SweetVinyl SugarCube SC2

nooshinjohn

Look at what stopped by to join my stack of stuff...

joecoulson

First impressions?

nooshinjohn

Not even hooked up yet, but it does feel pretty lightweight. Not at all what I have come to expect from audiophile type gear. The fit of things seems pretty good however.


***EDIT***

My son has gone to sleep, and I have spent the past 45 minutes or so trying to connect the 'cube to my system. It is not just a simple plug and play deal. I am still trying to get it connected to the internet so it can do it's thing and download the latest software, to no avail. I will need to call them tomorrow and see if they can assist in getting it up to speed.

miner

Not what I was hoping to hear.

nooshinjohn

These are still considered a “beta” product, so I expected a hiccup or two. I was going to hold off, but learned they are going to be taking the price higher soon, and I got tired of waiting. All the functions are there, I just need to get it hooked up. I had a similar problem with my PS Audio DAC.

Mike Reeter

I'm sure that you have seen this thread at SH Forums, but just incase you haven't

https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/the-sugarcube-is-here-at-last-clicks-pops-r-i-p.713165/

nooshinjohn

The cube is up and running... it was just me being stupid as usual and needing my hand held to get it connected.

nooshinjohn

HOLY CRAP!!!!!!

I am spinning one of my mom's OLD AS HELL Conway Twitty LP's, and this little box does EXACTLY what they say it does. It even found the album art for a 60 year old record. I am astonished beyond words. I have never heard this particular LP ever sound like this.

There is zero degradation in sound and if anything, without he clicks and pops, I am able to hear more of what is there. I will go into more detail here later, but if you still spin vinyl, this is as indispensable as a good cleaning machine.

nooshinjohn

I have dabbled with the recording functions, and while it does incredibly good quality rips, complete with all the metadata, I have had some issues with the user interface. I have performed all the updates and even switched to Google Chrome for the UI functions, it still runs back home to the 1st gen interface, and from that I have almost zero recording functionality.

The guys at SweetVinyl are on it, but I am thinking there must be some sort of internal issue with it that is causing it to default to Gen1... The true test of how good this is will be determined by how well they support this as I am not the original purchaser.

Other functions are spot on, and I think once this gets dial in, the record features will allow a computer idiot like me to get the most from my transfers. Even with the difficulties, so far I love it and can see where the SugarCubes have a place in just about any vinyl setup. Too bad DK has retired his setup, because I would love to see his impressions.

CottageChz

I did not know such a thing existed, that is pretty damn cool. I’d be interested to hear an A/B of uncorrected/corrected rip of a noisy record from this machine. Gonna do a google search.

nooshinjohn

I am able to do that by just touching a button. It is a night and day difference, with the corrected sounding superior. I can also sit back and listen to the snap, crackles and pops all by themselves and hear what has actually been removed.

nooshinjohn

Customer support has been top notch from the folks at SweetVinyl. When you reach out to them, you are dealing with the guys who developed the SugarCube and know it better than anyone else. Their level of commitment to first rate customer satisfaction is awesome.

AAA+++ for these guys.

nooshinjohn

Recording is super easy as well. It even identifies and flags areas of concern so they can be addressed during editing before you save the rip to your storage device. It is almost idiot-proof and does a superb job of saving records that were once lost.

nooshinjohn

The metadata was grabbed within 90 seconds of the needle finding the groove. It will store internally 8 record sides, allowing some level of customization. Track splits, metadata, recording... all at a single mouse click, and it does as good out of the box as 90% of all the rips from vi lying as I have ever heard. Literally as easy as recording a cassette tape back in the day. I am very excited by this new toy!

nooshinjohn

What a great way to put the fun back into old records... The copy of Beatles VI I recorded was played mercilessly for probably ten or 12 years. It was the first Beatles LP I had, and was a gift to my mother at her baby shower before I was born. The 'Cube has fully restored it to pristine performance sonically, and recorded perfectly. Now that it is dialed it properly and working as intended, I am going to have some serious fun.

