Great video man and what an eye opener. I was going to purchase the Degritter, but based on your feedback and the Cons….. I’m just going to stick with my VPI 16.5 and perhaps get the HunminGuru which I heard that’s a fantastic combination and it does the job very well. I agree with you overprice machine and they did not have the courtesy to throw 7 and 10 inch adapters. Unacceptable. Cheers JC/Miami

Thanks for producing two great videos for record cleaning. I attended an audio show in Long Beach, CA a few months ago and DeGritter had a booth with several guys wearing white lab coats. The DeGritter looks like a nice piece of gear I had been thinking about buying. I’ve watched quite a few ultrasonic cleaning vids but your’s is top notch. Hopefully more people will learn from your long and involved efforts. Thanks again👍👍

I have had this machine for about a year. One of the best things about it is that it filters the water each cycle. On some of the machines, I looked at after the first dirty record you clean that water is returned to the tank unfiltered so after the first record is cleaned the next record is cleaned with the same dirty water. This machine comes with sponge filters that need to be changed every 50 cycles

I have owned and used the Degritter for 3 years. I paid full price. My observations were much different than yours. As evidenced by the cleaning filter in your video, the Degritter is doing what it is made to do-clean debris off the record surface and into the grooves by ultrasonic cavitation. This is not voo-doo science and has been used in other industries for decades. Your mention of the record spinning around in dirty water, so it isn't cleaning is false. The filter system works well, and if you change the water regularly then there is no issue, and that can be said of ANY method that cleans with water. It will not fix any damage inherent in the record- scratches, poor pressings. If the vinyl compound itself is not great (noisy)- then cleaning it could possibly enhance the noise floor, as the record is now cleaner, so more of the vinyl is contacting the stylus. Most users do not clean on the long cycle due to the heat buildup, but make several cleaning cycles on the medium cycle, which is what I do. The results are quite noticeable. Their cleaning solution is just OK-most people use tergikleen mixed with distilled water. You can easily get it on amazon. I also do a final "rinse" using just distilled water and 20ml (couple teaspoons) of 99% ISO alcohol per tank on the short cycle. If a record is filthy dirty, it should be pre-cleaned a bit before placing it in the machine. I do agree that for the cost, the adapter for cleaning 7" and 10" records should be included. All in all, I am quite certain the machine performs as manufactured and stated, and is, IMO, worth the cost. I hade made my own ultrasonic cleaning machine a few years prior, and although it worked well, was labor intensive. So, you are paying for a plug and play system that cleans your records. If you use the medium cycle and properly mixed solution, you WILL get incredibly clean records. I can't speak to the issue of the circular window info flipping upside down, that is clearly a malfunction, and with a 2 year guarantee, you can return it for another unit at no cost, including shipping to and from. My unit has performed flawlessly, and I have cleaned well over 2500 records, both LPs and 7", at this point.

I have owned a Degritter for over a year and often clean several records at a time. It does occasionally go into cooling mode but in my experience only on warm days and after 10 or more records sequentially. The machine has been brilliant and often transforms records sonically. Not just removing the crackle but also the sonic "fog" when records start to lose their brightness and the vocalist sounds like they are hiding inside a thick blanket. No cleaner is ever going to overcome the surface noise of a badly scoured/worn vinyl but it has been extremely effective overall. It typically takes no more than about 6 minutes to clean record on medium setting. Very impressed.

I wash my records in the damn sink with a soft brush and some gerneric vinyl cleaner with a label protector and they turn out just fine. In full disclosure a few snap, crackles and pops doesnt bother me at all.

Your videos are fantastic, I would like to see you do a deep dive into a - Hihone/Vevor 6L Ultrasonic Cleaner with the KOET vinyl spinning record rack. Heats water to 30 Celsius to assist with cleaning, can clean for 1hr +.

Yeah, something is off there. A single heavy cycle on mine raised the water temp by 6 degrees Fahrenheit. Given the volume of water in the tank, that kind of makes sense. Charles Kirmuss posted claiming it doesn’t do cavitation. If that were true, there would be no temp rise at all. I owned Charles’s machine for 2.5 years. It worked very well but was a massive hassle. 1.75g of water per fill, no water filtration and no drying cycle (everything done by hand). The DeGritter is a good machine for everyday use. It takes longer to raise the Kirmuss to unsafe water temps. Again, that makes sense given the volume it holds. Without question, I’d have kept my Kirmuss if were restoring a large collection but I’m not. I use the Degritter to clean new records. The storage/setup/breakdown process for the Kirmuss led to my decision to sell it to a friend who is cleaning a large collection.

The drying mode is force blowing unfiltered dusty air directly onto the record.

I have a very simple and effective vinyl record cleaning method. I too am not sold on ultrasonic record cleaning machines. What I do is give my records a two stage cleaning, stage one is in the kitchen sink with dish washing soap. I work the soap into the grooves until i see the bubbles go from a greyish color to more of a white. After that I rinse off the record with lukewarm water. Stage two is using a Spin Clean with distilled water and the standard Spin Clean fluid. I dry the records in a dish rack and later on wipe off any remaining water with a microfiber cloth. I have heard the arguments about using tap water because of the minerals. My water is from the well in my front yard and is passed through a filter before it goes through the softener. It is very potable water. Using only distilled water in the Spin Clean also gives the records a good second cleaning. I have used this method for a few years now and none of my LPs show any issues from the well water. When I play them, I hear next to no, to no surface noise at all.

