However, timbrally it was essentially a wash. Did it sound identical to the bypassed signal (which of course now had the offensive “pop”)? Not 100% identical. As soon as the “pop” started I hit the “click remover” button and with the “strength” slider set to the mid position, the click was gone and so for the first time I could thoroughly enjoy “Blackbird” and the second side of the $75 album.ĭid it now sound “digital” (as well commonly use the term)? No. More importantly when “Blackbird” began I switched off the “bypass” so the signal passed through the SC-1’s pop and click removal circuitry. In other words, the SweetVinyl folks have designed an essentially transparent relay-based pass-through. So set I wouldn’t want to be subjected to a blind test to identify which was which. Then as it played and with the SC-1 set to “bypass” (analog output) I switched to the preamp input that outputted SC-1’s output, lowering the level to match (the balanced output is greater). First I listened to the “minty” opener “Martha My Dear” through the balanced connection (as I normally would). I put on side two, opened the app and got busy listening.

Naturally the first record I pulled from the shelf was that Beatles album.

Remove clicks and pops from vinyl