown Girl make me hang my head. I wasn't too unhappy with Phil Collins until Susudio came out, just a little board when he came on the radio. After it came out I wrote him off entirely, same with Joel when Uptown Girl came out.
I think of it this way Ronnie Van Zant wrote Free Bird, John Kay wrote Magic Carpet Ride, John Lennon wrote Imagine, and Paul Simon wrote Bridge Over Troubled Water. Four great songs from the rock era. These examples of fine song craft, make Uptown Girl and Susudio grate on my nerves.
Well let's just use Bruce Springsteen/Phil Collins...don't you dare damage Billy Joel;-)!! Uptown Girl is Billy showing off how he can make you think Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons were back :-) Bruce getting 500 million for his portfolio, what will Billy get? 800 million?
@@Tunz909 I would like to clean a copy of Uptown Girl with an orbital sander and 80 grit sandpaper. But sometimes I think I'd use a jackhammer to clean up a huge pile of Billy Joel records.
Speaking for me, the HumminGuru seems to fall short of its marketing claims. I prefer better-established ultrasonic restoration systems. Maybe it's better than a SpinClean system, but I don't think so.
My opinion only.
It's definitely better than a spin clean, but it also doesn't seem to perform as the manufacturer claimed.
@@thevinylattack: So asking this, what is the next-best step? Let's eliminate home-built ultrasonic clear systems that use consumer-based ultrasonic systems for now. I believe that those are ineffective, and they might even cause more damage to the LPs than people might imagine. I'll bet you've seen some of them.
What are your thoughts?
@@TBNTX Right now, the next best step is the giant leap to the Degritter. You're dead-on about the utility type of ultrasonic cleaners being dangerous to vinyl. There isn't any middle ground at the moment.
Clearly this is def not what it was hoped to be. Thanks so kuch for these videos showing the lengths u need to go to in order for this thing to actually do something. So happy i didnt waste my $$ on it. Still holds true in life, you get what you pay for. Def will habe to pony up the cash for a real US now it seems. Disappointing to say the least
It's definitely a little underpowered.
I thinking your asking to much from the Guru! Who's records are that dirty or have that much crap on them. I think this device is just for a light cleaning to knock lite dust off stored records.
I respectfully disagree. A quality ultrasonic should have no trouble with this amount of dirt.
@@thevinylattack True! A quality ultrasonic that cost $3,000 to $5,000 dollars should be able too. But not a $300 to $400 dollar one.
@@biga8230 Not true at all. I have an $80 ultrasonic that can punch holes through aluminum foil because it's so powerful. I wouldn't use it on records, but that's not the point.
@@thevinylattack ok then, what ultrasonic record cleaners do you recommend that sale for $80 to $400 do you recommend?
@@biga8230 None because the manufacturers aren't putting strong enough transducers in them. That's the problem, not my expectation of performance.
With all due respect your testing methodology is flawed. Who is cleaning records that have had a hoover dumped on them or cleaning products mashed into them? An actual test would be to buy a new and old record from a shop and A/B them before and after and compare the noise floor and sound quality. 900 records cleaned now with mine and the difference it has made compared to the spin clean I was using previously is jaw dropping.
I don't think it's flawed. It might be a tough ask, but an ultrasonic cleaner should have no trouble cleaning that dirt.
@@thevinylattack it’s flawed in that it’s not it’s real world purpose. That is to clean the inner grooves of a record and improve sound quality and stylus wear. It does that. Also even if it does clear that kind of heavy dirt off the record some will end up back on the record during draining and drying because it doesn’t filter as it cleans. It’s competitor that does that costs 14 times the price.
@@josephmcgranaghan3951 I'm certain there are plenty of records out there that have this kind of dirt, even if only in one area of the record. If the machine can't clean as the manufacturer claimed, I think people should know so I test.
@@thevinylattack We will agree to disagree. Ive bought some mank looking old records in my time but whilst I’ve seen all sorts it’s most often paper dust that you get from old records stored in those horrible paper sleeves, never the type of thick heavy dust particles that would be in a hoover! With new records it’s really the oils that are released from the formulation to stop it sticking to the plates, rather than that type of dirt, that you’re looking to clear and given the black oil I’ve had to clean out of the reservoir it’s clearly getting that!
I would like to see the same testing methods for the Degritter just to see how much better that does the job. I understand you are testing here, but mashing all of that dirt into a record is hardly real world. I know you address that, but it makes me curious to see how the high end handles such an extreme case as well.
I actually did that when reviewing the HumminGuru, but it didn't make it to video. The Degritter had no trouble at all cleaning the mess, but I did need to clean my filter right after.