Great review! If you decide to do another, please consider doing a Keith Monks machine. Don't take this down, it absolueky demonstarates what Ive been saying all along, ultrasonic cleaners arent the end-ass, be-all solution they are supposed to be. Also nice to see you arent trying to say records are made of sugar

My method for well over 40 years is simply using a carbon fibre brush with warm soapy water and rinsing off to dry. If that doesn't work because muck is deeply ingrained then spread paper glue over the vinyl and peel of when dry. I've had great results over the years and found it to be cheap and effective. No doubt it will appall hi fi buffs but it isn't that time consuming so more time to enjoy your music.

From watching other videos it appears what’s in the distilled water solution is more important when using ultrasonic - 3 products added appears to make the difference: IPA, cleaning solution and lastly a surfactant (Triton X-100). A guy on YT used a Hihone/Vevor 6L Ultrasonic Cleaner with the KOET vinyl spinning record rack. Heated water to 30 Celsius and ran for 30min. The differences were day and night. Plus the Vevor is much cheaper than the unit you bought of Amazon which didn’t see to make much of an ultrasonic noise compared to the Vevor which also comes with jewellery basket etc. Would love to see another test with a Vevor and solution mix - IPA/cleaner fluid and Triton X-100. Do you have a page where we can give money?

Get a second tank and do a rinse cycle after each cleaning. In addition to removing any residue from washing, this will help to address the overheating issue with the wash tank. I haven't encountered much overheating.

Great video. Very glad I bought the Humminguru for a quarter the cost which works at least as well as what you've described with the degritter.

Maybe you received a 'lemon'. I have a Degritter and for most used second-hand records, the Medium cycle with an added time for drying (8 minutes total) cleans them well and I do not hear any pops or clicks unless the LP is damaged from heavy use. All new records I buy I run at quick with an extended drying time (4:35 minutes total) and they come out perfectly clean and quiet. It's quite a difference compared to my Okki Nokki vacuum style RCM. Now, I'm also playing the LPs on a MOFI Ultradeck with a Nagaoka MP-300 which tracks beautifully at 1.75 gm. Everyone's experience is different based on the condition of their LPs and their equipment. I would recommend anyone thinking of buying a Degritter to buy from a store that offers a 30 or 60 day return. You will know after the first or second cleaning whether or not the Degritter is for you.

I have to disagree with this based on my experience having a few dozen of my used records cleaned in my friend's Degritter. I use my spin clean on every record I get which is great for cleaning off surface dust/debris and fingerprints, but many of those records would still have noise even if they looked unplayed. But after having them cleaned in his Degritter most of them play substantially better, some even sounding like new despite being 40-50 year old pieces of vinyl. Other records that I would have graded VG are now bumped up a whole grade to VG+ after one or two cleaning cycles. Some records are only marginally better, but I've only had a few records where I didn't notice any improvement at all in the playback, but I attribute that to either groove damage or simply pressing defects.

Isn't this the same as a spin clean but just automatic and not manual? I use a spin care which is similar and I have seen positive differences. But vinyl can still be annoying when it sounds bad. I have plenty of bad sounding records but many many good sounding ones made better from the cleaner.

I have the "new" mark ii version and it is outstanding. You might want to give it another try.

I like the work on the video and the steps you followed. Still the test should have been followed more thoroughly, I think. Before the wash, after the wash. new record, old record, etc. I know making the video itself takes time, but it would’ve give more insights on what is the sound on a good record, what is the sound on a bad/worn-out record. In addition, there are many people around YT mentioning in some cases they washed the record multiple times, sometimes even more than just few times to get the result. But if a dirty good sounding record sounds silent after you wash it clean, the machine does the job as intended.

Kind of wonder if you had a defective machine, what with the initial power issues and perhaps the overheating during the longest cycle. Still exploring mine... I saw elsewhere that removing the lid of the water tank during cleaning helps prevent overheating, which I imagine has to do with the length of the cleaning cycle and perhaps the number of records you clean in a row one after the other. I just do one record before listening to it and have had no signs of overheating... only one longest cycle for me so far though so I'll try some more longest ones and stick around and see if there is any sign of overheating (while still keeping the lid in place), though the cycle time this once was approx 10 minutes. (Oh and it's funny how some people get double boxing while others do not.)

Distilled water and a microfiber towel works great for me.

Hi, We have a very effective record-cleaning brush. It cleans VG+ grade and above records to being silent of clicks and pops within a few plays. This does not include any scratches. But certainly is the answer to keeping records clean. Please can you consider accepting a sample for review?

Wow, Hello!!!' I just happened on your channel and I am with you 100%. I have been using a Spin Clean for years and I haven't found a better system for 20x's the price yet..... I guess just like $10,000 worth of system interconnects Record cleaning has to be Uber Expensive!

