New ultrasonic vinyl cleaner in the works: Humminguru

uvwxVinyl said:
Thanks for the heads up. Yeah I'm not that worried about a delay. In my mind I thought this was a pre-order and was expecting for them to still have to produce the units. Would be nice if it got here by the holidays since I would have a free week to clean and use it, but I'm someone who's never had an RCM or a real cleaning method before so either way this will be a game changer for me.
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Just want to throw in here that those of us who purchased with the initial campaign waited 10 months. Since there’s no longer a need for protocols and testing, etc., and assuming availability of parts, current orders should be fulfilled much more quickly. Glass-half-full and all that. 😃
 
I’m up to 40 pieces cleaned since I received the Humminguru yesterday. I like this unit very much. A few impressions:
  • It’s not as loud as I thought it would be, but I wouldn’t want to be in the same room with it running for an extended length of time. I’ve got it set up in a small (mostly-) window room off my living room, so it’s convenient to set it, start it, then leave the room and close the door—that silences it for me.
  • I’ve had one record fail to rotate completely, as @Joe Mac has also shared. I think, in line with another suggestion from @folsom_lives, uneven edges are at fault, though I couldn’t really pinpoint the problem. After figuring out the record hadn’t spun only when I went back near the end of the 15-minute cycle, I decided I would watch each record rotate once before leaving the room so I wouldn’t have to waste another 15 minutes.
  • I cannot for the life of me determine what distinguishes the few records that don’t dry completely during the 10-minute dry cycle. It seems to happen primarily with older records, but I’ve had several of those that have been fully dry at the end of the cycle, so age alone is not the culprit. Might be vinyl composition, or maybe just a certain kind of wear that causes the effect. Not too big a deal, but interesting, and it makes me wonder about the potential effects of a surfactant.
  • As far as results, I’m quite satisfied, but as others have stated (and in keeping with a reasonable set of expectations), it can’t perform magic. The only sad thing about that is that I don’t know ahead of time which records might require that magic in order to be silent, so there’s always room for disappointment when it happens. But I’ve had a number of magical listening experiences with some of the records I’ve cleaned, so I’m gaining confidence in its ability to improve sound and make me happy.
  • I'd be remiss if I didn't also say that I’m having a blast with this thing. It’s different enough from a record, which I buy myself all the time, that it’s kind of a special purchase; and it’s big enough to be a full-fledged toy, with lights, moving parts…..the works! (Plus, we had to wait for a long time! So patience paying off!) Bringing some kid-like joy to the process of cleaning records, and that’s a big plus in my book.
 
Russ I said:
I’m up to 40 pieces cleaned since I received the Humminguru yesterday. I like this unit very much. A few impressions:
  • It’s not as loud as I thought it would be, but I wouldn’t want to be in the same room with it running for an extended length of time. I’ve got it set up in a small (mostly-) window room off my living room, so it’s convenient to set it, start it, then leave the room and close the door—that silences it for me.
  • I’ve had one record fail to rotate completely, as @Joe Mac has also shared. I think, in line with another suggestion from @folsom_lives, uneven edges are at fault, though I couldn’t really pinpoint the problem. After figuring out the record hadn’t spun only when I went back near the end of the 15-minute cycle, I decided I would watch each record rotate once before leaving the room so I wouldn’t have to waste another 15 minutes.
  • I cannot for the life of me determine what distinguishes the few records that don’t dry completely during the 10-minute dry cycle. It seems to happen primarily with older records, but I’ve had several of those that have been fully dry at the end of the cycle, so age alone is not the culprit. Might be vinyl composition, or maybe just a certain kind of wear that causes the effect. Not too big a deal, but interesting, and it makes me wonder about the potential effects of a surfactant.
  • As far as results, I’m quite satisfied, but as others have stated (and in keeping with a reasonable set of expectations), it can’t perform magic. The only sad thing about that is that I don’t know ahead of time which records might require that magic in order to be silent, so there’s always room for disappointment when it happens. But I’ve had a number of magical listening experiences with some of the records I’ve cleaned, so I’m gaining confidence in its ability to improve sound and make me happy.
  • I'd be remiss if I didn't also say that I’m having a blast with this thing. It’s different enough from a record, which I buy myself all the time, that it’s kind of a special purchase; and it’s big enough to be a full-fledged toy, with lights, moving parts…..the works! (Plus, we had to wait for a long time! So patience paying off!) Bringing some kid-like joy to the process of cleaning records, and that’s a big plus in my book.
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Thanks for the share 🤘
 
I’ve had the record not spinning a couple times, but it was only because it wasn’t inserted properly. You guys sure it’s not that?
 
Mr Moustache said:
I’ve had the record not spinning a couple times, but it was only because it wasn’t inserted properly. You guys sure it’s not that?
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I wish it was, but I had one record ('81 reissue of Eno's Before and After Science) that got hung up in the same two places on the record each time it rotated. I had to more or less feed it around twice per rotation. If it had been an improper insertion problem, I would have figured that out.....I think.
 
Russ I said:
I wish it was, but I had one record ('81 reissue of Eno's Before and After Science) that got hung up in the same two places on the record each time it rotated. I had to more or less feed it around twice per rotation. If it had been an improper insertion problem, I would have figured that out.....I think.
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Yeah that’s exactly same as my copies of Avalon Sunset and Enlightenment. Stopped at the same point each half rotation, on each there was a big bump there.
 