Clipdat

This is a pretty interesting product that I've heard some buzz about from time to time. I find the technology itself fascinating, and according to their website I see it does it's magic by way of ADA conversion. Very impressive how it works it's magic but yet doesn't affect the underlying music whatsoever.

You mentioned earlier "this is as indispensable as a good cleaning machine.", which got me curious, what is your current vinyl cleaning method?

nooshinjohn

I ran everything through an Audiodesk ultrasonic cleaner a couple years ago, then sealed the records up in new sleeves... I have maybe played 25 to 30 records since my son was born.

Clipdat

I was just curious, because for the price of this unit you could get a really nice cleaning system.

So in that regard, I think it complicates their marketing strategy somewhat and who they're aiming a device like this at. I guess they've done their homework, and have found that there's a demographic that would want this instead of or in addition to a quality cleaning system.

Anyway, I still think it's cool technology.

nooshinjohn

I have a bunch of lightly scratched stuff that the 'cube is working absolute magic on. No amount of cleaning can fix scratches and scuffs. This device does just that. I believe the people buying one of these already have a decent cleaning regimen in place, and the Sugarcube handles the rest.

DarqueKnight

nooshinjohn wrote: »

Too bad DK has retired his setup, because I would love to see his impressions.

Seems like a wonderful machine. I'm glad thrilled ecstatic that I have no need for such a device.

I used VinylStudio software ($29.95) along with a PS Audio NuWave Phono Converter (analog to digital converter) to digitize my vinyl collection during the winter of 2016-2017. VinylStudio has a feature for automatically finding metadata and album covers. VinylStudio also has an excellent feature for automatically removing snaps, crackles, and pops after a record has been ripped to a PCM format. However, I didn't use that feature because:

1. Most of my records had little to no surface noise, and I didn't mind the bit of "character" added by the occasional nose tick.

2. I wanted to rip my records directly to DSD format, but DSD can't be edited. Therefore, if I wanted to do "cleanup", I would have had to rip to a PCM format, edit out the surface noise, then upconvert to DSD.

My DSD vinyl rips sound better than the vinyl records...so I'm happy.


Such good retirement.

joecoulson

Umm. Wheel that setup over to my house. I’ll make sure it’s fed and taken care of properly.

DarqueKnight

I'd love to sell it, but I know the day after it's shipped off I will find a treasure trove of rare old jazz records at an estate sale.

JuanR

DarqueKnight wrote: »

I'd love to sell it, but I know the day after it's shipped off I will find a treasure trove of rare old jazz records at an estate sale.

Man I am saddened to see that gear in the corner like you gave it a "Time Out" for bad behavior! Anyway, if you find that treasure trove of jazz records send them my way....and your "bad" equipment also!

nooshinjohn

JuanR wrote: »

DarqueKnight wrote: »

I'd love to sell it, but I know the day after it's shipped off I will find a treasure trove of rare old jazz records at an estate sale.

Man I am saddened to see that gear in the corner like you gave it a "Time Out" for bad behavior! Anyway, if you find that treasure trove of jazz records send them my way....and your "bad" equipment also!

Agreed... at least let it stay in the main setup where it can be lovingly cared for in it’s retirement. It is too beautiful to be relegated to a sad little corner.

nooshinjohn

So tonight I got the track splitting figured out and it is pretty slick how it works and just how easy it is to do once you figure out where the tabs are and how they work. I am now able to transfer an LP from needle drop to my hard drive in about one hour, depending on how long the LP actually is.


The SugarCubes from SweetVinyl get my highest recommendation.

miner

That's it - I am in. Radar is on now.

miner

They have some new products coming out soon.

miner

They now list the SC2 as a Beta version - I guess still needing some work to operate as advertised

steveinaz

Amazing technology.

trav0810

I heard the first version of this thing at last year's axpona. Since hearing it there, it has been on my short list of items to buy.

nooshinjohn

Just played with it some more and it really is easy. For you R2R gurus, it should make excellent transfers from there as well, maybe even better than the vinyl rips.