@@thevinylattack Awesome. Thanks for the reply!
Bottom line the guru does not make the cut. $400.00 waste of time thanks for the video. I appreciate your efforts
That's what a lot of people are saying.
@@thevinylattack
As I had mentioned before Hong Kong in the past design is their strength. But I think they could not execute due to their current political issues. It's a shame. I have had in the past many projects with H.K back in the day.
Why don't you just take some new or used records that have surface noise and do a before and after? That's the purpose of this machine, to remove the usual dust and debris from the grooves of new/used records. Your methods seem to be based on the idea that people are digging for records deep in the forest or wrangling feral records in the dusty desert. But the vast majority of records out there aren't absolutely filthy, and the HG cleans those well.
I don't own any records that have surface noise because I take care of my stuff. My method is simply to test the cleaning ability of the ultrasonic. In my opinion, it should have no trouble cleaning what's there especially given the claims made by the company.
@@thevinylattack This doesn't really make sense though. I truly doubt that you don't own any records with surface noise. And if it is true, then why would you even want an ultrasonic cleaner? "I take care of my stuff" doesn't have much to do with surface noise--even new records have surface noise often. Nobody is cleaning records that have a tablespoon of dirt on them. The HG works quite well especially for its price point. I have a VPI 16.5 and have used it for years but have noticed much more of an audible difference with records cleaned with the HG over the VPI. And that's even without a surfactant. I just picked up some Tergitol to see if that makes any difference with the HG.
As others have pointed out, buying a used record and a new record and doing an A/B is a much better test of this machine than pouring out a bunch of dirt that would never be on a record and complaining that it doesn't fully clean it.
Very disappointing. I just received mine after a 4 month wait. Haven't even unboxed it yet! Tempted to send it back and get a refund. Has anybody tried that?
I bought it specifically hoping to deal with mold issues on vintage vinyl (unavoidable damp storage plus open fire soot!). Doesn't seem like the HG is gonna be fit for purpose -did I have ridiculously high expectations??
Thanks for your efforts VA...wish I'd waited!
Personally I don't think your expectations were too high. A properly powered ultrasonic should be able to deal with mold. I'm not sure this machine can. I'd be very interested in hearing if it does should you keep and use it.
Would you tell us what you paid for it? US dollars out the door? Don't unbox it, it will be worth a fortune still in the shrink-wrap!!;-)
@@Tunz909 including excessive import taxes here in the UK it was a bit over 400GBP
@@martinscase3904 all right, you going to try to get a refund? I'm sure they have a return policy if you can prove it's defective. Yea, it's like many products, they just don't do what they advertise, exactly;-) that Degritter is way over priced as far as I'm concerned. The good Lord gave me two strong hands, I play piano , guitar, I'll clean my LP's using elbow grease!:-) Good luck man!!
Sad trombone. I had hoped this less expensive machine could be made to work better. Anyhoot, there are other options almost as inexpensive.
There are indeed a slew of options available these days.
watching a guy read a script for ten minutes ...riveting
As the video is under 8 minutes long, I appreciate you going back to watch some additional footage.
sent to you via cheap audio man
Welcome aboard!
Should we spend our $$ on this?
Nope
Yep!
Looks like it don't work worth a shit to me. A cheap spin clean is much better lol. By the time you set it up and fuss around with it I can clean like 10 records.
That's totally up to you. I'm not in your situation so I really can't say. I'm just trying to give you objective feedback that showcases what the machine can do clearly.
@@kevinwest1607 While the HG is underpowered in my opinion, it's still much better than a spin clean as far as actual cleaning goes.
Didn't want to tell you that the floor was wet... but let's have a minute of silence for those proud owners
Uhhhhhhh
Someone should just come out and say it's rubbish.
Perhaps its not! Not sure why the pile on. It’s doing the job it is meant to for me and I’m perfectly happy with its real world performance (Chris is pushing it to it’s limits with his testing and it still did a pretty good job). I haven’t used my spin clean in ages as it’s too cumbersome for everyday use for me.
That's the thing though, it's not complete trash. It works, it's just underpowered by those of us with high standards. Being stuck right in the middle is kind of a tough thing to review actually.
I am disappointed. Ill stick to my Vinyl Styl and Vinyl vac method until I bite the bullet and spend Wayyy too much on a tried and true Ultrasonic.
I think I will stick with my Spin Clean for now. Sounds like I can do a better job than the Humminguru
I'll say this about a quality (yet expensive) ultrasonic. Once you make the switch, you'll never go back.