AnthonyI
Well-Known Member
This, and no motor noise here.........kind of odd, did you reach out to MoFi about it?
MoFi UltraDeck / StudioDeck Owners and those interested
- Thread starter AnthonyI
- Start date
kvetcha
Chet Hanks' Filmography Buff
Yeah, just wanted to make sure it was abnormal. Thanks for the feedback, guys!
Slimwhit33
Well-Known Member
Same here.. I always give it a little hand start.. has become part of the process.
Slimwhit33
Well-Known Member
Mine does have a very faint noise, but it has never bothered me since I can't hear it from my seating position at all.. both of mine were the same so I figured it was just normal..
kvetcha
Chet Hanks' Filmography Buff
That makes me feel better. I think it only bugs me when I'm lightly brushing the record and it gets louder. As I said, I can't hear it in playback or from my listening position, so it's mostly a matter of me making sure the motor isn't failing.
AnthonyI
Well-Known Member
Just from your comment about it getting louder as you "brush the record", is it possible the hum is from the bearing? Maybe give it a shot of lithium grease?
kvetcha
Chet Hanks' Filmography Buff
Well, it gets louder and the record visibly slows down and takes a little while to get up to speed.
Seeing as the table wasn't doing this while cold and the issue cropped up after several LPs, I'm willing to believe it might be related to the belt warming up. I guess as long as it doesn't affect the speed, that's fine.
edit: Used the RPM app to check speed and w/f - the table is pretty accurate, though slightly fast - 33.40 rpm. The measured wow/flutter, though, is higher than rated: 0.39%.
The guys at MoFi Electronics have offered to send a return authorization to have the table and motor examined and lubed up at the factory. Just waiting to hear back on how much that will cost and how long it will take.
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Slimwhit33
Well-Known Member
Can someone expand on this a bit? I haven't given mine any lubrication at all. Should I do so? If so, where and how much?
AnthonyI
Well-Known Member
The MoFi decks have a steel inverted bearing that shouldn't have any issues with hum, noise or whatever. When @kvetcha mentioned he heard it louder when brushing off the album I thought it might be due to the extra, although minor, pressure put on the platter, in turn maybe the bearing. It's not something documented anywhere, but a little shot of lithium grease isn't going to hurt and it will keep things running smoothly.
I use the spray version (I use the WD40 brand with the small yellow tube), I spray a little in the platter side, then wipe it around with a cotton swab, this will also pick up any excess grease so it doesn't drip back on to your plinth. The grease is also available in a tube/paste.
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Slimwhit33
Well-Known Member
The MoFi decks have a steel inverted bearing that shouldn't have any issues with hum, noise or whatever. When @kvetcha mentioned he heard it louder when brushing off the album I thought it might be due to the extra, although minor, pressure put on the platter, in turn maybe the bearing. It's not something documented anywhere, but a little shot of lithium grease isn't going to hurt and it will keep things running smoothly.
I use the spray version (I use the WD40 brand with the small yellow tube), I spray a little in the platter side, then wipe it around with a cotton swab, this will also pick up any excess grease so it doesn't drip back on to your plinth. The grease is also available in a tube/paste.
View attachment 17598 View attachment 17599
Thanks, much appreciated. I'll give it a little shot.
Lacubrious
Member
One thing I can say about the Ultradeck is that it’s shown me that records that I’d cleaned on my Spin Clean need to have another good, deep clean on my Squeaky Clean.
displayname
Well-Known Member
It might be time to consider moving up to a vacuum solution
displayname
Well-Known Member
On another forum I saw yet another somewhat heated debated about the UD's tonearm effective mass and cartridge matching. These debates honestly always go way over my head, but it frustrates me when people claim that "by the numbers" the UD tone arm weighs to much and can't possibly be a good design. I only find it frustrating because I've heard it.
Anyway, I emailed MoFi about it, and got back the most detailed answer I have seen so far. I wanted to share that with everyone here in the event of wanting to try other carts with the MoFi.
From a Technical Service Manager at MoFi:
The UltraDeck Tonearm Effective Mass is 25.14g. We have mounted many cartridges from Ortofon, Grado, Hana, Audio Technica, Denon, and others that work great with both of our turntables. You want to avoid any cartridges that are specified as high compliance but the majority of today’s cartridges are either medium or low compliance and will work great with your turntable.
The compliance of our cartridges at 100Hz is available;
Studio Tracker
Static compliance : 35 x 10e-6/dyne
Dynamic compliance : 8 x 10e-6/dyne
Ultra Tracker
Static compliance : 35 x 10e-6/dyne
Dynamic compliance : 10 x 10e-6/dyne
Master Tracker
Static compliance : 40 x 10e-6/dyne
Dynamic compliance : 10 x 10e-6/dyne
Anyway, I emailed MoFi about it, and got back the most detailed answer I have seen so far. I wanted to share that with everyone here in the event of wanting to try other carts with the MoFi.
From a Technical Service Manager at MoFi:
The UltraDeck Tonearm Effective Mass is 25.14g. We have mounted many cartridges from Ortofon, Grado, Hana, Audio Technica, Denon, and others that work great with both of our turntables. You want to avoid any cartridges that are specified as high compliance but the majority of today’s cartridges are either medium or low compliance and will work great with your turntable.
The compliance of our cartridges at 100Hz is available;
Studio Tracker
Static compliance : 35 x 10e-6/dyne
Dynamic compliance : 8 x 10e-6/dyne
Ultra Tracker
Static compliance : 35 x 10e-6/dyne
Dynamic compliance : 10 x 10e-6/dyne
Master Tracker
Static compliance : 40 x 10e-6/dyne
Dynamic compliance : 10 x 10e-6/dyne
dansomeone
Well-Known Member
Squeaky Clean is a vacuum record cleaner
displayname
Well-Known Member
Ahhh, you caught me not reading closely, haha.Squeaky Clean is a vacuum record cleaner
AnthonyI
Well-Known Member
Numbers aren't always the end all be all, so all those who still poo poo the effective mass issue need to get over it. My problem are the people who go beyond discussion, they get bull headed and argumentative. But, it's great they gave you some more info. The deck has been out for what, almost 2 years to pretty much nothing but positive feedback....yet some still like to argue.
displayname
Well-Known Member
You are so right about the argumentativeness of the numbers crowd. I've never understood it. They speak to people as if your ears don't matter if the math doesn't add up from age old formulas. And they are so quick to dismiss highly respected designers. I always wonder how much they are missing out when they dismiss highly regarded gear so quickly.
kvetcha
Chet Hanks' Filmography Buff
So, um, I think my Ultradeck motor may have just had a stroke. I made a recording of the motor noise I've been hearing, and pretty soon after, the record I was listening to spun down to something like 20 rpm, and the deck sounded like it was struggling to maintain even that.
Motor noise:
Slow spin:
The worst part of all this is that sending it in for repair means going without the table for a few weeks.
Motor noise:
Slow spin:
The worst part of all this is that sending it in for repair means going without the table for a few weeks.
Slimwhit33
Well-Known Member
That sucks. Sorry you’re dealing with that! Hopefully they can get it turned around quickly.
kvetcha
Chet Hanks' Filmography Buff
They've been very responsive via email and will be giving it a full tune-up at the factory, all under warranty. Still not sure whether I'm covering shipping or not.