Thanks for doing this. This is eye-opening, considering all other reviews have been positive. I actually seek out reviews like yours are often lost in the shuffle so thank you. have not made the decisions to buy yet as I was thinking about either the Degritter or the Audio Desk. Does any one have or had both units the Audio Desk or Degritter and does one clean better or easier to use than the other one?

I use the much cheaper humminguru and do a pre-clean with a cleaning fluid and micro fiber before too loosen the dirt inside the groove, than perform a 15 minutes cleaning cycle and five minutes of drying, put it one day in an anti static sleeve and the results are really good way better than just the hands wash alone. But without the pre cleaning I also found that it's not cleaning that effectively

sympa comme video petit conseil par experience pour economiser des filtres ils faut les laver à l'eau chaude et ils redevienne propre :)

Thanks for this review. I will stick with my Kirmuss based on your results.

Try a Dr Scholl's foot massage tub with dish soap there's three settings on the vibration mode selector if you put it on high you can watch the water dance on top all you need to do is prop it up in the bottom to keep it off of the floor so the record stays suspended it works really well but the center paper piece gets wet unfortunately by the way it only cost $25

I'm considering buying a record cleaning machine and am at a loss. I certainly dont have # grand to spend but am considering the Humminguru which is Ulrasonic and $500. Have you tried this machine? Thanks for this vid!

They have a new model called the MK 2. How is this new model?

I started off using a disco stat. Much better than the spin clean as it uses brushes instead of pads and gets into the groves. I recently bought a unit, not unlike the tank and spindle affair in your other video. I get great results using the disco stat and then the tank. On my 55 year old albums they sound almost as good as my UHQR vinyl. A lot of modern pressings unfortunately are inferior to original pressings.

Thanks for this video as I have been researching Ultrasonic cleaning in general. Thinking now that I'll stick with my old Moth MkI which cost me a massive 150GBP. It's 30 years young and still going strong with 4 parts water to 1 part alcohol and some drops of Tergitol 3 & 9. If after cleaning pops / clicks still remain, I'll usually play the record backwards on an old broken turntable I have then reclean. Usually get good results, otherwise, pickup a better condition pressing.

My experience is similar with the degritter, I had a decent deal on mine and I’ve kept it but it’s not all it’s cracked up to be

This is an eye opening review. For that coin, one should have zero problems. Degritter? Hard pass.

Agh, thank you. I was considering an US cleaner but this model MD suggested looks like a nightmare. I’ll stick to my SmartMatrix +anti-static gun

How did the Pro-Ject VC-S2 ALU go with cleaning your troublesome records?

I'm sure you know that 'clicks and pops' are not all from dirt. Many are from physical damage on the vinyl, which unlimited use of the world's best cleaners can't fix.

Thanks for this video. A good washing with distilled water and cleaning solution is all anyone needs.

Naysayers: Read the Jeffrey Lind comments/review below.

I think a. review with a machine that didn't turn out to be defective and returned for a refund would have been more enlightening.

Overheating after two records? Maybe I’ll just try the spin clean. Lol

If you can't get rid of the pops and clicks i suggest the Parks Audio Puffin phono stage that has a 'magic' mode. it eliminates low lever pops and clicks. absolute game changer for me. I also clean my records with the humminguru, but I do that mostly to make sure my stylus lasts longer.

Is this the Mark I or II?

Was this a MK I or MK II?

What makes it for me is the huge markup... Parts from China for UK pennies.. US dimes etc

I whas into this also, i tryed everything also. But.... The only thing that really cleans up grooves is a brush, not a nonstatic brush but a paintbrush with really fine synthetic hairs that fit into the grooves. My brush had brown hairs and i cutted some hairs of with a scharp knife to create a point on the hairs and make it more rigit. I brushed clockwise into the grooves watching with a loop and i brusched a lot of dirt out. Mainly skin particles that behave as real glue once a needle pressed them into the groove. Ultrasonic cleaning damages the record i think, the black residu in the filter is vinyl i think, the groove just gets ruffer and ruffer, it eats in while the partikels stays in the groove of the record.

Thumb up, great review, I will pass on this too.

Great video. Thank you for posting it. This machine is a joke and a waste of money. My opinion.

Use the iSonic properly next time

What I understood after the first mechanical cleaning is that your disks were extremely cheap. It’s always a good idea to read reviews on discogs before to go to a store ;) That noise sounded like a mass defect, not like a sand or grease.

About your comparative video concerning record cleaners, three very different products same disappointing result: money very very well spent...unless you're sponsorized.

Try something different.......get a Furutech DeStat 3 and upgrade your phono interconnect to silver or silver copper blend. Your welcome.

Man there's quite the cope in the comments. From folks who swear by the machine but then use their own cleaning solution, pre-clean their records, and post-rinse their records and have their own entire method of even applying the tool. If you're doing all that, the machine is clearly not doing what it says on the tin.

Otofon blue is a noisy cartridge

Think you received a bad machine

What a Utter waist of Money

Too much tech, not enough mech.

An audiophile and his money are easily parted... These extortionately overpriced magical gizmos are a rip off. I have the invisible silent version 2.0 for sale at only $1500 if anyone is interested...