CES 2017

I heard them demoed at the last Newport show and was amazed at the lack of anomalies or degradation of dynamics and such that usually comes with trying to filter out noise. Everything sounded as it should. I wonder if they have settled on a price. They deliver as claimed no "ifs" "ands" or "buts" and that is what matters.

... it's called "processed" because a A-D, D-A process is a change :)

Semantics aside, these guys really seems to have some good and exciting ideas. Looking forward to it.

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re: setting a max recording level with a test (or, reference) record (or, where's my 1812 Overture LP??)

Just the other day I was playing with my audio interface (tc electronics Impact Twin). Instead of connecting the phono pre's output to the Impact Twin's mic preamp, I tried the line-in instead.

The meters in my software showed me decent amplitude, not quite as high as I'd perhaps like, losing that "last digital bit" or whatever of A-D resolution.

But, doing so meant I could afford that extra amplification stage. Choices, choices ... or at least it was a choice until I swapped out that cart for one with half as much output. All part of the fun.

Any chance it could be used to create MQA-encoded rips? Also, I would imagine it could be used to digitize (cassette) tapes, no, perhaps with a hiss removal app?

Your update was excellent. I guess I could have waited; I emailed the Sweet Vinyl team just this morning to ask when my beta was going to arrive of the SC – 1. Your report has given me my answer… A February delivery. Obviously I am very excited about this!

... 300 different pre-RIAA EQ curves?!?
If so, how many of them can MF name?

I am one of the lucky ones to have backed their Indigogo campaign and will be receiving a beta SC-2. I can't wait to get it in my system and start ripping my vinyl and letting it do all the time consuming work of splitting tracks and putting meta data on them.

Michael, thanks for your coverage on this (and everything else!). I was immediately intrigued about this product when you first wrote about it, and thanks to your latest piece I discovered they are still running their Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. If you're certain you're going to buy this product I think it's crazy to miss the opportunity at putting up a deposit now to get a SIGNIFICANT discount. I can't wait to try this on my much loved Julian Bream Bach Recital on Westminister (good luck EVER finding a clean copy of this 1950s mono gem).

I am very interested in using this device for LPs and 78s; however, would you use this device in your $250,000 analog system for noisy records (if you have any, such as due to bad vinyl)? I have 37,000 LPs and 78s and cannot clean away bad vinyl, used vinyl damages or many 78rpm surface noise. It sounds nearly perfect for those records. Would you also use it without a loss of sonic quality from your best records? My own analog system costs only $28,000 (mod VPI TNT VI, mod SME IV, Benz Ruby 3, isolation bases, EAR 324 and my custom tube phono-pre/SUT

Also, if you would use it, would you prefer to only insert it into your tape monitor so that it will only affect defective recordis?

Great looking. I can afford to wait until the products go into distribution. The follow-up software and updates sounds great. Did they mention anything about the baseline warranty? Sounds like the distributer will be ready to accept returns, but would like to know if warranty is one year, more??

Still using my old SAE 5000 until the future arrives. Also have a CD recorder, but still prefer to listen to LP. These units will enhance the noisy LPs in my library. Looking forward to the rose floor clean up as well as the clip-pop removal.

As always, Thank you, Michael !

Mark

I had the pleasure of meeting Dan during his trip to France last Summer. I ordered the unit with the recording capability on Indiegogo, I was their very first contributor! I can't thank Michael enough for sharing his discovery of this promising device. I have tons of Jamaican presses with clicks, pops and surface noise galore so I am waiting on this like a musical messaiah...

I also snagged one of the SC-2 beta units. I have never bought any gear this way. I always want a return option and the chance to hear it in my system before committing. But after seeing the demo at the Chester Audio show in NYC in November, I couldn't help myself. Also, the discount through Indiegogo was too good to pass up.

Although I like the metadata feature, and will finally be able to rip to higher than CD res without a computer (well, the SC-2 is a computer, but a dedicated one), the biggest feature for me was the promised automatic track-splitting. If you have ever used a CD recorder and tried to insert track divisions on the fly as you record, you will understand why this feature is such big deal.

As to the questions of MQA, or any other enhancements, the Sugarcubes are Linux-based stand alone PCs. So, any new software updates can be downloaded via the web. If the developers want to add MQA, although it might not be free, they can do it, if they have the licenses.

I am extremely excited about this product, even if the SC-2 shipping date has been pushed out to April (there were some board changes).

I first heard about this unit here and then got the chance to see and hear it at the NY show. Hoping to pick one up after they are released later this year.