So this has made a huge difference to two types of record so far. First, older presses that have likely had a fair amount of hidden dirt deep in grooves. It really does make them sing. Second, the really high quality audiophile pressings, it actually elevates them even more! Been listening to a few MoFi tonight and man are they sounding good!
 
Russ I said:
  • As far as results, I’m quite satisfied, but as others have stated (and in keeping with a reasonable set of expectations), it can’t perform magic. The only sad thing about that is that I don’t know ahead of time which records might require that magic in order to be silent, so there’s always room for disappointment when it happens. But I’ve had a number of magical listening experiences with some of the records I’ve cleaned, so I’m gaining confidence in its ability to improve sound and make me happy.
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All great points. Especially this one. Can't for the life of me figure out what albums it may help or may not help so far. Some I thought it wouldn't improve much and it did. Others that I hoped would improve just seem to be bad pressings. But when it works, it's a pretty substantial difference for me. Those Japanese Zeppelins and Pink Floyd pressing I have sound even better now.

My plan of attack is just to clean them all. There's no expensive cleaning fluid involved now and it's real easy to just set it and walk away.

I also have just moved mine into the spare bathroom right off my office. I set it and close the door and it's fine. the noise is a bit annoying after awhile and since it takes a bit to clean each record, I agree that I wouldn't really want it running in the same room I'm in all the time.
 
Joe Mac said:
So this has made a huge difference to two types of record so far. First, older presses that have likely had a fair amount of hidden dirt deep in grooves. It really does make them sing. Second, the really high quality audiophile pressings, it actually elevates them even more! Been listening to a few MoFi tonight and man are they sounding good!
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now for the true test... Somebody send @Joe Mac a David Crosby record and if he can sit through the whole thing, you really know this thing is magical!
 
MikeH said:
now for the true test... Somebody send @Joe Mac a David Crosby record and if he can sit through the whole thing, you really know this thing is magical!
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All I’ll say is if someone sends me Dark Side of the Moon and I deem it worthy of more than frisbee practice then it actually has elevated itself into the realm of magician!
 
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MikeH said:
All great points. Especially this one. Can't for the life of me figure out what albums it may help or may not help so far. Some I thought it wouldn't improve much and it did. Others that I hoped would improve just seem to be bad pressings. But when it works, it's a pretty substantial difference for me. Those Japanese Zeppelins and Pink Floyd pressing I have sound even better now.

My plan of attack is just to clean them all. There's no expensive cleaning fluid involved now and it's real easy to just set it and walk away.

I also have just moved mine into the spare bathroom right off my office. I set it and close the door and it's fine. the noise is a bit annoying after awhile and since it takes a bit to clean each record, I agree that I wouldn't really want it running in the same room I'm in all the time.
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Yeah that's a great point, and sort of where I was heading with the point about not knowing which records would need more than what the Humminguru has to offer, and which would benefit from it beyond expectation? And I also have found that the Japanese pressings I've cleaned sound really good.
 
I also have to say that I haven't yet noticed much of a difference with records I'd recently cleaned with my Squeaky Clean. Thus far, it's records that haven't been cleaned before that are showing the most impressive results. I suppose that might suggest the Squeaky Clean does a good job, and I'm talking primarily pops/clicks and associated minor sounds connected to dust and/or static. If true, the savings in labor are well worth it to me, but a well-deserved nod to the Squeaky Clean.
 
Russ I said:
I also have to say that I haven't yet noticed much of a difference with records I'd recently cleaned with my Squeaky Clean. Thus far, it's records that haven't been cleaned before that are showing the most impressive results. I suppose that might suggest the Squeaky Clean does a good job, and I'm talking primarily pops/clicks and associated minor sounds connected to dust and/or static. If true, the savings in labor are well worth it to me, but a well-deserved nod to the Squeaky Clean.
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There are a handful of records I’d cleaned on my Squeaky Clean that improved even further in the Humminguru, but I think that’s likely in part because the Squeaky Clean did a good job on all the heavy cruft, especially stuff like fingerprints that needs a little scrubbing, which left the HG to take care of the real stubborn micro-grime in the grooves.

I think if I had some intensely grody records I would do a SqueakyGuru combo clean.
 
dhodo said:
Man, I hope it fixes mine.
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Mine sounded good but had a little surface noise and some pops and clicks and were pretty much eliminated after I ran it through the humminguru. Not sure what issues you had with yours! I know there were some overall pressing issues though
 
My Guru was due to be delivered in Melbourne yesterday but has been languishing in Singapore since Tuesday. Hopefully it’s not too much longer to arrive. I gots mr some cleaning to do. I might give my Mofi One Step What’s Going On the first run and see how if I can notice any improvement in an already stellar pressing.

The shipping increase on the recent drop is huge. I think the shipping on Kickstarter was $50 usd but now to Australia it’s close to $90? Ay chihuahua!
 
Lacubrious said:
My Guru was due to be delivered in Melbourne yesterday but has been languishing in Singapore since Tuesday. Hopefully it’s not too much longer to arrive. I gots mr some cleaning to do. I might give my Mofi One Step What’s Going On the first run and see how if I can notice any improvement in an already stellar pressing.

The shipping increase on the recent drop is huge. I think the shipping on Kickstarter was $50 usd but now to Australia it’s close to $90? Ay chihuahua!
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I’d clean something way less valuable first to make sure that you know how to operate it and that there aren’t any defects in the machine…just to be safe!
 
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